FAC News - Thursday, June 13, 2002 8:58 AM

Read my lips! It’s all about the evidence stupid!

On 11 June 2002, a mechanic who was sentenced to death in 1998 for having 356 packets of heroin strapped to his body and stuffed in his shoes, was acquitted by the Malaysian Court of Appeal on the basis that the prosecution had not proven he had known what he was carrying.

Did he think he was carrying talcum powder, maybe?

The Judge, Gopal Sri Ram, said, "The manner in which the packets were fastened on the person of the appellant showed, at its highest, that he had knowledge the packets contained some prohibited substance; perhaps drugs or perhaps some other prohibited substance which was unlawful to have on one's person; but it certainly does not prove that the appellant knew the packets contained heroin which formed the subject matter of the charge."

Sri Ram said on the totality of the evidence, the prosecution had failed to prove possession of the drugs. "On that ground alone, the (High Court) judge ought not to have called the appellant's defence," he said.

Moreover, Sri Ram said, the chemist who testified at the trial did not state the weight of the samples of drugs he had analysed. "This court has laid down the proposition that a chemist must state the amount or weight of the samples which he had taken for analysis," he said.

Well, there you have it. Though the heroin was clearly found on his body, the prosecution had failed to prove its case and the lucky person has escaped the gallows.

This brings us to Anwar Ibrahim’s case. Anwar was convicted and sentenced to a total of 15 years jail with absolutely no evidence whatsoever and based merely on testimonies from witnesses who contradicted themselves throughout the trial and admitted that they would lie if asked to and, in fact, did lie on the witness stand.

How could a mechanic who was caught red-handed with heroin strapped to his body be acquitted and Anwar, whose case is certainly stronger than this, not be acquitted as well?

The Kuala Lumpur Federal Court has retired to consider Anwar’s appeal. Though it was supposed to reconvene within eight weeks to deliver its judgment, it is now more than eight weeks and there is no indication when this would happen.

Is the court maybe facing a dilemma? Has the court actually decided that Anwar is innocent and should be acquitted but just does not know how to, or does not dare, deliver this judgment? Or, is the court under political pressure not to acquit Anwar and does not know whether it should succumb to this political pressure, or do the right thing at its own peril?

Whatever it may be, the court cannot delay delivering its judgment too long. Sooner, rather than later, it will have to come forth and tell the world whether Anwar is guilty or otherwise. And, it knows it is impossible to find Anwar guilty seeing that there is absolutely no evidence against Anwar while the very foundation of the case, the witnesses’ testimonies, has been shattered due to the total lack of credibility of the witnesses concerned.