Malaysian king petitioned to pardon Anwar

Malaysian king petitioned to pardon Anwar

Does this really needed? Can't the King do it on his own free will rather than being asked to do stuffs?

On another note, when has the King or Sultan do things on their own? The ones being fresh in my mind were the alleged assault of Johor Sultan while he was the King and the taking away of his imported car before paying any taxes due by the current Kelantan Sultan.

Uhmmmmm?

Back to the story, I guess Anwar deserved a re-trial and not a pardon. His court cases should have been thrown and Agustine Paul with Ariffin Jaka fed to the dogs. Har*m Jad*h!



The cached story:-
KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 (AFP) - Malaysia's king has been petitioned to grant a royal pardon to former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim which would enable him to re-enter politics, a group of supporters said Thursday.

Anwar was heir apparent to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad before being sacked in 1998 and jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy, which he said were cooked up to prevent him challenging Mahathir for the premiership.

Malaysia's Federal Court overturned Anwar's sodomy conviction last September, saying the charges could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt and criticised the police and prosecution for their handling of the case.

However, because of the corruption charge, which alleged Anwar abused his power to cover up sexual misconduct, he is barred from standing for public office until 2008 under laws covering convicted criminals.

The pardon, if it is granted, would allow Anwar to formally enter politics immediately.

The group, which calls itself the Secretariat for Anwar's Pardon, said in a statement that the petition had been submitted Wednesday to King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin.

Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Anwar's wife and leader of the opposition Parti Rakyat Keadilan, said they were hopeful that the pardon would be granted.

"If he gets a pardon then he will (be) in the political arena of Malaysia. Now he cannot participate actively in politics, but with the pardon he will definitely be able to do that," she told AFP.

She said the outcome would depend on Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who took over when Mahathir retired in October 2003 and needs to make a recommendation on the petition to the king, who holds a largely ceremonial position.

Wan Azizah said she had no indication of whether the leader viewed the request favourably.

The group argues that Anwar should be granted the pardon because of abuse he suffered while in police custody and that the overturning of the second conviction negates the corruption conviction.

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