White House 'deeply' disappointed over Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy conviction

The White House is deeply disappointed with the sodomy conviction of Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

In a response to the petition put up on the White House website urging for his release, it said that this matter was made clear both through statements and in its interactions with the Malaysian government, and will continue to do so.

“The initial decision to prosecute Mr. Anwar, the decision to appeal the not guilty verdict, and the overturning of that verdict raise a number of serious concerns about the rule of law and the fairness of the judicial system in Malaysia.

“These concerns are compounded by the government's intent to expand its sedition law, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had pledged to repeal, to prosecute critics of the government,” said the White House in a media statement.

The White House released the statement after the petition for Anwar's freedom, started by former US ambassador to Malaysia John R. Malott after the Federal Court on February 10 upheld Anwar's sodomy conviction, achieved 113,844 signatures.

It said the United States and Malaysia have built a strong "comprehensive partnership," and remain committed to expanding their cooperation on shared economic and security challenges.

“At the same time, we have and will continue to urge the government to apply the rule of law fairly, transparently, and apolitically in order to promote confidence in Malaysia's democracy, judiciary, and economy.

“History has shown that countries that uphold the human rights of all their citizens -- regardless of their political affiliation, ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation -- are ultimately more prosperous and more stable,” it said.

On Feb 10 this year, the Federal Court upheld the five-year jail sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal on Anwar after it had found him guilty of having sodomised his former aid Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan

Anwar is currently serving the sentence in the Sungai Buloh prison.