The circumstances of Anwar Ibrahim’s prison bashing could not have been more cowardly. Before hitting him savagely about the head and neck, Rahim Noor, the Inspector-General of Police, signalled for him to be handcuffed and blindfolded. Had not the IGP been restrained by a couple of officers, Anwar would scarcely have come out of it alive. Doctors later testified that his injuries were so severe that they could have been fatal. Yet, the injured man, despite being in great pain, was denied treatment for four days following the assault.
Rahim Noor evidently felt little if any remorse. Immediately after the assault, he assured the public that Anwar was well. He did not cooperate with a half-hearted police investigation which, although admitting that Anwar had been bashed in prison, went on to conclude that the assailant could not be identified. This was sheer baloney for Bukit Aman, the prison where Anwar was held after his arrest, is a maximum security prison. Despite its useless nature, the repulsive attorney-general, Mohtar Abdullah, sat on this police report for many months without releasing it. When he later made public some of its contents, he tried to depreciate Anwar’s injuries, using an alternate doctor’s second hand opinion to purvey the line that they were not as serious as what a more direct medical examination had reported. Rahim Noor resigned his position to “take responsibility” although no admission of personal wrongdoing was made at this stage. Due to public outcry, a Royal Commission was formed to investigate the matter. Sensing the net closing in, Rahim Noor had no choice but to confess. But he claimed that he had been provoked by Anwar calling him “father of dogs,” an assertion not backed up by the testimony of any police officer.
Thus, there can be no cause for leniency in the treatment of Rahim Noor. Yet, from the day that he was charged, the cowardly basher was treated like an honoured prisoner. Rahim was not even put in the dock when charged in early 1999, but allowed to sit on a chair in court. His charge of causing grievous hurt carried only a maximum jail sentence of three and a half-years. The judge set him free without bail and his trial was postponed to a distant March 2000.
When finally brought to trial, the attorney general allowed the charge to be further watered down to simply “causing hurt” carrying a maximum jail sentence of only one year’s jail and fine of RM2000. Then, on a day filled with disgust and despair, Malaysians learned that Rahim Noor, who pleaded guilty, had been sentenced to only two months jail and fined RM2000. The accused was allowed his freedom pending an appeal by his lawyers that the sentence was “too harsh,” would you believe it?
Despite the ridiculously light sentence, the trial judge described it as exemplary: “this has to be a lesson not only to him but also to others who ignore the law ..” he pontificated when in fact, he would be better off making the point that while there is one law for some Malaysians, there is no law for others.
With the normal one-third remission of jail term for good behaviour, Rahim would have to spend at most, 40 days in prison. With so corrupt a justice system, it is quite likely that his appeal will succeed, so he may well not have to spend a single day in prison.
The contrast between the treatment of Anwar and Rahim Noor cannot be more stark. Anwar was repeatedly refused bail, both during his corruption trial and pending appeal, despite no good reason being offered. The puppet judge, Augustine Paul, after a shamelessly biased trial, sentenced the accused to a savage six years in prison for the finest interpretation of a form of corruption that did not involve the least amount of monetary gain, and which resulted only from Anwar’s use of police officers to help clear his name of slander. Even more insultingly, this monster of a puppet judge decreed that Anwar’s jail term should begin from the day of his sentencing, not taking into account the seven months that the accused had already spent in prison. This was not in keeping with the normal practise of Malaysian law.
The depraved and perverted Malaysian justice system has again disgraced the nation in the eyes of the world. But given already so many instances of judicial harlotry, Malaysians may be disgusted but not really surprised.
The nagging question still remains: why did Rahim Noor beat up Anwar to within an inch of the latter’s life? There had been no previous enmity between the two men, and Rahim has even described Anwar as a friend. How would even an IGP dare assault the highest profile prisoner in the land, no less a person than an ex-Deputy Prime Minister? And how could he have expected to get away with it? But get away with it he almost did.
It is highly probable that Mahathir ordered the beating, and that Rahim has been protected by Mahathir. Indeed, the bully’s judicial slap on the wrist suggests the PM’s continual involvement. Mahathir’s response when Anwar appeared in court with a black eye — suggesting that the wounds could be self-inflicted — will go down in history as the most callous remark ever made by a leader of the country. Given that the incident severely embarrassed the government, the vindictive Mahathir would have gone for Rahim’s head had the latter been acting of his own accord. Thus, the hypothesis that Mahathir was behind the assault is one that fits all the facts.
But even if Mahathir were to publicly boast that he ordered the beating, would that affect his popular support among Malaysians? Sadly, the answer is likely to be in the negative, the moral rot of the country already so deep that many Malaysians would probably invent excuses for even so sadistic a prime minister. Perhaps these people would offer his economic achievements as sufficient justification for a few peccadillos. In the same way, some have offered the opinion that Rahim’s sentence has been just. (see Malaysiakini). What a disgrace to their race!
Tsu Nam
March 16 2000