The end result will be the same but there are stark differences in the way Augustine Paul and Arifin Jaka conduct their trials. Of course both are show trials with flimsy "evidence" presented by the prosecution and Anwar will be found guilty no matter what, but the way justice is being mishandled gives us a glimpse of their true characters.
Judge Paul was the epitome of the biased totally monster judge who leaned over backwards to carry out his master's orders to find Anwar guilty. He illegally hobbled the defense team, refused to consider relevant evidence from the defense and refused to allow key defense witnesses to testify. His trial was marked by cries of "irrelevant" as he pushed aside and cut short defense testimonies. Never before had a trial been conducted in so banal a fashion. Never before have local and foreign legal observers been denied official status and confirmed seats in the court, they were supposed to vie for seats by lining up with the common crowd.
Arifin Jaka tried to maintain a sense of decorum and propriety in his court. The defense was free to submit the key "political conspiracy" defense which was disallowed by Paul. This meant allowing testimonies that were embarrassing to some politicians. As a result the names of some of the most powerful politicians in the country such as Mahathir, Daim and Megat Junid were dragged through mud as witnesses such as Azmin Ali revealed in dirty detail their involvement in conspiring against Anwar.
Paul would have none of this. He sought to protect his political masters from embarrassment. It was precisely this factor which caused him to illegally block the political conspiracy defense from being heard in court which was incidentally the most reasonable premise. Any testimony which impugn on his masters would be cut short. When dirty bits about the politicians leaked out before he could bark "irrelevant", he imposed a press blackout. He was ever the obedient puppet judge who not only jerked to the whims of the puppet masters but also bend backwards to please them.
Judge Arifin listened to both sides. He did not require the defense to seek his permission to call witnesses. Even when it was clear that the prosecution was getting mangled in court by testimonies which showed the depth of the conspiracy against Anwar, the unreliability of the key witness Azizan and the vile deceit of Ummi he did not stop the testimonies. He even allowed detailed testimony to be aired about Mahathir's hand in fabricating the conspiracy and neither did he impose a news blackout. Arifin Jaka gave the us the impression that he could be fair. Of course he could not really be.
But Augustine Paul never gave us the slightest inkling that he was fair. His court was filled with the nauseous stench of being rotten to the core. He openly sided with the prosecution who were allowed tremendous leeway in submitting unsubstantiated evidence to the comical extent of carrying a stained mattress to court everyday. The culmination of this was when he jailed defense lawyer Zainur Zakaria for submitting evidence which implicated a conspiracy by the Attorney-General's office to fabricate false evidence. To Paul, scandalizing the prosecution was the same as scandalizing his court. Of course he had become so confused that he forgot that he was supposed to be an impartial referee, not part of the prosecution team.
Although Arifin Jaka conducted the trial in a more proper fashion, his judgements showed that his hands were tied even when the weight of evidence went against the prosecution. Thus he refused to impeach the liar Azizan which would have thrown out the case. He allowed Mahathir's refusal to testify after hearing detailed submissions from both sides. His rulings were arbitrary and illogical considering the weight of evidence which favoured the defense. But we are almost aware of the heaviness in his heart and the regret in his demeanor as he ruled against Anwar. He took no pleasure in being biased but he was a prisoner of the corrupt system. We are almost drawn to sympathize with him.
On the other hand we have nothing but contempt for Augustine Paul who conducted a crude parody of justice which was an insult to all intelligent people. He raped the system and dragged the judiciary to new lows. He was ordered to conduct a kangaroo court but so anxious was he to please his masters that he ended up running a macabre circus. It was a joke of a trial. One did not need to know legal processes to know that Augustine Paul was horribly biased. His antipathy to Anwar was openly demonstrated when he refused to adjourn the trial for a day to allow Anwar to testify at the Royal Commission to investigate his beating. To sidestep his callous disregard for justice the Royal Commission had to meet on a Sunday. He was a monster judge with no regard for the truth and as ruthless and pitiless as Mahathir.
In the end Augustine Paul delivered a pyrrhic victory for Mahathir. Anwar was convicted but it was a trial which convinced nobody. Malaysians shrugged in resignation at this travesty of justice. Four international legal groups issued a damning report which cited the Anwar trial as a miscarriage of justice and an example of how the executive interfered in court decisions. The U.S. State Department called the Anwar trail an abuse of human rights. As for Augustine Paul his name will forever be synonymous with puppet judges who are prepared to rape and sodomize justice for personal gain.
As for Arifin Jaka it seems an almost certainty that he will convict Anwar on the unsubstantiated testimony of a deceitful liar whom witnesses have testified that he admitted to them that the charges were false and that his motive was money. But where Paul was totally corrupted we see in Jaka the glimmer of a decent man fighting against his conscience. He allowed Anwar leave to appeal to another court on his decision to allow Mahathir not to testify. By no stretch of imagination could we conceive the revolting Augustine Paul allowing that. He was too terrified of the puppet masters who controlled him.
It is a pity that Arifin Jaka is not independent enough to break free of the evil web of Mahathir and judge according to the merits of the case. If he could rise above the evil web of conspiracy made by evil men, his place in history would be assured and perhaps also a heavenly place in the afterlife. Even if he were to be victimized by Mahathir he can carry his head proudly that he acquitted an innocent man and stood against the forces of darkness and tyranny. His honourable name will be remembered fondly by generations to come which is a far more gratifying and timeless reward than dancing to Mahathir's tune.
When the final verdict is declared Arifin Jaka will know full well that he is finding an innocent man guilty. He will probably not be able to read his judgement and he will not be able to look Anwar in the eyes. Vultures with cruel talons tear at his heart and his mind is filled with guilt and regret. He will feel his soul ebbing away beyond the courtroom leaving an empty aching hole in him that nothing can assuage. He has chosen to serve evil men and not the God that he believes in. He is filled with dread of the empty days ahead, of sorrowful springs and birdless summers devoid of joy or pride as he lives in the shadow of his unjust judgement.
The contrast could not have been sharper when Augustine Paul judged Anwar "guilty". There was no of regret or remorse in his heart at having to send an innocent man to jail. Gleeful at having served his corrupt masters, he looked forward avariciously to rich rewards. He was almost comic when he declared that he had a conscience and that he was answerable to God. No hollower words have been spoken. To satisfy his feeble pea-sized conscience, he said that he found the defendant guilty based on the evidence before him. Of course he had taken all possible action to stifle and suffocate the truth from coming out so that the "evidence before him" was exactly what he wanted to see. Even the savage 6 years sentence he meted out had probably been determined by Mahathir. In Augustine Paul we see the lowest most primal depths that a man can sink to. He deserves our utmost contempt as a man who sold his soul to the devil and himself to Mahathir, and deserve to be judged harshly not only by men but by God as well.
Kevin Gan, 29 Apr 2000
The Diary of Arifin Jaka Part 1: The sadness of a private page by a judge used like an appliance by Mahathir.
The Diary of Arifin Jaka Part 2: Sparks fly when Augustine Paul comes to advise Arifin on how to conduct Anwar's trial.