The need for judicial restraint darkest day for justice and democracy

Chief Justice Tun Arifin bin Zakaria changing interpretation of law questionable trial of Anwar Ibrahim

The philosophy behind this view is that there is broad separation of powers under the Constitution, and the three organs of the state must respect each other and must not ordinarily encroach into each other’s domain. Game change has a different connotation to different people. in the judicial system. 

 Interpret the Law and administer Justice without fear or favour administration of justice, defend the Constitution, abandon all links with UMNO, and devote the remaining years of your life to the restoration of the Rule of Law and justice in our country. please ensure that all Malaysians will be protected and equal under the law. Your test will soon come and we Malaysians will observe with anxiety the way you and your brother judges will interpret the law. All the best in your service to Malaysia and the cause of justice. 

Criminalization of justice, prejudice or discrimination , but the problem we are discussing is not about one personal’s view but about the correct legal position.
"It is extremely disturbing that the government of Malaysia - by continuing to press this case beyond the bounds of reason, let alone the bounds of justice - has used the courts to short-circuit the political process."

Anwar Ibrahim is in the Malaysian Federal Court this week for what hopefully is the last chapter in a sordid affair that has done nothing but distract him from his reform agenda. We have beencritical of Malaysia's judiciary in the past and hope that at this moment in time, the five judges who are tasked with reviewing the appeal of Ibrahim's March conviction on charges of sodomy, will adhere strictly to the rule of law and not be swayed by external political influences If the view of the Supreme Court is accepted then a rival politician need only get a false charges filled against his political rival and have him sent to  jail to disqualify him..

Malaysia's image as an example or a model of a Muslim majority country that is on a democratic path, economically vibrant, adheres to the rule of law, and a model to the world on how to exist as a pluralistic society is under tremendous strain today. Ibrahim's trial is just one example of how dissident voices calling for reform of institutions in Malaysia are being persecuted. In just the last two months, nearly two dozen activists have been charged under Malaysia's archaic Sedition Act, including Ibrahim.

Malaysia court hears Anwar Ibrahim sodomy appeal

Ultra right wing groups have targeted minority communities threatening to burn bibles and tell the "immigrant" Chinese and Indian population of Malaysia to go home.

Academic freedom is also under attack. Two highly regarded professors were charged with sedition and Ibrahim's lecture scheduled to take place at the University of Malaya on Monday night was systemically blocked. University staff, dismissed early in the day, and the front gates of the university were put on lockdown. A few thousand brave students defied the ban and were able to hear Ibrahim speak.

At a time when the world is confronting violent and regressive movements in parts of the Muslim world, Malaysia could be a shining example of what is possible when Muslims focus on rebuilding the tradition of scholarship, technology, and pluralism that is present throughout the history of Islamic civilisation. While the prime minister has made positive remarks about the need for a "movement of moderates" in the Muslim world, the actions of his party at home belie his intentions.

The continuing efforts to use the judicial system against opposition political leaders will undermine Malaysia's leadership role in regional and global affairs as well as weaken Malaysia's traditions of political openness and democracy.

Malaysian authorities, as Human Rights Watch Asia director, Phil Robertson, has stated, "risk making a travesty of the country's criminal justice system" unless they withdraw their case against Ibrahim.Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria’s judgement upholding  Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy conviction is not only full of holes, it has set a dangerous legal precedent whereby innocent persons may be wrongly convicted for sexual crimes that they have not committed.

Police arrested cartoonist Zunar for sedition over a tweet on the judiciary, seemingly related to the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy verdict this afternoon.

The cartoonist did nothing illegal. In a democracy many things are said, some truthful and others false. I often used to say in court when I was a Judge that people can call me a fool or crook inside court or outside but I will never take contempt of court proceedings, because either the allegation is true, in which case I deserve it, or it is false, in which case I will ignore it. These are occupational hazards, and politicians, like judges, must learn to put up with them.

In fact arresting a cartoonist or any other person who has not committed a crime is itself a crime under the  Penal Code called wrongful arrest and wrongful confinement. So policemen who make such illegal arrests cannot take the plea that they were obeying orders of political superiors. In the Nuremberg trials thr Nazi war criminals took the plea that orders are orders, and that they were only obeying the orders of their political superior Hitler but this plea was rejected by the International Tribunal, which held that illegal orders should be disobeyed.