vox populi big thumbnail'Compare this with the Shahrir Samad interview which was full of beating around the bush, fluff and vague escapist answers.'

Anwar: No way are they sending me back to jail

Ghkok: I spoke to a colleague today. He's only 27 years-old. He was only a teenager 12 years ago when Dr Mahathir Mohamad persecuted Anwar Ibrahim. He says that at that time, he only knew what he read in the papers and what the schoolteachers and other adults told him. They told him Anwar was bad, and he believed them.

Today, with access to all the information on the Internet, he now understands the truth about the Anwar tragedy - how they tortured and persecuted him, and why they did it. I hope all those in their 20s and 30s are similarly enlightened. May their minds be forever free from the rubbish of Utusan Malaysia and The Star. Let them free our nation from the tyranny of Umno.

Kgen: Anwar gave a good interview with clear, direct and convincing answers. Compare this with the Shahrir Samad interview which was full of beating around the bush, fluff and vague escapist answers. Anwar is a man full of conviction compared to Umno goons like Shahrir, who are full of doubts and deceit.

Sodomy II will be the worse mistake that Najib and his goons make although they have made plenty. In this day and age, an educated and literate populace will not tolerate seeing all the apparatus of law enforcement twisted and corrupted to convict an innocent man. No, I don't think there will be open revolt but people will hold it in their hearts that it's time to kick out BN at the next GE.

My1ASS: "They should thank me because I have not been provoked to the extent of opening up the cases that I know of."

Shame on you, Anwar. You have just confessed that when you were the deputy prime minister, the Special Branch reported to you and you had such influence over the Anti-Corruption Agency and friendship with Najib and gang that you kept cases about them closed.

What kind of a leader are you? Why didn't you bring up those cases when you were the DPM then? Did you ever ask for forgiveness from the Malaysian public for covering up these cases or ignoring them? How are we to trust you now? Will you cover up more cases of your 'friends' in the future when you become the prime minister?

Victor Johan: What Anwar said is that even when he knew of the vices of Najib and the rest, he chose not to play God. He chose not to judge their vices and their other worldly immoral activities. That's their deeds which they have to answer to their respective families and their Almighty for.

Anwar chose not to indulge in gutter politics, that is, to smear the families of these mortals. However, Anwar, with the assistance of his comrades, did not hesitate to expose the criminal deeds of these Umno/BN leaders and their supportive cronies and beneficiaries. But the victims of these malicious deeds should be given a fair hearing.

Azmil Tayeb: Anwar, you have just admitted you have great influence in the ACA with the Special Branch reporting to you. You kept the cases of Najib and buddies closed. Now that they are giving you hell, please remember to open up all cases when you take over Putrajaya. And don't forget the cases concerning Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his children.

DC: Anwar Ibrahim, if you really are a good man, we don't need answers. We Malaysians need solutions, and the solution is not political. The solution lies within the community, within every Malaysian. It's not what you tell us or your perceptions, but what the people anticipate and what they are able to understand and reinvent the community into what they believe in, what the community could be and reality that faces them.

So Anwar, stop the politicking and get down to the real issues facing Malaysians. Humanity and reality do not need scripts.

Cala: I read the above report walking away feeling quite please with Anwar's response. Three things however strike me.

First, I thought it is a fact that anybody in his right mind would reach a conclusion that Anwar has nothing to do with the Sodomy 1 or Sodomy 2 simply because there is no evidence. Second, the serving government is bent to use whatever machineries at their disposal to discredit Anwar. Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail's name was mentioned.

Third, Anwar is indeed an unfailing fighter. He appears ready for a good fight with his enemies in order to clear his name (which in the first place, he has committed nothing wrong) knowing full well he has not been given a level-playing field.

In conclusion, I must say he is an extraordinary man. A normal being would have fallen by the side a long while ago.

Abd Hamid: Let me put things this way. I agree with Anwar that they can send him to jail and it does not bother him and his PKR at all. So, PM Najib Razak, please do not waste taxpayers money and send him to jail and let us see the fun at the next GE (general election).

Najib must make up his own mind and not listen to his wife nor aides.


Salehuddin: More will leave PKR

Chipmunk: So what Salehuddin Hashim is trying to say is that he can accept change but is not ready for change. Are you trying to say that if a new member comes in and performs better, then you quit PKR?

It's like leaving your father and mother because of a new sibling in the family. What a bunch of...

CKS: So Salehuddin, do you consider Zahrain Mohd Hashim and Tan Tee Beng the original activists? And what kind of activists are you? What kind are they? What did you fight for in 1999?

Own up. If you have nothing to do with the two defections, why were you present at both Tan Tee Beng and Zahrain's press conferences?


 The difference between justice and duty

Satinah Osman: It is wishful thinking to hope that the Pakatan would be able to clean the Aegean stable of useless judges should it form the next government. Many today who became judges apparently are those who did not pass law on merits, those who could not and would not be able to earn an honest income in private practice.

We read some time ago about a senior lecturer in law in one of our local esteemed universities who refused to pass the majority of graduates in her class. We wonder what her fate was finally. All we know is that she had made an appeal to Najib.

There must be many more graduates such as these in other fields of educational endeavours who enter the public sector or, by remote chance, the private sector. What will the fate of future Malaysia be? Will we be classified lower than Zimbabwe or Burma or Sri Lanka? The fault, as Shakespeare put it, lies not in our stars but in ourselves.

Singa Pura Pura: The justification given by the trial judge in this instance was exactly the one that was proffered by Abdul Hamid Omar some 20 years ago when the latter refused to step down as the chairperson of the tribunal that was literally set up to remove Salleh Abas as Lord President.

Indeed, throughout the web of Malaysian judicial misconduct and disgrace there runs an insidious thread of ambition, callousness and a patent lack of moral fibre and integrity.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only Malaysiakini subscribers can post comments. Over the past six months, Malaysiakinians have posted 50,000 comments. Be part of the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.