Today will go down in history as a huge embarrassment for the Malaysian government. It will also mark a day of blatant abuse of the judiciary and travesty of justice.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was found guilty of sodomy by the country’s top court. But this judgment only delivers a severe and irreparable blow to the judicial system, which long has been questioned for partiality.
Many legal observers believed that Anwar’s team had successfully squashed the charge of sodomising his former aide, Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
They were of the opinion that a weak trail of evidence adduced by the prosecution coupled with the involvement of powerful political figures warrant an acquittal.
But the verdict clearly shows the long-running campaign mounted by the government to prematurely end his political career has succeeded.
Anwar has been demonised and humiliated for more than a decade with carefully orchestrated sodomy charges, to tarnish his image in a country that is largely conservative in matters relating to sex.
Despite this most Malaysians were certainly holding out hope that justice may prevail in our court of law. We have been disappointed, once again.
And Anwar has been cheated by a corrupt system, which has been in place for decades under the Barisan Nasional rule.
It’s no secret that the UMNO-led coalition government manipulates the law to keep a lid on its opponents.
Anwar was seen as a threat that could topple the ruling government, with the Opposition almost coming to power in 2013 after winning the popular vote.
And the government has clearly forsaken democratic rights as enshrined in the constitution to persecute Anwar, just so it could hold on to the threads of power.
Despite the government machinery working against Anwar, he would have walked out a free man if the courts were free.
But today we know we have failed as a nation and carpets can certainly fly.