PUTRAJAYA: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today maintained her administration’s stand of 'non-interference' on the sodomy trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
At a joint-press conference with Foreign Minister Anifah Aman here, she reiterated that the US is keeping close tabs on the case and expressed hope that it would be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
She, however, remained coy when asked whether she had raised US concerns over the case with Anifah and whether she would do so during her meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin later.
“It is part of an ongoing dialogue ... It is well-known that the US believes it is important that all aspects of the case be conducted in a way that increases confidence in the rule of law here.
“Our embassy maintains good relations with both the ruling coalition and the opposition as important participants in Malaysia’s democratic process. And we will continue to support Malaysia’s progress in strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law,” she said.
When pressed as to whether she would be meeting with the PKR de facto leader later today, she merely said: “I have been unable to meet with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak today because of his illness and that has had an impact on my schedule.”
At this juncture, Anifah jumped in to clarify that he had no opposition towards Clinton meeting Anwar as it is customary for visiting leaders to meet politicians on both sides of the political divide.
No persecution
But he added that, in this instance, such a meeting would not bode well for two reasons.
“First Anwar's trial is already before the court and we don’t want to give people the wrong message.
"Secondly there are two on-going by-election campaigns and we don’t want individuals or parties to misconstrue such a meeting as Secretary Clinton assisting these people,” he said.
Anifah also gave his assurance that that it is in his interest that Anwar receives a fair trial.
He pointed out that if there really was such a thing as ‘political prosecution’ and if it could happen to Anwar, then it could happen to anyone else.
“I also want to stress that this is a private complaint by a former employee of Anwar and it would be great injustice to deny him his fair share of justice.
“Other world leaders have called on the Malaysian government to intervene in this trial but that would be a gross misdeed on our part to interfere in the judicial proceedings.
“It doesn’t bother us one bit whether Anwar gets a federal judgement or otherwise. What we are concerned about is that he gets a fair and open trial," he said.
Clinton arrived yesterday on a three-day visit to Malaysia, her first to the country.
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