I will never surrender – Anwar Ibrahim

I maintain my innocence of this foul charge – this incident never happened.

This is a complete fabrication, coming from a political conspiracy to stop my political career.

You have not given proper consideration to the case presented by my counsel from day one – that this incident never happened at all.

I can go on and on but I see from your statement today that it will be fruitless. It appears I have been condemned again as I was in the court of appeal. Only here we went through a facade of an eight-day hearing.

It is not a coincidence how the Prime Minister’s Office was able to release a full written statement of your decision barely minutes after you handed your judgment today, even before sentencing.

In bowing to the dictates of the political masters, you have become partners in crime for the murder of judicial independence and integrity. You have sold your souls to the devil, bartering your conscience for material gain and comfort and security of office.

You had the best opportunity to redeem yourselves – to right the wrongs of the past and put the judiciary on a clean slate and carve your names for posterity as true defenders of justice.

But instead you chose to remain on the dark side and drown your morals and your scruples in a sea of falsehood and subterfuge. Know you not that you are now wallowing in filth and foulness and the stench of your injustice will permeate through every nook and cranny of this so-called Palace of Justice and I do pity you all.

Yes, you have passed judgement on me – and I will, again for the third time, walk into prison but rest assured my head will be held high. The light shines on me.

But the shame is on you for you will be judged by history as the great cowards of humanity. Sitting on that high horse of judicial power, you have stooped so low to become the underlings of the political masters.

Students of law and professors of jurisprudence will scrutinise your judgments and as they dissect your reasoning and your decision, your credibility and integrity will be torn to tatters.

And you will be exposed as the fraudsters who don the robe of judicial power only to pervert the course of justice.

Do not forget that, as all of us will have to, you too will have to answer to your Maker. You will have to answer why you turned your backs on the principles that you had so solemnly sworn to uphold.

People who come into your court have to bow their heads and address you as "My Lords" but don’t you know that you too will have to answer to your Lord one day?

By then you will need more than bowing and prostration to justify why you wilfully transgressed Allah’s command as ordained in Surah an-Nisa, verse 58:

Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.

Going to jail, I consider this a sacrifice I make for the people of this country.

I have fought most of my life on behalf of the people of this country – it is for the people I am willing to go to jail or face any other consequence.

My struggle will continue wherever I am sent and whatever is done to me.

To my friends and fellow Malaysians let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support you have given me. And Allah as my witness, I pledge I will not be silenced, I will fight for freedom and justice and I will never surrender!

*Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is de facto PKR chief. This statement was made after the Federal Court convicted him of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. He faces five years’ jail.