Imprisoned or not, struggle for justice lives on

Zaid Ibrahim says even if Anwar Ibrahim is imprisoned for sodomy, his struggle to end Umno’s destructive hegemony will live on in others.

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has said that even if Anwar Ibrahim is found guilty of sodomy come February 10, the government would have succeeded in ending his political career but not his political struggle as many others would take up where he left off.

In his latest blog entry, on the eve of the opposition leader’s Sodomy II appeal verdict, Zaid said, “Even if they incarcerate him, do not despair. There is no one who can replace his charisma, but there are many who will not abandon the struggle he has led.”

He said that although the government had done everything in their power to malign Anwar, and found some success among certain PAS members, there were many more who still saw no alternative to end Umno’s “destructive hegemony” than to continue Anwar’s struggle.

“Even if he is imprisoned, his friends in the Pakatan as well as those outside the political framework will collectively shoulder the task of rebuilding our now tattered country,” Zaid said, adding that the government would then realise they had achieved nothing politically by finding Anwar guilty of sodomy except to harm a man and members of his family.

Claiming that the people yearned to experience the short-lived unity and harmony of the past, Zaid said, “The human spirit and its quest for justice and fairness for all is a much stronger force than the clever lies of the racists and religious bigots.”

He also mocked the government for relentlessly pursuing Anwar on charges of sodomy, something that had taken up 17 years, noting that Anwar has been the only individual in the entire country hauled up for being allegedly a homosexual.

“In this Islamic country, no one has been prosecuted for this offence except Anwar,” Zaid said, concluding that it was only so because the government was afraid of him and his friends in Pakatan Rakyat.

Zaid also found “deeply troubling” the mandatory jail term, saying Parliament should have left sentencing to the wisdom of the judge.

Arguing that section 377A that dealt with offences “against the order of nature” should be repealed altogether, Zaid said it didn’t make sense to retain the law when so many in Putrajaya were already indulging in such activities and getting away with it.

“This section, which includes many sexual activities even the top guys in Putrajaya probably find irresistible and indulge in, is totally archaic and should be repealed, in line with other modern countries,” he said.