KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial and the sedition crackdown on dissent are eroding Malaysia’s leadership role in the region and around the world, two American professors have said.

In an opinion piece published by international news outlet Al Jazeera, professors John Esposito and John O. Voll from Georgetown University in Washington DC said Anwar’s trial was just one example of how dissident voices pressing for reform are being persecuted, noting also that almost two dozen activists have been charged under the “archaic” Sedition Act 1948.

“The continuing efforts to use the judicial system against opposition political leaders will undermine Malaysia's leadership role in regional and global affairs as well as weaken Malaysia's traditions of political openness and democracy,” Esposito and Voll wrote in the opinion piece titled “The questionable trial of Anwar Ibrahim” published yesterday.

“At a time when the world is confronting violent and regressive movements in parts of the Muslim world, Malaysia could be a shining example of what is possible when Muslims focus on rebuilding the tradition of scholarship, technology, and pluralism that is present throughout the history of Islamic civilisation,” they added.

The professors pointed out, however, that Umno’s actions in Malaysia have contradicted Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s call for a “movement of moderates” in the Muslim world.

“Malaysia's image as an example or a model of a Muslim majority country that is on a democratic path, economically vibrant, adheres to the rule of law, and a model to the world on how to exist as a pluralistic society is under tremendous strain today,” they said.

Esposito and Voll noted that “ultra right wing groups” have targeted minority groups in Malaysia by threatening to burn bibles and by telling the “immigrant” ethnic Chinese and Indian communities in the country to go home.

The Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) said last month it will not charge Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali for his alleged threat to torch Malay-language bibles containing the word “Allah”.

Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of racial and race relations, urged the AGC Monday to reopen the case for the sake of unity.

Esposito and Voll also highlighted former US vice president Al Gore’s remarks last March about Anwar’s Sodomy II trial: “It is extremely disturbing that the government of Malaysia — by continuing to press this case beyond the bounds of reason, let alone the bounds of justice — has used the courts to short-circuit the political process”.

Esposito is professor of religion and international affairs, while Voll is professor of Islamic history.

Yesterday, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) de facto leader Anwar renewed his allegation that the sodomy charge against him was politically motivated, saying he would be freed if he no longer posed a threat to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.

The Federal Court is hearing Anwar’s challenge of the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn a lower court’s decision to acquit him of the charge.

If Anwar fails to reverse his five-year imprisonment sentence and conviction at the Federal Court, he will lose his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat as the law bars anyone fined RM2,000 or imprisoned for one year from serving as lawmaker.