KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — Malaysia is ripe for another political tsunami if Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is sent to prison, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said today ahead of the Federal Court verdict next Tuesday in the opposition leader’s second sodomy trial.

Zaid, a former Umno de facto law minister who later joined PKR for a brief spell before leaving in 2010, pointed out that the primary evidence in the case was in “tatters” as the DNA samples were tampered with.

“For the first time since independence, we would be sending someone to prison for five years for what is a moral offence, at best,” Zaid wrote in a blog post titled “February 10”.

“How can we condone that, and then feel no revulsion over the way Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered? How can we feel no necessity to explore the motives behind the heinous killing?” he added.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar reportedly warned the public Monday against raising the issue of motive in the high-profile murder of the 28-year-old Mongolian model, saying the courts have already decided on the case.

In 1998, Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister and finance minister in the Mahathir administration before he was charged with sodomy and corruption. He was convicted and jailed for both offences but the sodomy charge was later overturned.

His sacking triggered widespread uproar and sparked the massive Reformasi movement.

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority 10 years later in the 2008 general election, widely dubbed as Malaysia’s “political tsunami”.

BN suffered further losses in Election 2013, ceding seven more federal seats to Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Zaid stressed today that Anwar’s decision to give his statement from the dock and the absence of the PKR de facto leader’s alibis did not amount to evidence against him.

“If the case is acquitted (as I hope it will be), then it means the justice system upholds the basic tenet of giving the benefit of reasonable doubt to the accused,” said Zaid.

The High Court had in 2012 acquitted Anwar of allegedly sodomising his former political aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in an upscale Bukit Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.

But the decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal and the Opposition Leader was subsequently sentenced to a five-year jail term.

If Anwar fails to reverse the Court of Appeal’s five-year imprisonment sentence and conviction, the 67-year-old would lose his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat as the law bars anyone fined RM2,000 or imprisoned for one year from serving as a lawmaker.