50,000 sign petition seeking US help to free Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — An online petition urging the United States government to negotiate the release of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has crossed its halfway mark, collecting over 50,000 signatures just five days since its launch.

The petition that has since collected 50,226 signatures at the time of publication, was filed on the White House’s online petitions page under the issues of “civil rights and liberties, foreign policy, human rights” just moments after Anwar’s conviction was announced last Tuesday.

It aims to garner 100,000 signatures by March 12.

Launched by former US ambassador to Malaysia John R. Malott who refers to Anwar as a “longtime friend” of the US, the petition presses the US administration headed by President Barack Obama to prioritise the release of Anwar in the superpower’s policy towards Malaysia.

“Anwar Ibrahim, the Leader of the Opposition in Malaysia, a champion of democracy, a believer in Islamic justice, and a longtime friend of the United States, was convicted and jailed on trumped-up charges on February 10, 2015,” the petition reads.

The petition noted that the US White House had quickly issued a statement after Anwar’s conviction to express its “deep disappointment” and concern over Malaysia’s rule of law and fairness of the judicial system, but said such remarks are inadequate.

“But statements are not enough. The Administration must follow its words with action. Anwar is a political prisoner. The future of democracy in Malaysia is at stake. Securing Anwar’s release from prison must be a top priority in US policy towards Malaysia, to be advanced in every way possible,” the petition says in urging for action.

Mallot has also pointed out that the US had in the past made the release of the Nobel laureate and other non-citizen prisoners a key goal in its foreign affairs.

“Yes, in Myanmar with Aung San Suu Kyi, in Russia with Anatoly Sharansky, in China with a number of people, and other cases. It is not unprecedented,” he told Malay Mail Online in an email interview.

This is not the first time that a petition regarding Malaysian events were started on the page, with a petition started in May 2013 to protest against alleged fraud during the country’s 13^th general election.

The Federal Court on Tuesday upheld the Court of Appeal’s conviction of Anwar for sodomising his former political aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, also keeping a five-year jail sentence.

The decision also leaves the Pakatan Rakyat opposition pact without a leader.