The message from law advocates the world over is clear - the prosecutions of Anwar Ibrahim and Karpal Singh under archaic and rarely used laws are legally unwarranted and the convictions a travesty of justice.

It is the view of Suaram and Global Bersih that these statements depict selective persecutions that seek to mask assaults on democracy, Malaysia’s system of parliamentary representation and opposition MPs.

Statements criticising or questioning the convictions have been made by the US State Department, United Nations, Malaysian Bar, Law Society of England and Wales, Haldane Society, Australian Bar, the International Commission of Jurists, the International Federation of Human Rights, Lawyers for Liberty, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, LawAsia, Law Society of NZ, Lawyers Rights Watch of Canada, retired Malaysian Court of Appeal and High Court judge NH Chan and Human Rights Watch.

Suaram and Global Bersih jointly urge Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Home Affairs Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail and elected members of the Dewan Rakyat to urgently move to repeal the outdated legislations that led to their convictions and allow the duly elected members of parliament to return to their electoral duties.

Suaram and Global Bersih hope that Karpal’s March 24 appeal against his fine will eventually see truth and justice prevail to allow the MP for Bukit Gelugor to resume representing his constituents in parliament. We hope that justice for Karpal will also pave the way for Anwar to fulfill his parliamentary duties.

In Karpal’s case, the 166,000-strong Law Society of England and Wales has already written to Prime Minister Najib to point out it is not seditious to “show any ruler has been misled or mistaken in any of his measures” under Malaysia’s Sedition Act.

Suaram and Global Bersih believe Anwar’s conviction for sodomy is just as shocking for the speed at which the three judges overturned the previous acquittal, found for a guilty verdict and handed down sentence - all in 90 minutes.

It behoves Suaram and Global Bersih to point out that while an “alternative PM” has been summarily and efficiently stripped of his ability to lead parliament and country, the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu, a case that allegedly implicates a serving prime minister, Najib, remains unresolved after several years.

These convictions must be seen worldwide as going beyond mere attacks on Anwar Ibrahim and Karpal Singh as individuals. These are attacks on the respective offices of the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the biggest component party in the opposition alliance. Suaram and Global Bersih therefore see these convictions as blatant attacks on fundamental principles of democracy that underlie the parliamentary process.

Suaram and Global Bersih can only look upon the two convictions as early steps in the first Operation Lalang of the millennium, and we harbour no doubt that opposition figures, human rights defenders and student and youth leaders such as Tian Chua, Suhaimi Shafie, Tamrin Ghafar Baba, Hishamuddin Rais, Haris Ibrahim, Adam Adli, Muhamad Safwan, who also face similar convictions for sedition, will suffer the same fate.

Suaram and Global Bersih will work as an alliance on behalf of democracy-loving Malaysians, and collaborate to bring further attention to these cases.

We pre-emptively reject any statement that our joint action will undermine Malaysia’s aspirations as a developing nation, or that Suaram or Global Bersih are unpatriotic, or traitorous.

Dragging the country into an abyss

Suaram and Global Bersih are, in fact, exposing Malaysian politicians and groups that seem intent on dragging the country into an abyss where all pretence at rule of law, democracy and equality will be abandoned.

We are grateful for the public stance of the US State Department and the United Nations, who have joined esteemed and impartial law associations and rights advocacy groups to question the convictions and their motivation.

We note the comment of the US State Department on Anwar’s conviction:

“The decision to prosecute Mr Anwar, and his trial, have raised a number of concerns regarding the rule of law and the independence of the court.”

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has held that the judicial processes appeared directed at sidelining Anwar from politics. “The timing of the case obviously and the speed with which they moved through the conviction and sentencing and not hearing the mitigation case at all... All this suggests very strongly that there is a political motive to this.”

LawAsia said it could not freely accept that the prime motivator in the prosecutions was the pursuit of justice. The law association added that the circumstances of the cases appear to show that outmoded provisions in the legal system may be used to hinder the democratic processes to which the Malaysian people have a right.

“This decision certainly casts doubts on the independence and impartiality of the Malaysian judiciary and tarnishes the reputation of the country’s legal system.”

The International Federation of Human Rights said “the conviction of Anwar Ibrahim is the latest chapter of the ruling coalition’s political vendetta against him, which has been going on for more than 15 years” and Karpal Singh has been persecuted under the Sedition Act for merely expressing a legal opinion that a decision of monarch can be scrutinised in a judicial process in accordance to the rule of law.

From the Australian Bar statement: "This further undermines the rule of law in Malaysia."

Human Rights Watch: “This really is... trying to knock out the opposition using the courts and weaken them further so that they cannot cause problems.

“The politically motivated prosecutions of Karpal Singh and Anwar Ibrahim appear to be nothing more than cudgels wielded by the government to make up for losses at the polling booth.”

Speaking on Voice of America, HRW deputy director Phil Robertson said the verdicts appear to undermine judicial independence. Robertson said: “You’ve taken down the head of the opposition in Anwar and you’ve taken down the chairpersont of the Democratic Action Party.”

The Malaysian Bar: “Karpal’s conviction under the ‘archaic and draconian’ Sedition Act 1948 has raised the spectre of selective government prosecution.”

Lawyers Rights Watch Canada: “By seeking to impose criminal punishment and professional restrictions on Mr Singh for peacefully exercising his right as a citizen and his duty as a lawyer and a parliamentarian, Malaysia is contravening the international law obligations it has assumed as a member of the United Nations, of the Commonwealth and of Asean.”

The former Malaysian Court of Appeal and High Court judge, NH Chan, also questioned the basis of the Anwar judgement in a blistering blog-attack on the three judges who ruled against the opposition leader. He said “citizens... are stunned by the ignorance of our judges”.

Anwar, the charismatic leader of the opposition coalition, was convicted for sodomy on March 7, and Karpal’s conviction followed four days later, on March 11.

Karpal, 73 and wheelchair-bound, was national chairperson of Malaysia’s opposition party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a multi-racial lynchpin in Anwar Ibrahim's tri-partite coalition, Pakatan Rakyat. He resigned his position on March 29, 2014 as a result of his conviction.