updated version

Ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim made a last-ditch attempt today to set aside a six-year jail sentence for corrupt practice by challenging the decision of the Federal Court the country's highest court to uphold his conviction and sentence.

Filing an application for a judicial review against the July 10 decision made by Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim and Federal Court judge Haidar Mohd Noor, Anwar claimed that the ruling was wrong as it failed to address many vital considerations.

The application, which was filed at the Federal Court registry this afternoon through his lawyer Sankara Nair, was supported with Anwar's nine-page affidavit in which he urged the court to invoke its power under the Federal Court Rules 1995 to set aside the recent decision which deprived his life and liberty as sanctioned in the Federal Constitution.

On July 10, the court upheld the decision by High Court judge S Augustine Paul who on April 14, 1999 jailed the former minister six years after finding him guilty of four counts of abusing his powers by tampering with police investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

Haidar wrote the 60-page Federal Court judgment on issues of the Anwar conviction while Dzaiddin wrote a five-page judgment on the six-year sentence. There was however no indication in the judgment that Shim agreed with his two colleagues.

While there is no avenue of appeal for a decision made by the Federal Court, aggrieved parties can however apply to the same court for a review of its decision.

Zainur's appeal not considered

In his affidavit dated today, Anwar said the court failed to consider its decision on lawyer Zainur Zakaria's appeal in which the judges had questioned the conduct of the trial judge Justice S Augustine Paul for leaning in favour of the prosecution.

Zainur, a senior lawyer, was cited for contempt by Paul after refusing to apologise for seeking to disqualify senior prosecutors Abdul Gani Patail now the attorney-general and Azahar Mohamed for allegedly attempting to fabricate evidence against Anwar.

He was sentenced to three months' jail but his appeal was allowed by a three-member Federal Court panel Haidar, Shim and Justice Abdul Malek Ahmad.

Anwar claimed that the Federal Court was wrong to find that Paul's conduct during Zainur's contempt proceeding was irrelevant to his four corrupt practice charges as the judges in Zainur's appeal had not only chastised Paul's unbecoming behaviour but even averted to the prosecution for engaging in a conspiracy to fabricate evidence against him.

"This finding flew in the face of the fundamental canon of law that justice must not only be done but seen to be done. The entire trial had, in the light of the findings of the Zainur's appeal, been irretrievably contaminated and beyond salvation in the legal perspective of burden being on the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt," he said.

Political conspiracy issue

Anwar also claimed that the Federal Court decision was flawed as it failed to consider the questions that the judges Dzaiddin and Shim had raised during the hearing of the appeal such as the issue of political conspiracy and Paul's conduct in barring him (Anwar) from presenting his defence of political conspiracy.

"These issues appeared nowhere in the judgments itself. The inconsistencies between the actual hearing of the appeal and the delivery of judgment raises questions of contradictory conduct," he said.

Anwar also alleged that the decision was flawed as it did not reflect the concurrence of all the judges with regard to the two judgments delivered by Dzaiddin and Haidar.

"No findings of Justice Shim are expressly adverted in the said judgments," he said.

He added that the judgment had resulted in strong dissatisfaction and disappointment from various independent watch groups, both in Malaysia and overseas.

"Among these groups that have publicly voiced their concern over the decision are the European Union, the United Nations, the United States, Amnesty International and the Malaysian Bar Council. It is clear that public opinion and perception that in my case, justice has neither been done nor seen to be done," Anwar said