[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 11 Sep 1999
Time: 19:12:33
Remote User: -
MALAYSIAN SOLIDARITY FOR DEMOCRACY AND REFORM
Position Statement 10th September 1999
THE POISONING OF ANWAR IBRAHIM
Anwar Ibrahim has been poisoned with arsenic by the government of Mahathir Mohamad. This tinpot dictator will stop at nothing to stay in power. The poisoning is but the latest in a series of actions over the past year that, taken together, provide ample evidence that there exists a conspiracy headed by Mahathir to murder his former deputy and anointed successor.
A urine sample taken from Anwar and smuggled out of Malaysia last month for analysis at the Gribbles Phatology Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia, has been found to contain 230 micrograms of arsenic, a poisonous substance. This amount is excessive and has being described as being way beyond the "danger level". In fact it is some 77 times above the normal level.
With this latest evidence, one cannot but conclude that Mahathir and his co-conspirators are bent not only on killing Anwar’s political career but, indeed, ending his life. The sacking and subsequent public shaming of Anwar on trumped-up charges, so it now turns out, were nothing more than smokescreens devised by twisted minds to camouflage the real evil – a bizarre conspiracy to murder. On 2nd September 1998, in a Gestapo-style raid on Anwar’s house, Mahathir sent his police commandos in ski-masks and armed to the teeth. Mahathir had hoped that Anwar would resist arrest and that would justify his slaying. This first attempt at state-sponsored murder failed only because Anwar did not resist and the guests and journalists heeded his call for calm. Despite that, they threatened the crowd with their automatic rifles, hoping perhaps that someone would panic and do something that could be interpreted as provocation.
Later that night, Rahim Noor, the Inspector-General of Police, beat his prisoner to a pulp. Anwar was blindfolded and his hands were cuffed behind him during this criminal assault. And he was denied medical attention for nearly a week. But he survived even this monstrous attempt on his life. Mahathir violated both common sense and basic human decency when he defended his police chief by claiming that Anwar inflicted the black eye and other wounds on himself. The police chief subsequently confessed his criminal act. However, after one year, he has yet to stand trial.
Now that the attempt to portray Anwar as a sex maniac has failed, inviting more and more disbelief as the court case drags on, Mahathir has resorted to poisoning his most serious challenger. On 1st September this year, Mrs Marina Yusoff, a vice-president of the National Justice Party, wrote to Mahathir that she believed there was an attempt to poison Anwar Ibrahim. She said the Prime Minister’s Department was directing the operation.
The Attorney-General, who is a key member of the cabal of conspirators, has gone on record with the outrageous statement that Anwar was fed poisoned food by his family!
The murder of Anwar is the single most important objective of the madmen who call themselves Malaysian leaders. There are two principal reasons for their increasing desperation:
1. Anwar’s release of documents that provide incontrovertible evidence of corruption at the highest levels of government involving Mahathir and his Finance Minister, Daim Zainuddin, and their cronies. According to those close to Anwar, more documents are expected to be released in the near future from six boxes that are kept outside Malaysia, safe from burglars employed by the Police Special Branch.
2. The uncertainty surrounding the coming elections. Mahathir has delayed announcing the date for the elections because he is not confident that the coalition he heads will win a two-thirds majority in the face of widespread disaffection. Anything less than two thirds will spell disaster for him as members of his coalition will surely defect.
The insanity within the ruling clique is a dire threat to the life of a future leader of Malaysia and the continuing stability of the country. Malaysian democracy is also under threat. Like the late “Papa Doc” Duvalier of Haiti, Papa Doc Mahathir has blatantly used guns, goons and poison to get rid of his enemies and to stay in power. If this fails, we expect him to orchestrate mayhem in the country to provide him with the excuse to impose emergency rule. He has now joined the rogue ranks of the surviving mad dictators of this world.
We urge the international community to:
1. condemn Mahathir’s attempted murder of Anwar Ibrahim and to show their disapproval and opprobrium of his regime in various ways, 2. call for the humane treatment of Anwar by giving him proper medical attention, 3. call for the release of Anwar Ibrahim as he is no longer safe in the hands of his mad captors, 4. call for the immediate holding of fair and free elections in which Anwar Ibrahim will be permitted to participate.
We wish to stress that inaction and silence on the part of the members of the international community especially the members of ASEAN will embolden Papa Doc Mahathir to terrorize his people and loot the country. He and his ilk are a threat to the spread of freedom and democracy in Asia.
DR. ABDUL RAHIM GHOUSE MALAYSIAN SOLIDARITY FOR DEMOCRACY AND REFORM Plaza Exim Penthouse, 31st floor Jl. Gatot Gubroto Kav. 36-38 Jakarta 12190 Indonesia TEL: (62-21) 524 0030 (O) FAX: (62-21) 527 5354 e-mail: msdr99@hotmail.com