Anwar walks free, granted full pardon

‘I’ve forgiven Mahathir’

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16, (Agencies): Jailed Malaysian reformist Anwar Ibrahim was granted a full pardon and freed on Wednesday, capping dramatic changes in the Southeast Asian country since the government was ousted in an election upset last week.

The question for Malaysia now is how Anwar will get along with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, his ally-turnedfoe-turned-ally, and what role he will play in the new government.

Anwar, 70, said he would like to take time off with his family and did not intend to join the cabinet any time soon. He said he would support the government led by Mahathir and Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is Anwar’s wife.

“I’ve told Tun Mahathir, I don’t need to serve in the cabinet for now,” Anwar said, using an honorific for the prime minister.

Anwar has been in hospital for some months, for surgery on a shoulder. But he looked in fine fettle as he walked free for the first time in three years, dressed

“Good luck to them,” he said. “The courts will always defer to the executive on matters of foreign affairs.” (RTRS)

S’pore anti-terror law takes effect:

A new law that gives the police special powers during terrorist attacks, including widely banning journalists and members of the public from reporting on the scene, took effect in in a black suit and tie, his hair neatly swept back.

Supporters chanted “Reformasi” (Reform), the movement he launched two decades ago to challenge diverse Malaysia’s race- and patronage-based politics.

Anwar was sentenced in 2015 to a five-year term for sodomy, a charge he says was trumped up by the government of ousted Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Mahathir, with whom Anwar joined forces to win last Wednesday’s election, greeted him at the palace where they both met the king.

Mentor

Anwar was Mahathir’s deputy in the 1990s but fell out with his mentor during the Asian financial crisis.

He was sacked from the ruling party and founded the Reformasi movement, challenging Mahathir’s government. Within weeks, he was arrested and jailed on charges of sodomy and corruption.

Images at the time of a goateed, bespectacled Anwar in court with a black eye and bruises brought condemnation

Singapore on Wednesday.

The law gives the police the power to block all communications on-site, ranging from photographs to videos, text and audio messages, for up to a month if authorities feel security operations could be compromised.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, which drafted the law, said Tuesday that the country faces a “clear and present terrorism threat, posed by home-grown radicalized individuals of Mahathir from around the world.

Anwar’s trial became a spectacle, with prosecutors at one stage bringing out what they said was a semen-stained mattress allegedly used when he had sex with two male aides.

After being freed in 2004, Anwar was jailed a second time. Both times, he and his supporters have said the charges were politically motivated.

Anwar later told a news conference at his home he had forgiven the veteran leader, who was a pugnacious, uncompromising prime minister for 22 years from 1981.

“I and Mahathir have buried the hatchet already, it was a long time ago,” Anwar said as he sat at a table under a marquee set up in the driveway of his home, his tie and jacket off and sleeves rolled up, after returning from the palace.

“I have forgiven him, he has proved his mettle. Why should I harbour any malice towards him?” Anwar said, speaking above supporters sounding their car horns and a tropical downpour.

and foreign terrorists.”

“It is therefore important to equip the police with powers to ... respond swiftly and effectively to attacks of any scale and of varying tactics, and minimize the chances that their security operations are compromised,” the ministry said. Individuals who flout the new law face a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of 20,000 Singapore dollars ($14,891). (AP)