April 17, 1999
Web posted at: 10:14 a.m. EDT (1414 GMT)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (CNN) -- Malaysia's bar association said Saturday that the trial of ousted deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim had raised disturbing doubts about justice in the Southeast Asian nation.

Anwar, 51, was convicted on Wednesday on four counts of corruption and sentenced to six years in prison. The verdict set off anti-government riots, international outrage and objections from Malaysia's legal fraternity.

"This whole episode has caused grave disquiet in the administration of justice in our country," Malaysian Bar Council president chairman R. Chelvarajah said in a statement.

He said many lawyers and members of the public had raised their concerns with the council.

His group was disturbed by High Court Judge Augustine Paul's decision not to even include the seven months Anwar had already served during the trial as part of the jail sentence, he said.

The statement also expressed concern that Anwar's case had been heard by the 53-year-old judge, described as "a junior High Court judge elevated just months before" and posted to the capital's high court "a mere few weeks" before the trial.

"This was an unprecedented step," Chelvarajah said.

Previous cases of senior politicians were heard by very senior judges, he said. Anwar was the most high-ranking Malaysian ever brought to court.

He also said that the government's handling of Anwar, sacked as deputy by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last September, was riddled with irregularities even before the trial started on November 2.

The statement noted that during the course of the hearings, Paul expunged evidence given on oath, thwarted Anwar from "raising every possible and conceivable defense," and disallowed defense witnesses from taking the stand even before their testimony was heard.

Anwar has repeatedly denied the charges of corruption and illegal sex and has accused Mahathir of plotting a conspiracy to crush the challenge to his 18-year leadership.

Meanwhile, about 100 supporters of Anwar shouted slogans in the capital, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, the fourth consecutive day of anti-government protests.

The protesters shouted "reformasi" (reform), the rallying cry of groups aligned to Anwar, near the court complex where police earlier detained about 40 youths. Witnesses said there were no police present.

Police had left that section of the capital after detaining about 40 suspected supporters of Anwar as they were leaving a mosque in the area earlier on Saturday.

Some of the demonstrators were marching down a street towards the court houses, the witnesses said.

On Wednesday and Thursday, riot police had intervened, spraying water laced with colored chemicals, charging protesters and arresting at least two dozen demonstrators.

A similar demonstrations at the mosque ended peacefully on Friday.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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