KUALA LUMPUR: A lawyer said yesterday the request by PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a five-year jail sentence for sodomy, to attend meetings of the Dewan Rakyat, which sits for 20 days from Monday, should not be entertained.
Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat, who is chairman of the Malaysian Volunteer Lawyers Association (SukaGuam), said allowing Anwar to attend Dewan Rakyat would be tantamount to mockery of the judiciary because he had been convicted of a crime.
“An offender who is serving a sentence should not be allowed to attend (Dewan Rakyat) sittings. Offenders have never been allowed to do so in the history of the legislature and constitution, not only in the country but also elsewhere in the world. I have checked on this. This will clearly be an insult,” he told Bernama.
PKR has reportedly applied to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia to allow Anwar, the MP for Pematang Pauh and Opposition Leader, to attend meetings of the Dewan Rakyat from Monday pending the disposal of an application for a royal pardon for Anwar.
The Federal Court, on Feb 10, found Anwar guilty of sodomy and upheld a Court of Appeal decision sentencing him to five years’ jail.
Khairul Anwar said Anwar was penalised by the court regarding an offence and the offender should serve his sentence regardless of his status and position.
“If he is freed and allowed to attend Parliament, it would have been futile for the penalty to have been imposed and for him to be free just like any other person without any remorse what he had done,” he said.
“Attending Dewan Rakyat sittings can be permitted if it is a study tour by prisoners close to their release but not to attend as an MP,” he said.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) lecturer Prof Dr Ahmad Atory Hussain agreed that allowing Anwar to attend Dewan Rakyat sittings as an MP would be showing disrespect for the judiciary.
He said there was no question of his rights having been violated as he had been given ample opportunity to defend himself before the court found him guilty. — Bernama.