The Washington Post
Wednesday, May 19, 2010; A18
ATRIAL that could determine whether one of Asia’s fast-developing countries evolves into a democracy has been making lurid headlines this month around the region. Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader in Malaysia and one of the foremost advocates of political freedom in the Muslim world, stands accused of consensual homosexual sodomy, which in his country is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison. That Mr. Anwar would be prosecuted on this charge is itself a human rights violation. But the testimony in the case is also revealing a blatant abuse of power by a man the Obama administration has been courting: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Mr. Anwar, a 62-year-old married father of six, heads an opposition coalition that for the past two years has been chipping away at the quasi-authoritarian regime that has governed Malaysia since independence in 1957. He has a chance of defeating Mr. Najib in the next general election — and transforming the country. So it’s been more than a little suspicious to see the testimony of his chief accuser, a 25-year-old man who claims that he had sex with Mr. Anwar in June 2008. Two days before the alleged encounter, the man said, he met with Mr. Najib; the next day he phoned the national police chief. Before filing his complaint, he consulted with a close friend of Mr. Najib’s wife. When the accuser finally stepped forward, two days after the supposed sex, doctors could find no evidence of sodomy.
Mr. Anwar has been in this situation before. In 1998, when his reformist ideas challenged then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, he was prosecuted on sodomy charges and imprisoned for six years — until a court ruled that the testimony against him had been coerced. Since then he has become a leading advocate of democratic reform as an antidote to Islamic extremism. The success of his multi-ethnic coalition could decisively push Malaysia into the democratic camp with neighboring Indonesia at a time when China’s authoritarian system threatens to become a regional model.
In short, Mr. Anwar is a natural ally of the United States — which is why it is odd that the Obama administration has all but ignored his case. While the previous sodomy conviction was condemned by senior Clinton administration officials, including Vice President Al Gore, the State Department has said nothing publicly about this trial. Nor did the White House mention it when President Obama met with Mr. Najib in Washington last month — an event hailed by Kuala Lumpur’s pro-government press as a U.S. endorsement. In fact, the administration seems to find Mr. Najib useful; he’s been helpful on issues such as nuclear proliferation, Iran and Afghanistan. But failing to protest his ugly persecution of Mr. Anwar is both shameful and shortsighted.
