Anwar: BN bent on jailing me before elections

Aug 5: Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said the Barisan Nasional  government was bent on ensuring he would not contest the next  general election by convicting him on fabricated charges  of sodomy. “They would convict me before the elections, to deny me participating  in the elections,” he said in an interview with Phillipine's The Philippine Star. “You are right, democracy is in decline. We don’t have free elections and  the media is not free,” he added. GOOD TO SEE YOU ... Close friend and former president Joseph Estrada greets  Anwar at the lecture event in Manila Anwar arrived in Manila yesterday to give a lecture today at the  University of the Philippines in Quezon City on the influences of Dr.  Jose Rizal and Ninoy Aquino on the Association of  Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leadership. In the interview, Anwar spoke of reports that 200,000 Indonesians  have been registered to vote as well as Filipinos being allowed to  register as voters on the condition that they would  vote for the ruling party. “I believe in the people of Malaysia. The Malaysian media and the  government may have labeled me as a threat to the country and  accused me of being a pawn for Zionists and the United  States, but I believe the people can’t be fooled,” said Anwar. Insult on Jose Rizal? Meanwhile, asked about reports that the wife of the Malaysian ambassador  to the Philippines had insulted national hero Jose Rizal, Anwar said the  issue should be considered closed as  she had denied the report. “I wish she could give her side on the issue since I know the family, and for  the sake of good relations we just clear the air and since she denied (it), I think  it is a good move because Jose Rizal is a Filipino hero to us, (he) is my hero and  a hero of Asians," he said. Earlier, several PKR leaders claimed that Zainab Abd. Kader, wife of  ambassador Ibrahim Saad, had twitted a message labelling Rizal as  "kafir" (infidel), the term normally used by Muslims on  their enemy. Zainah however said she was not the sender of the message, noting that  the message showed she was the recipient. She added that she had merely  replied "God willing" after the sender  asked to send regards to her husband.

 Taken from Harakah

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