Sodomy 2.0 in Malaysia

by Michael Jones · 2010-02-02 11:42:00 UTC
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MalaysiaIf you think Republicans and Democrats wage nasty campaigns against each other, wait 'til you see what's going on in Malaysia. There, an opposition political leader faces charges for sodomy that could land him in prison for years, which he contends are being cooked up by the country's current Prime Minister and his wife.

Kind of makes our political scandals here in the States look like an episode of Nick at Nite.

The opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, a former Deputy Prime Minister in Malaysia, stands trial tomorrow for the sodomy charge. It's the second time in twelve years that Ibrahim faces sodomy charges, after having spent several years in prison before a sodomy conviction was overturned six years ago. The trial that led to Ibrahim's first conviction was criticized the world over as being nothing more than a show trial, with then Vice President Al Gore saying that it "mocked international justice standards."

Fast forward twelve years, and Ibrahim is still engaged in politics, attempting to organize a political movement to oppose the ruling coalition governed by current Prime Minister Najib Razak. The threat Ibrahim poses to the Razak regime has many folks thinking that this second sodomy charge is cooked up to derail the opposition's momentum.

"It’s clearly an attempt to weaken the opposition leader in a political maneuver. There’s no getting around it,” Bridget Welsh, an associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University, told the Christian Science Monitor.

Sodomy in Malaysia is punishable by up to twenty years in prison, and/or being beaten and whipped. That's par for the course, perhaps, in Malaysia, where as recently as last year government health ministers were blaming homosexuality and masturbation for the spread of Swine Flu.

All of this combined has us thinking of some new tourism slogans for Malaysia. "Come For the Beaches, Stay for the Sodomy Charges." "Malaysia: So Nice, We'll Charge you For Sodomy. Twice." "Malaysia: Squashing Political Dissent Thru Sodomy Charges Since 1998."

Photo credit: beggs

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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