Family seeks royal pardon

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's (pix) family at the 11th hour yesterday submitted a petition for a royal pardon to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong over the sodomy conviction of the opposition leader.
PKR vice-president Tian Chua said the petition was handed over to Istana Negara at 3.30pm.
It was submitted under Rule 113, Prison Regulations 2000, he told Bernama.
Istana Negara has confirmed receiving the petition.
According to Rule 113, if a prisoner wants to file a petition to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan or Raja or Yang di-Pertua Negeri, he can do so as soon as possible after conviction.
After that a convict can petition the palace three years from the date of conviction, and after that in two-year lapses.
Tian Chua said the petition was filed based on the belief of the PKR de facto leader's family that there was a miscarriage of justice when he (Anwar) was convicted of having sodomised his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 34.
"With this petition, the family seeks the intervention of the palace to pardon Anwar," he said.
"To be clear, it is not Anwar who is seeking a royal pardon. There is a provision under Rule 113 of the Prison Regulations 2000 which allows a third party to seek intervention or pardon from the palace. This is the provision used by the family on the grounds that there is a miscarriage of justice," he said.
Tian Chua said a copy of the petition had been handed over to the Dewan Rakyat Speaker at Parliament House later in the afternoon.
He explained that the petition was submitted to get justice for Anwar and not because they wanted him to continue to be Permatang Pauh MP.
"His position as MP is no longer an issue; it is up to the Speaker whether he wants to declare the seat (Permatang Pauh) vacant. This is about justice for him," he said.
Prior to this, PKR leaders had told the media that the party will not be filing an application for a royal pardon as doing so would be tantamount to an admission of guilt.
Anwar's second daughter Nurul Nuha, meanwhile, said the family would pursue and exhaust all available recourse provided for a citizen of this country.
"The courts may have pronounced a guilty verdict but our father and, we as a family, continue to state that he is innocent.
"By virtue of Article 42 of the Federal Constitution, we hope that the royal institution would, in the name of justice based on all the facts, grant an appeal," she said in a statement.
Anwar is serving a five-year jail sentence at the Sungai Buloh Prison after the Federal Court on Feb 10 rejected his appeal against his conviction and the jail sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal for sodomising Mohd Saiful Bukhari in 2008.