But that does not mean they were telling lies. Ruling protects Mahathir A ruling on April 21 by judge Arifin Jaka in Anwar's current trial is further confirmation of the highly political character of the Malaysian judiciary. Anwar's defence lawyers had called for Mahathir to be put in the witness box to answer questions about the case. The attempt to subpoena the prime minister was opposed both by the prosecution and by Mahathir himself, who wrote a 14-page statement to the court arguing why he should not be a witness. Under these circumstances it is futile to call Dr Mahathir to give evidence in this trial.
Natural justice dictates that an accused be able to call witnesses to establish the case.
But according to Arifin, Anwar would only be able to subpoena Mahathir if he would prove that the prime minister had been involved in a political conspiracy. In other words, the defence would have to prove its case before being able to call a key witness to prove the necessary testimony. As well as the circumstances of Anwar's arrest and the close connection of key prosecution witnesses with his political enemies in UMNO ruling circles, there are further indications of the involvement of Mahathir and others. Firstly, Mahathir was also home minister at the time and thus would certainly have been consulted by top police before Anwar was detained. Moreover, Mahathir would also have had to approve the use of the Internal Security Act that allows the home minister to order indefinite detention without trial.