Lawsuit For Sexual Violence Drags Malaysian PM's Name Stopped

JAKARTA - The Malaysian Court of Appeal granted the suspension of a civil lawsuit in the alleged sexual violence case in 2021 which dragged the name of Prime Minister (PM) Anwar Ibrahim. In this case, the victim is a former high-ranking Jiran State researcher, Muhammed Yusoff Rawther.

This decision effectively postponed the case that was rolling in at the High Court trial, pending the outcome of constitutional problems at the Malaysian Federal Court.

With this decision, it means that the trial will not proceed until the Court of Appeals hears PM Anwar's appeal against the rejection of the High Court to refer important constitutional questions to the highest court.

The development of this case will be announced further on September 2.

In a statement, Malaysian PM's attorney, Rajasegaran S. Krishnan emphasized that Anwar Ibrahim was not seeking immunity from lawsuits or trying to avoid trials.

"The Prime Minister only affirmed his right to ask important constitutional questions for the public before the trial begins," Rajasegaran said, quoted from theSun online, Monday, July 21.

Among the questions raised in the trial, among others, 'whether this civil lawsuit involving PM Anwar's behavior in office must be subject to protection and whether there should be protection from a politically motivated lawsuit aimed at weakening the government' is similar to the SLAPP case (Strategic Law Against Public Participation)'.

The legal team also questioned whether a filtering mechanism should be applied "equivalent to that applied to judges or Malay Rulers based on Article 183 of the Federal Constitution" before such a lawsuit was allowed to proceed.

"This is a serious and unprecedented question. If it is not addressed, any Prime Minister can be the target of the appropriate time lawsuit for political impacts, which endangers executive stability," Rajasegaran continued.