SWEEPING STATEMENT OF THE YEAR: Everyone gets a fair trial in Malaysia

February 18, 2010 19:59 PM

Malaysia's Judiciary Ensures Every Person A Fair Trial - Anifah

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's judiciary operates according to the legal standards of any other fully developed country, requiring that every person in Malaysia receives a fair trial, regardless of any other factor, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said Thursday.

"Our system honours and respects the independence of our courts to find facts and to apply the law impartially," he said in a statement Thursday, in response to U.S. Senator John Kerry's recent request that the Government of Malaysia ensured that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim received a fair trial in Malaysia's legal system.

Anifah said Malaysia took note of the senator's request.

He said while all citizens should avoid seeking to inflame or prejudice the outcome of any legal proceedings, public servants in particular had the obligation to avoid the politicization of any trial.

Anifah also said that it was best for the protection of the rights of all parties involved in any legal proceedings, as well as for the rule of law overall, that neither any government official unrelated to the prosecution or the defense, nor any outside person, seek to influence the outcome of a matter that was undergoing trial.

He said an important hallmark of the Malaysian judicial system was the presumption of innocence while the rights of both the accuser and the accused must be respected in any trial without bias in favour of or against either party.

In a case involving a prominent person, it was especially important to avoid outside pressure, so that each party had an opportunity to present their case to an impartial, unbiased judge, he added.

"Our government is deeply committed to upholding the rule of law in Malaysia.

"Our legal system has the obligation to proceed with this trial, not because the accused is a prominent political figure, but because it has the responsibility to protect all Malaysians under the law, to seek justice and to avoid any form of prejudice regarding any of the parties to a trial," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Definition of 'sweeping statement' - a statement presented as a general truth but based on limited or incomplete evidence (source from http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/generalization.html)