Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s (second from right) PKR colleagues say they support his family’s decision to seek royal intervention against the opposition leader’s sodomy conviction. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 25, 2015.PKR has come out in support of the move by the family of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to file a royal pardon against his sodomy conviction despite the opposition leader’s earlier refusal to seek it.Party vice-president Chua Tian Chang, better known as Tian Chua, said the party leadership respected and understood the decision to seek royal intervention against the opposition leader’s conviction."Right from the beginning, PKR maintains that Anwar is innocent and was framed by trumped-up charges. His imprisonment is unjust. He is persecuted for his unrelenting challenge against the ruling elite."Anwar is, therefore, a prisoner of conscience and does not deserve to be in prison. The jailing of the leader of the opposition and a legitimate representative in Parliament is not only unjust but raises a question on the integrity of the judicial system," he said in a statement today. Tian Chia, the Batu MP, said under Article 42 of the Federal Constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was the custodian for the integrity of the law and has a moral duty to intervene when justice is undermined."Therefore, we are in full support of Nurul Nuha's effort to highlight the injustices done to Anwar Ibrahim," he said, referring to Anwar's second daughter who is spearheading the #March2Freedom campaign.In calling for the palace to acknowledge the "blatant transgression" in the judicial process and step in to rectify the situation, Tian Chua said there was no remedy to the miscarriage of justice, except to release Anwar.Anwar's family decided to seek a royal pardon for him yesterday hours after his lawyers said they received no such instruction from the PKR de facto leader."We met Anwar in prison last week and he did not give any instruction to file such an application. His lawyers, too, will not file anything to that effect," lawyer N. Surendran told The Malaysian Insider.PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil had said that the initiative to seek a royal pardon for Anwar, whose conviction meant that he would lose his Permatang Pauh federal seat, was done by the family and not the party. Anwar's 14-day deadline to file the application expired yesterday and he would have been automatically disqualified as Permatang Pauh MP.His daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is PKR vice-president, said the petition for pardon was made on the basis that the conviction failed to adhere to the principles of justice."The petition for a royal pardon has been sent to the palace," she said.On February 10, a five-man bench led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria found Anwar guilty of having carnal intercourse with his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.The Federal Constitution states that the seat will not be declared vacant until the Pardons Board has deliberated and made a decision.Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, in a statement last night, said that Anwar was still an MP, pending a decision on his petition to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for a royal pardon. – February 25, 2015.
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