Malaysia's Anwar Botches Sex Accusations Case
As usual, the cover-up looks worse than the alleged offense
For the third time in his long political career, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is finding himself ensnared in allegations of sexual misconduct that are likely to damage his reputation if not his status as premier, this time as much because of his and his government’s attempts to evade trouble as because of the charges against him. Embarrassing as it is, it’s probably unlikely that, given the current political situation, the affair would bring him down. Political mavens believe the country’s moderate voters are more alarmed by the potential menace of a government headed by the rural Islamist Parti Islam se-Malaysia, or PAS, if Anwar’s government were to fall and an election were held.
The case, which has roiled Malaysian politics for weeks, providing titillating gossip among the governing classes, involves a then-young research assistant to Anwar named Mohammed Yusoff Rawther, who charged that Anwar, who had been pardoned by the king only a few months earlier on charges of sexual assault and had taken a seat in parliament, had lured Yusoff to his home on October 10, 2018 in the Segambut section of Kuala Lumpur by asking for the delivery of a speech text.
Then, according to the suit filed in Kuala Lumpur’s High Court, Anwar allegedly tried to kiss him, opened his pants and instructed Yusoff to take his penis in his hand, squeezed his buttocks and asked, “Please lah, Yusoff, just a blowjob.” A variety of hugs, attempted kisses, and blandishments followed before Yusoff escaped, but not before Anwar allegedly told him, “Eventually you will come around, I am going to be the prime minister one day, you know.”
Anwar Ibrahim was 72 at the time. Yusoff, on the other hand, was 26. The aide, allegedly vowing never to be alone with Anwar again, nonetheless continued working in his office until May 5, 2019 when, according to the complaint, he was jumped by Anwar’s political secretary, Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, who beat the tar out of him, injuring him seriously enough to send him to the hospital, which Yusoff interpreted “as a way of sending Plaintiff a strong message and to teach the Plaintiff a lesson for rejecting the Defendant’s sexual advances on the day of the sexual assault incident.”
That was enough for Yusoff, who resigned and, on July 12, 2019, filed a police report against Anwar, gave a recorded statement and voluntarily took and passed a lie detector test, which Anwar, according to the statement, refused to do, saying the case was baseless and was an attempt by his political enemies to get him. Later, Tommy Thomas, the attorney general at the time, declined to prosecute, issuing a statement that there was insufficient evidence to file a case. Yusoff refused to be deterred, on November 11, filing a sworn declaration describing his ordeal. Then he sued, alleging psychological and sociological disturbance, serious traumatic disturbance, loss of respect and damage to or loss of reputation and seeking damages.
Twice before, Anwar has faced sexual perversion charges and triumphed both time despite conviction, branding the charges – with good reason – as trumped-up to sabotage his political career. This time it may not be as easy, not because Yusoff’s charges are any more provable in court, since they only depend on his version of events, but because of what happened to Yusoff after he filed charges. Unlike the two previous cases, Anwar’s accuser can’t credibly be accused of being a political plant by government officials, since Yusoff was recommended by a longtime Anwar ally, the late S. Mohamad Idris, one of the seminal reform figures of Malaysian politics and an Anwar friend, although Yusoff “had disciplinary issues,” according to court documents.
Not only was Yusoff allegedly beaten up by Farhash – which Farhash has denied along with filing libel charges – while continuing to pursue the case against Anwar, Yusoff last September 6 found himself surrounded by police from Malaysia’s elite Special Branch as he emerged from his condo, who demanded to search his car – a week after he submitted a list of witnesses for the suit against Anwar. When he unlocked the car for them, they searched it and found two fake pistols and 305 grams of cannabis. Prior to the 2023 abolition of the death penalty, 200 grams of cannabis or more brought a possible sentence of either death or life imprisonment in addition to at least 12 strokes of the cane.
Yusoff was charged with trafficking and possessing two imitation firearms under the Arms Act, which provides for a maximum penalty of one year in prison, a fine of up to RM5,000 or both, and put in solitary confinement, where he moldered for nine months – on Malaysia’s Death Row in Sungai Buloh Prison, while maintaining he’d been framed.
Anwar, in the meantime, sought to invoke legal immunity from Yusoff’s civil suit, insisting as prime minister he deserved to be protected from claims he argued were politically motivated and designed to interfere with his official duties. The High Court denied Anwar’s application, stating that the prime minister was “seeking to create new immunity where none exists constitutionally.” The appellate court subsequently intervened, postponing the trial pending the resolution of the constitutional challenge. Now, say Anwar’s critics, he has appealed the immunity case to a court of his own appointees, raising wider concerns that he is attempting to use formerly independent courts the way his predecessors Mahathir Mohamad and Najib Razak were notorious for.
When Yusoff was finally able to appear in court two weeks ago, the prosecution was humiliated when High Court Judge Jamil Hussin ruled it had failed to establish a case, a clear indication the ganja and fake pistols had been planted in his car. Yusoff’s legal team wasn’t even required to enter a defense. Yusoff’s case has been delayed until July because of Anwar’s immunity appeal. After recovering from the embarrassment, the attorney general appealed the acquittal to the Appeals Court, where the matter sits.
The affair adds up to a monumental embarrassment to Anwar, Special Branch, and anyone else connected with it. It’s uncertain how far Yusoff’s case would have gone beyond a momentary embarrassment. Much of the alleged assault was in the form of gestures and entreaties, with no physical evidence, meaning Yusoff may not have a provable case beyond his own word. But Anwar is universally believed to have engineered the entrapment and the nine-month stint on death row. His attempt to claim legal immunity on a thin reed rather than facing his accuser makes it more problematic.
“Anwar can’t say this is a state conspiracy against him this time as the last two charges were, this time he is the state,” said a Kuala Lumpur-based lawyer who asked not to be quoted by name. “Why should a private citizen make this allegation and dare solitary confinement? This is an ordinary Joe who was fondled. It looks like the might of the state trying to shut him up, and for what reason? There was no evidence, no witnesses, so it’s badly done. It’s very bad for him, it’s clear he doesn’t want it to go any further.”
Yusoff appeared triumphantly after his acquittal on the drug and weapons charges, telling supporters his release was a victory for all Malaysians and that he was pressing ahead with the civil suit, according to local media. A relatively shaky case looks certain to cause more trouble for the premier at a time when his stock is falling for other reasons.