Budgie Nine defender ‘has links to jailing of Anwar Ibrahim’
The lawyer who defended Australia’s Budgie Nine this week was a key player in the sodomy conviction of Anwar Ibrahim.
The prominent Malaysian lawyer who defended Australia’s so-called Budgie Nine on public nuisance charges this week was a key player in the widely criticised 2014 sodomy conviction of Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The appointment of Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, a private lawyer frequently linked to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling UMNO party, to represent the nine Australian men in court last Thursday raised eyebrows in Kuala Lumpur, given Australia’s stated ongoing concern over Mr Anwar’s imprisonment.
Dr Muhammad Shafee appeared in Sepang court for the nine men, including a political adviser to federal cabinet minister Christopher Pyne, four days after they were arrested for stripping down to swimming briefs printed with the Malaysian flag at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
He argued that the nine men had “suffered enough” after four nights in a “not very friendly” police lock-up and had never meant to cause offence. Dr Muhammad Shafee, sometimes described as Malaysia’s most expensive lawyer, has represented other Australian consular cases, and is defending Sydney grandmother Maria Exposto on drug-trafficking charges.
In June, he was appointed by the government as its first ambassador on human rights.
Human Rights Watch described that decision as a “really bad joke”, its deputy Asia director Phil Robertson telling The Weekend Australian yesterday Dr Muhammad Shafee was the Malaysian government’s lawyer of choice on important cases.
“Often this has meant doubling down on rights abuses, like imprisoning Anwar on trumped-up charges,” he said. “The take-away from the Budgie Nine walking free is that Malaysia didn’t want to have this incident become a major issue in bilateral relations with Australia.”
Dr Muhammad Shafee was granted special sanction to lead the public prosecution’s appeal against Mr Anwar after he was acquitted on a second sodomy charge in 2012.
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