Second acquittal of Anwar critic revives scrutiny of past remarks on Israel

A court decision today acquitting a prominent political commentator who accused Anwar Ibrahim’s administration of being pro-Israel has threatened to cast a spotlight on various actions by the prime minister that have angered pro-Palestinian groups, including his controversial statements that the defence cited to quash a sedition charge.

This comes as the Klang Sessions Court threw out a sedition charge against Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, popularly known as "Papagomo" and "Sir Azri", over remarks he made in a video shared on Facebook in November 2023, just a month into Israel’s brutal war in Gaza which has so far killed at least 100,000 Palestinian civilians.

Papagomo was charged under Section 4 of the Sedition Act for uttering “seditious words” that could bring “hatred, contempt, or disaffection against the government” or “incite ill-will between different races”, a colonial-era offence that has targeted countless critics and been used by various governments over the past four decades.

The charge relates to a video clip shared on Nov 8, 2023, in which he said: “Guys, the government today is pro-Israel and pro-West. When we see one by one the things that this government has displayed, it becomes clear that we are in a dangerous situation because the government, led today by that ‘bapuk tua’, is pro-West.”

Judge Siti Aminah Ghazali ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case, adding that the defence had raised reasonable doubt. It marks the second time the court has dismissed the prosecution’s case, following a similar decision in September last year.

In July, the prosecution succeeded in appealing against the acquittal in the High Court, which ordered Papagomo to enter his defence.

During trial, the prosecution called nine witnesses, in contrast to Papagomo, who was the sole witness for his defence.

His defence included statements issued by Anwar over the years to justify his allegation against the politician.

“His comments in the video do not constitute incitement or a baseless fabrication with malicious intention. They are grounded in a series of verifiable facts that already exist in official records and international media reports,” according to the defence statement filed by his lawyer, Rafique Rashid.

It went on to cite Parliament’s Hansard, an Israeli newspaper report welcoming Anwar’s accession to power in 2022, and leaked emails showing his party PKR was part of an international coalition that had expressed support for Israel.

These included angry exchanges in the Dewan Rakyat in 2012 over Anwar’s interview with the Wall Street Journal in January that year, in which the then opposition leader was quoted as saying that he would “support all efforts to protect the security of the state of Israel”.

The defence also quoted comments by the top editor of Israel’s Haaretz newspaper just days after Anwar was named prime minister, welcoming the news as a new chapter in the Zionist state’s relationship with Malaysia.

“Israel would love closer ties with Kuala Lumpur. Could this be the opportunity?” tweeted the paper’s chief editor Esther Solomon, reigniting a long-running debate on Anwar’s alleged ties with Israeli-linked lobbyists.

The defence further cited a 2023 revelation that Anwar’s PKR had been a member of Liberal International, a UK-based group whose sympathetic statement on Israel’s war on Gaza drew condemnation from Malaysian politicians.

Papagomo said that the issue of Palestine and Zionist atrocities is close to Malaysians, and that he felt responsible for pointing out government errors, an action he said was exempted as an offence under the Sedition Act itself.

“When the nation’s No 1 leader is linked to a pro-Israel entity through the above-mentioned documented evidence, it becomes a citizen’s public duty to speak out,” the defence stated.

“His remarks are well intentioned, aimed at ensuring the national administration does not stray from its original anti-colonial foreign policy.”

The defence also justified the use of the word “bapuk tua”, a Malay derogatory slur referring to gay men, saying it was clearly directed not at the Malaysian government but at Anwar, who has “a record of past criminal convictions… [and] previously sentenced to prison by the court for the offence of sodomy”.

The defence went on to deny a frequent allegation at the heart of many sedition charges, that the allegedly seditious utterance or speech could disrupt harmony.

“Since the video of the speech was uploaded and viewed, up until today, there have been no incidents of rioting, street demonstrations, physical attacks, or any security threats directed against the Malaysian government. The situation in the country remains peaceful and things continue as usual.”

Just after the Gaza war began in October 2023, Anwar’s government launched a campaign to counter a popular narrative that his administration was slow to express support for Palestine compared to his predecessors.

This included his trips overseas to meet global Muslim leaders, as well as a hastily organised stadium rally attended by thousands of civil servants, where Anwar was repeatedly portrayed as a champion of the Palestinian cause.

Critics viewed attempts to project Anwar as a supporter of Palestine as part of a damage-control exercise to break clean from his past controversial statements.

But months later, Anwar again found himself under attack after he stubbornly dismissed protests and proceeded with a plan to invite a company owned by BlackRock, the US investment fund accused of complicity in Israeli war crimes, to join a consortium to manage local airports.

This was followed by a November 2024 interview with CNN, in which Anwar said he recognised Israel's right to exist and to "defend itself", a position at odds with Malaysia's decades-long policy of not recognising the Zionist entity.

Last year, Anwar ignored public outrage over his invitation to Donald Trump to attend the Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur, just two weeks after the US president visited Israel to declare his undivided support for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Anwar welcomed Trump by dancing alongside him on the airport tarmac. He later signed the widely condemned trade agreement in which Malaysia pledged investments and purchases of American goods totalling US$240 billion, agreed to consult Washington before entering into trade deals with third parties, and promised not to impose quotas on exports of rare earth minerals to the US.