Your Say: Saiful, don't hide behind religion

Your Say: Saiful, don't hide behind religion
Aug 18, 08 11:20am
On Saiful: Sodomy wasn't consensual

Permatang Pauh: This is getting ridiculous and the BN government is yet again insulting our intelligence! Saiful’s saga is so pathetic, that it will never stand in any court of public opinion. We do not care about him swearing on the Quran as it has nothing to do with Syariah rulings.

Furthermore, being so heavily tainted and compromised, his testimony in Islam or in the court of public opinion is worthless! We all know that the BN is behind all of this, but what’s surprising is how stupid they are not to realise that it is best for them to just quietly withdraw the case and reduce the damage inflicted on the government.

I guarantee you that, after this ridiculous swearing and more ridiculous statement that ‘sodomy’ was forced (by a weak 61-year-old on a healthy and strong-looking 23-year-old), Anwar Ibrahim will win Permatang Pauh with an even bigger majority than Kak Wan. All righteous Malaysians of Permatang Pauh will come in droves and take Anwar to Parliament.

Mark my words, Saiful, and watch what will happen when BN is no longer the ruling government.

Malaysian-thru-and-thru: Saiful, can you please either present yourself intelligently or go away? You are not only a university drop-out but a young country bumpkin who does not know what he wants in his life, who allows himself to be manipulated by corrupted forces. You are the biggest shame of this country since the killing of the Mongolian Altantuya.

So please give us all Malaysian citizens a big break and go hide in your little corner and leave us alone to get on with our lives. We have got better things to do with our time than listen to you blowing your soundless trumpet!

Densemy: If it wasn’t consensual then it must have been rape. Homosexual rape does occur, for example in prisons. In everyday life, the relaxation of the muscles of the anal sphincter are under involuntary control and will relax only in response to an increase in faecal pressure inside the rectum. Voluntary control of these muscles is usually restricted to closing them down... forcefully.

For there to be effective anal penetration, the victim must be willing and able to relax the muscles of his anal sphincter to allow entry of a foreign object. Many gay men find anal sex impossible because although willing, they are unable to relax sufficiently to allow entry without considerable pain.

Thus forceful entry is almost impossible. If rape did occur, there would have been considerable struggling, the victim would show signs of bruising, clothes would be torn and there would be trauma to both the anal sphincter and the rectum.

Add to that the difference in age and in the physical fitness of Anwar and Saiful and you have a situation where homosexual rape is impossible. So what is Saiful getting at? His need to save face is causing him even more loss of face.

Sebarkan Salam: First things first. Swearing on the Quran or swearing on a coconut makes no difference. At first it was eight times, then it was consensual. Now it is only once and that too not consensual, or in plain language, rape!

But I thought Anwar was charged for ‘consensual sex’ against the course of nature? Thank you young man!

Bernard: It is a real shame that Saiful is again playing as an agent of Najib and BN. People who can think independently know what the truth is. Nobody can prevent Anwar from becoming the next Prime Minister. Shame on BN! Shame on Najib!!

Tim Finian: Saiful says it wasn't consensual. I mean, he must be taking us for fools. Anyway, with his father's presence and an opportunist lawyer by his side, the whole episode reeked of big bucks.

Would one stage an elaborate drama for a million or bucks? Definitely. That's why he was in hiding. Preparing for the act of his life.

The Healer: Saiful’s act of swearing on the Quran is tantamount to being sub-judicial to the upcoming Anwar trial. Using the Quran is a mere tactical diversion to cast a guilty light on Anwar.

Saiful is irresponsible for passing judgment and not allowing Anwar to be innocent till proven guilty. Saiful should be condemned for using his God’s name in vain. By swearing on the Quran, he has portrayed himself as an untrustworthy person who has to borrow God’s authority to make up for his shortcomings.

Who are we to borrow God’s authority, unless God Himself gives us the authority? Saiful should simply tell the truth and allow Anwar to defend himself. In the end, the court will make its decision and final verdict.

Howard Khoo: Who should we believe? Saiful's swearing on the Quran or an independant professional doctor's medical report saying that Saiful was never sodomised. Isn't the answer obvious?

Free To Swear: Does swearing on a Holy Book means that the person is telling the truth? And the person who does not swear on the Holy Book is the guilty party?

It is about time we Malaysians grow up and not be so naive otherwise we will continue being manipulated by politicians. It is far too obvious that the entire swearing on the Quran episode was well timed to take place one day before the nominations for the Permatang Pauh by-election.

It does not take a genius to figure that out! Naturally, it raises the question of a well planned political charade with only one intention: hampering Anwar's political ambition.

Thousands of people swear on the Holy Book, whether it is the Holy Bible or the Quran, when they testify in court and yet they are found guilty of their crimes.

In arriving at their guilty verdicts, the jury or the judge based their judgements on the evidence of the case and not the fact that the criminal had sworn on the Holy Book.

If swearing on the Holy Book makes a person innocent, then thousands of criminals would be all too glad to swear and be let off the hook. Naturally, a guilty party would do anything to avoid punishment.

Kenny Gan: Saiful's act of swearing on the Quran is a misuse of religion and has no implication to his guilt or innocence. Go to the prison and ask the rapists, the murderers and robbers if they are willing to swear their innocence on their religion for freedom and I assure you that 99 per cent will happily do it.

So does it prove that they are innocent? Saiful wants us to believe he's swearing on the Quran because he's telling the truth but does he also want us to believe that he's a heartless liar and an evil schemer willing to swear his lies on the Quran?

Furthermore, it's strange that he said he had to garner courage before swearing on the Quran. If he's swearing the truth, why is it necessary to garner courage? This certainly smacks of plucking up courage to swear an untruth.

DK: Firstly, some advice to Saiful: don’t drag religion into your wrongdoings. Where were you all this while, suddenly popping up like a mushroom, on the eve of nomination day, no less.

Why didn’t you swear earlier, during the time you made the police report? And why didn’t you appear in public to answer our questions before Anwar was arrested.

If you think your appearance now will save BN/UMNO, forget it!! You are a scapegoat on the way to slaughter! The medical doctor who examined you has clarified that your sodomy accusation was false.

So you took the only option you had left, religion. We Malaysians are looking at the macro level of our political landscape, so a sodomy case is not as important as honest nation-building.

We need a Pakatan government for total reform, instead of a few selfish, corrupt ministers desperate to cling on to power. Saiful, don’t be a traitor to the nation.

Peter Ooi: I am really amazed by Saiful's latest claim that the sodomy act was not consensual. I hope he was very sure when he said this.

Anwar was charged in court for a consensual sexual act on Saiful. It must have been spelt out very clearly in the charges and I believe all the learned lawyers and police officers were very clear on the charges.

Even our Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar acknowledged it in his press statement. He even claimed that since Saiful was the victim in the consensual act, he is exempted from prosecution.Syed Hamid most probably belives that Malaysians are imbeciles.

Some readers pointed out that in a consensual sex act, no one is a victim. They are willing partners. And in the case of consensual sodomy, it is clearly stipulated that both of them should be charged in court.

It is not a matter of who went to make a police report first. As pointed out, if Anwar went to make the report first, would they prosecute Saiful? These facts indicate that the charge against Anwar is beyond logic.

And Saiful has said that it was non-consensual after all. It makes me wonder whether his change of heart was the result of adverse comments on the charges against Anwar.

The police and Attorney General must be very sure of what they are doing. Already there were so many controversies surrounding the case. Please do not make matters worse. If there isn’t enough solid evidence against Anwar, it would be better to drop the charges.

Public funds and valuable time would be saved. Instead, they can focus their attention in bringing charges against real criminals and corrupt leaders.