Menzies Campbell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Menzies Campbell on 2015-02-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Malaysia on the conviction on 9 February 2015 of Anwar Ibrahim; when he next plans to visit that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire

I visited Malaysia from 25-26 February and met the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, YB Dato’ Hamzah Zainudin, as well as a number of other Malaysian Ministers. I repeated the points made in my statement of 10 February, the day the judgement of Anwar Ibrahim was announced, in which I made clear my concern at the Malaysian Federal Court’s decision to uphold his conviction for sodomy. I also met Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, Vice President of opposition party PKR, during my visit.

I have previously raised my concerns about the case with the Malaysian High Commissioner, on 4 December. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), also raised this issue when he met Malaysia’s Foreign Minister on 9 December. Officials from our High Commission in Malaysia have discussed the matter with Malaysian ministers and officials on several occasions, and officials from the High Commission observed the trial alongside other local diplomatic missions.