SAARI SUNGIB NEEDS TO PROVE HIS INNOCENCE

Hence Saari would now have to make sure he can prove he has not been bought and unless and until he can then Hadi’s allegation against him stands and we will consider him guilty of having sold out to PKR.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In a most hard-hitting speech yesterday, PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang hit out at PKR for buying over two of the Islamic party’s state assemblymen and referred to the two as having ‘crossed to the other side’.

Hadi reminded the members that PAS, PKR and DAP are not one party but three separate parties with differing ideologies.

PAS is an Islamic party, said Hadi, while DAP is a secular-socialist party and PKR a secular-pragmatist party. In Islam, both are considered negative and are viewed as anti-religion — while ‘pragmatist’ can be translated to mean the end justify the means (matlamat menghalalkan cara).

One of the two that Hadi said had been bought, Selangor state assemblyman Saari Sungib, has asked Hadi to prove the allegation that he had been bought by PKR. Unfortunate for Saari, Hadi does not need to do this because in Malaysia the accused needs to prove his/her innocence while the accuser need not prove the allegation.

This is what happened to me as well. The Pakatoons flooded the Internet and the social media with postings that I had been bought and had crossed over. They need not prove that allegation and since I cannot prove I had not sold out then the allegation becomes the evidence.

And this is what will happen in Saari’s case. Hadi has accused him of being bought and unless he can prove he has not been bought then Hadi’s allegation against him becomes the evidence that he indeed has been bought and has crossed over to the other side.

For that matter, Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, too, has been accused of all sorts of wrongdoings and transgressions and since he did not or was not able to prove that the allegations are false, PKR sacked him from the party.

So it is not those who make allegations against Khalid who need to prove the allegation. It is Khalid who needs to provide evidence that the allegations are false. And since he cannot then he had to face punishment.

Basically, this is how Pakatan Rakyat operates and is the standard of justice that the opposition coalition applies. That was the justice applied to me. That was also the justice applied to Khalid. So Saari will have to accept that same standard of justice in the allegation that PKR has bought him off.

It is, of course, very difficult to prove an allegation unless there is tangible evidence and/or witnesses. And it is impossible to prove you are not guilty of a transgression you have been accused of unless under certain situation (such as in a crime of murder and you have a strong alibi that you were somewhere else when the murder was committed).

Nevertheless, as much as it is impossible to prove you are innocent of a certain allegation, the onus is still on you to prove your innocence and not for the accuser to prove his/her allegation against you.

Lawyers and civil rights activists scream that one is considered innocent until proven guilty in a trial in an open court. That may be true when it comes to the government alleging that you have committed a crime. But that does not apply when the opposition makes an allegation against you.

In these types of cases you are guilty unless you can prove your innocence.

Hence Saari would now have to make sure he can prove he has not been bought and unless and until he can then Hadi’s allegation against him stands and we will consider him guilty of having sold out to PKR.