At a press conference at the Civic Centre here, Saari Sungib of Otai Reformasi said that Amnesty International (AI) declared the incarcerated former Opposition leader a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.
The Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) assemblyman added that AI also went on record to state that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and several other governments such as Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States have condemned the imprisonment of the former Deputy Prime Minister.
“Anwar Ibrahim spent his whole life pursuing peace and welfare in the name of humanity, based on Islamic principles.
“He practiced politics that were free of narrow racial prejudice while calling for good governance, transparency and responsibilities at the height of his power,” Saari said in a press conference.
Anwar has already won numerous awards and thus, according to Saari it was only proper that Anwar was viewed as an icon of peace.
PKR’s Tian Chua who was also at the press conference, stated that the nomination of Anwar to the Nobel Committee was submitted by a group of internationals.
“We are not here to start a campaign, or to get signatures for Anwar to get the prize. That’s not how it works.
“We are here to state our support for a leader that deserves recognition beyond the borders of Malaysia,” he said and added that apart from awards and recognitions, Anwar needed to be exonerated and released.
On a related matter, Saari also announced that a convention called “People Reform Convention” was planned for early April this year in Shah Alam, followed by a gathering called “Save Malaysia, Free Anwar, Free Rakyat, Stop the Despots,” at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, where up to 100,000 were expected to attend.