I n a surprise move, Malaysia's Supreme Court has reversed a conviction of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and set him free. The decision is yet another indication of the differences between Prime Minister Abdullah Bedawi and his predecessor, Mr. Mahathir Mohamad. It is too early to say whether this move promises greater liberalization in Malaysia, but it does offer reasons for hope.
Six years ago, Mr. Anwar was arrested on charges of corruption and sexual misconduct. It took a year for the authorities to convict him on charges of interfering in the police investigation of the cases, and he was sentenced to six years in prison. A year later, in 2000, he was convicted of sexually assaulting his wife's driver and sentenced to an additional nine years of incarceration that would be served sequentially. Good behavior in prison reduced the length of his first sentence; when it finished last year, he began serving time for the sexual misconduct conviction.
Only days before his arrest, Mr. Anwar was the No. 2 in Malaysia -- the deputy prime minister -- and widely assumed to be the heir apparent to Mr. Mahathir. He was dismissed on Sept. 2, 1998, after he and Mr. Mahathir split over how the nation should respond to the Asian financial crisis. Mr. Anwar backed the International Monetary Fund's prescription for Malaysia: greater reform and openness in the financial sector. Mr. Mahathir favored a more nationalist approach: financial controls to diminish the Malaysian economy's vulnerability to international speculators. Mr. Mahathir prevailed. (In all fairness, Mr. Mahathir's response spared Malaysia many of the pains endured by the countries that took the IMF's advice.)