Given the guilty verdict and the severity of the sentence meted out on a sodomy charge to former Malaysian deputy prime minister Mr Anwar Ibrahim in a Kuala Lumpur court yesterday, the reaction in the Malaysian capital was relatively muted.
Perhaps, despite the flimsy evidence, no one really expected an acquittal and the outrage among Mr Anwar's supporters and family members was tempered with bitter resignation.
Mr Anwar was sentenced to nine years in jail by High Court Judge Arifin Jaka, sitting without a jury as is customary in Malaysia, after 118 days of sometimes contradictory testimony.
The Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, publicly charged Mr Anwar with sodomy after ousting him two years ago, and a guilty verdict was crucial for him. But it did not come as a surprise, given that Dr Mahathir has enjoyed the support of the state institutions at each moment of reckoning in their subsequent power struggle.
The trial has fuelled conspiracy theories and raised troubling questions about the judicial system in the one-time British colony.
Police in riot gear kept a small group of Anwar supporters away from the court in the centre of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, and made eight arrests, but there was no repeat of the widespread disturbances which followed Mr Anwar's sentence to six years for abuse of state power last year.
Ruling that Mr Anwar (52), and his adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan (39), were guilty of "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" with Mr Anwar's family driver, Azizxan Abu Bakar, the judge said: "I'm satisfied the prosecution has proved its case against both accused beyond reasonable doubt."
The original sodomy charge referred to "one night in the month of May 1994", but during the trial the prosecution changed the date to 1992, and when Mr Anwar's defence lawyers revealed that the building in which the offence was alleged to have taken place was under construction at the time, they changed it again to "one night between January and March 1993".
Mr Anwar strongly denied the charges and his lawyers produced alibis for every possible day on which the alleged offence might have taken place.
The judge shocked the court by saying to Mr Anwar after yesterday's ruling, "You are a sick man." Mr Anwar replied: "Only a sick judge would call me a sick man." The judge later apologised for his remark.
Mr Anwar greeted the verdict stoically. "What's new?" he said to relatives in the courtroom.
He repeated his accusation that he was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by Dr Mahathir to prevent him from exposing corruption. The Prime Minister has denied the accusation, saying Mr Anwar was morally unfit to succeed him.
"Thank you, my Lord," Mr Anwar told the judge sardonically after he was sentenced. "You have performed according to the script that has been laid out before you."
He added that some people had up to now maintained a degree of confidence in the Malaysian court system, "but they have seen how the trial was conducted, and they have concluded that this case has nothing to do with crime - there has been no criminal trial in this court, only political prosecution."
Defence lawyer Mr Christopher Fernando said he was shocked and flabbergasted by the verdict. "The decision is utterly mind-boggling despite all the evidence which favours the defendant," he said.
The judge said Mr Anwar would start his nine-year sentence after he finishes the six-year jail term for abuse of power which began in April 1999.
This means that even with time off for good behaviour the once rising star of Malaysian politics faces imprisonment until April 2009, and under Malaysian law may not engage in politics for a further five years after that.
Sukma was given six years in prison and four strokes of a cane but his sentence was suspended pending appeal. Caning is limited to convicts aged 49 years and below, sparing Mr Anwar, who turns 53 on Thursday.
Mr Anwar's sacking on September 2nd, 1998, united a disparate opposition, posing one of the biggest challenges to Dr Mahathir since he assumed power 19 years ago.
Dr Mahathir has been helped by Malaysia's strong economic performance since the end of the Asia financial crisis last year. Malaysia's industrial output jumped 20.1 per cent year-on-year in June, raising hopes of stronger than expected economic growth for the year, the Department of Statistics reported yesterday. Merrill Lynch has raised its gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2000 to 8.0 per cent from 6.8 per cent.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch yesterday condemned the outcome of the trial as a blow to justice and a step backwards for Malaysia.