KUALA LUMPUR – A petition to the Obama administration to free jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been removed from the White House website for petitions, just as it neared the goal of reaching 100,000 signatures.

According to a brief notice on the site, the petition was removed for being in violation of its “terms of participation”.

“The petition you are trying to access has been removed from the site under our Moderation Policy because it is in violation of our Terms of Participation,” the notice said.

Since early today (March 10), DAP lawmakers have been campaigning hard to draw more signatures for the petition, which was launched by former US ambassador to Malaysia John R Malott last month after Anwar was sent to prison for sodomy.

“Anwar Ibrahim, the Leader of the Opposition in Malaysia, a champion of democracy, a believer in Islamic justice, and a longtime friend of the United States, was convicted and jailed on trumped-up charges on February 10, 2015,” the petition says.

The petition noted that the US White House had quickly issued a statement after Anwar’s conviction to express its “deep disappointment” and concern over Malaysia’s rule of law and fairness of the judicial system, but said such remarks are inadequate.

“But statements are not enough. The Administration must follow its words with action. Anwar is a political prisoner. The future of democracy in Malaysia is at stake.

Securing Anwar’s release from prison must be a top priority in US policy towards Malaysia, to be advanced in every way possible,” the petition says in urging for action.

“In less than 24 hours, we manage to collect 29k signatures. TQ netizens! Hopefully we will hit the 100k target by noon, but we shall not stop there, let’s collect as many signatures as possible by March 12,” Serdang member of parliament Teo Nie Ching wrote on her Facebook page, referring to the 100,000 signature mark deadline for the petition.

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang urged more people to sign the petition, which required another 5,000 signatures to hit 100,000, the threshold for a US government response.

Mr Lim tweeted his confidence that the number could be reached by 5pm today, ahead of the March 12 deadline.

But soon after, a check at the website showed that the plea to free Anwar had been removed.

PKR Batu MP and vice-president Tian Chua said Putrajaya may be behind the petition’s removal.

He tweeted: “The FreeAnwar petition Whitehouse has been suspended - I suspect Malaysian government has sabotaged the petition and undermined the process”.

The petition was started by former US ambassador to Malaysia John R Malott, who launched it soon after the Federal Court’s verdict upholding Anwar’s sodomy conviction on February 10.

Under the White House’s petition terms, it is stated that participants must be aged above 13 years to sign the petition and are prohibited from signing more than once.

A participant must create a WhiteHouse.gov user account to sign the petition, which requires one email address for each individual.

“The White House may disable user accounts, remove associated signatures and remove petitions created or signed by users that it has reasonable belief do not satisfy the above rules.

“The White House may also block access from IP addresses that it has reasonable belief are using automated systems or bulk processes to create multiple user accounts or petition signatures,” the terms say.

According to rules set by the White House, a petition must obtain at least 100,000 signatures within 30 days in order to get a response from the US government.

This is not the first time that a petition regarding Malaysian events were started on the page, with a petition started in May 2013 to protest against alleged fraud during the country’s 13th general election.

The Federal Court on February 10 upheld the Court of Appeal’s conviction of Anwar for sodomising his former political aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, also keeping a five-year jail sentence.

Sources: The Malay Mail Online, The Malaysian Insider