Anwar Awaits Verdict Over Sodomy Charge

Anwar Awaits Verdict Over Sodomy Charge 
Malaysian Mirror, January 7, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR -- All eyes will be on the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday as it delivers its verdict on the protracted sodomy trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Besides Anwar's family members and his supporters, local and foreign media are expected to take up every available space of the court room located on the fifth floor of the Jalan Duta Court Complex here.

The 64-year-old Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor was charged on Aug 7, 2008 with sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 26, in what has been described as one of Malaysia's longest criminal trials.

He allegedly committed the offence at the Desa Damansara Condominium in Bukit Damansara between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

The offence of carnal intercourse against the order of nature under Section 377B of the Penal Code carries up to 20 years' imprisonment and whipping on conviction.

Should he be found guilty, Anwar - who is charged with sodomy for the second time - will be spared whipping as he is above 50 years of age.

Political pundits are following developments closely as the verdict will weigh on the political future of Anwar as well as the opposition's strategy in facing the general election, said to be just around the corner.

Under Article 48 clause 5 of the Federal Constitution, a person who is jailed not less than 12 months or fined not less than RM2,000 for a criminal offence is barred from contesting in any election.

The ruling is enforceable from the day of the sentencing, regardless whether the person succeeds at the appeal stage.

In 1998, Anwar was charged together with his adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja, with sodomising his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's driver Azizan Abu Bakar, and was sentenced to nine years in jail by the High Court which found him guilty in 2000.

However, Anwar was freed on Sept 5, 2004 after the Federal Court, in a 2-1 majority decision, set aside the sodomy conviction and jail term. The court also overturned the conviction and six-year jail sentence of Sukma.

During the trial of the current sodomy case, Anwar filed several interlocutory applications to court with the intention to, among others, recuse the presiding judge, drop the charge against him, and procure key documents including Mohd Saiful's DNA specimen sample and other medical reports made by Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL).

He also failed in his bid to call Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor to be his defence witnesses after the court granted the couple's application to set aside the subpoenas compelling them to testify.

Another highlight of the trial was the testimony of Mohd Saiful himself, who told the court that he did not wash his anus after the alleged incident three years ago as he wanted to preserve the evidence.

The prosecution called 26 witnesses, including three specialists from HKL who examined Mohd Saiful on June 28, 2008, two days after the alleged incident.

The prosecution also called Dr S.Jeyaindran, who examined Anwar three weeks after the incident, to rebut defence witness orthopaedic surgeon Dr Thomas Hoogland's evidence that it was very unlikely for Anwar to commit the sodomy act as described by Mohd Saiful, due to his back pain.

On May 16, 2010, Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah ordered Anwar to enter his defence after ruling that Mohd Saiful, the complainant in the case, was a truthful and credible witness.

The defence called eight witnesses, including Anwar, who opted to give his evidence from the dock without taking oath.

At the end of its case, the prosecution revealed that the DNA profile of a "Male Y" found in the anus of Mohd Saiful belonged to Anwar, and this was derived at by DNA analysis carried out by chemist Nor Aidora Saedon on DNA samples collected from the lock-up cell used by Anwar, and by Dr Seah Lay Hong on samples collected from Mohd Saiful.

(Bernama)