Sodomy trial of Malaysia's Anwar shifts to apartment

Anwar and his wife and lawyers, together with his 24-year-old accuser Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, prosecutors and the High Court judge presiding over the case, left the court in a 10-vehicle convoy.

“We are going to the site,” Anwar told reporters as he departed under a police escort for the Desa Damansara condominium in an expensive Kuala Lumpur suburb.

As Saiful alighted from the car, a woman among a group of opposition supporters yelled repeatedly: “You have no shame.”

Anwar, 62, left the building after about half an hour, rolling down the window of his car to smile and wave at supporters.

The former deputy premier, who was sacked and jailed on corruption and sodomy charges a decade ago, has dismissed the new allegations, which carry a penalty of 20 years' imprisonment as a plot to end his political career.

On Wednesday, the trial opened with Saiful testifying that Anwar, using vulgar language, propositioned him for sex shortly after he came to the apartment on June 26, 2008 to deliver a document.

He said he went to the bathroom to wash himself, undressed, hung up his clothes and wrapped himself in a towel, returning to the bedroom where he was embraced by Anwar who was also wearing just a towel. His testimony was cut short as the judge agreed to a defense application to hear the rest of the account in a closed hearing Thursday morning. Anwar's press secretary Eekmal Ahmad confirmed that Saiful gave further testimony in a private hearing.

“I do not have any details on what is being said as it is closed to everyone but the lawyers and individuals involved,” he told AFP.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that two days after the alleged incident Saiful underwent a medical examination at a hospital and that DNA tests on samples taken from his body found traces of Anwar's semen.

Prosecutor Mohamed Yusof Zainal Abiden said Anwar's guilt would be proven through Saiful's testimony, as well as “forensic evidence from doctors and chemists alongside circumstantial evidence and documentary evidence.”

Sodomy, even among consenting adults, carries a penalty of up to 20 years in Malaysia, a conservative and Muslim-majority country.

Saiful was the first witness called in the trial, which is taking place after months of delays caused by defense applications including an attempt to gain access to evidence such as medical reports and closed-circuit TV footage.

Anwar has accused Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife of being personally involved in fabricating the charges, and said he would call them as witnesses.

The Barisan Nasional coalition government, which has ruled Malaysia for half a century, was hit with its worst ever results in 2008 elections that saw it lose its crucial two-thirds majority in parliament.

Anwar, a married father-of-six, was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 during a power struggle with then-premier Mahathir Mohamad, and convicted on sodomy and corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email