From Malaysian Insider
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s lawyers have demanded that Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail respond to Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s claims of a female deputy public prosecutor being romantically involved with the lead witness in Anwar’s on-going Sodomy II trial.
Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin had alleged in a blog posting recently that a female deputy public prosecutor, a junior member of the prosecution team in Anwar’s trial, is having an “affair” with lead witness Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Lead counsel for Anwar’s defence team Sankara Nair said that the Attorney-General or the prosecution team had yet to respond to Raja Petra’s allegations, stressing that if the matter were left unaddressed, it could affect the on-going trial proceedings which is set to continue this coming August 2.
“This will have serious implications in the trial, we want the Attorney-General to confirm or deny these allegations. The Attorney-General’s chambers has to be impartial and prove to do so in its dealings, even though Saiful is the complainant and the prosecution’s material witness,” Sankara told The Malaysian Insider this morning.
Sankara said that the defence team will be submitting a letter to the Attorney-General’s office today, demanding that the Attorney-General step in and provide answers to Raja Petra’s claims.
“We will be sending a letter to the Attorney-General’s office today. They should be getting it (the letter) in the afternoon,” said Sankara.
Sankara also said that they would have to wait for an “official response” from Abdul Gani before they can proceed with any further action.
But the prosecution team say that they are still undecided on whether the female deputy public prosecutor named by Raja Petra would be dropped when the case resumes next month.
Lead prosecutor for the case, Solicitor-General 2 Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, stressed that any decisions on whether she would still be on the team would only be made when the trial resumes.
Mohd Yusof refused to disclose her status following Raja Petra’s allegations.
“I cannot tell you for now, I have not heard about these claims or allegations. But I will have to consult my team, and we will see on August 2 whether she will still be on the team,” Mohd Yusof told The Malaysian Insider last week.
But the senior prosecutor insisted that her role in the case was minimal, as she was “not officially” part of the team when the trial commenced.
Mohd Yusof was also at great pains to explain that she had only been brought in to assist with compiling data and taking notes of trial proceedings because another prosecutor left the team.
“To begin with, she was not in my team. She is not a permanent member of the team… she was only brought in to help with taking notes, compiling data, evidence.
“So I cannot say that she’s been dropped from the team, because she was well, not really part of the team, not like (DPPs) Noorin (Badaruddin), or Wong (Chiang Kiat), or myself. She was brought in to help out, but now we have at least three lawyers who can do the compiling, and sometimes Noorin also takes down notes.
“Besides this she (the implicated DPP) is a prosecutor, a lawyer. She also has other cases to handle. If we decide not to include her on the team next month, it’s because we can handle it without her… it’s because she too has other cases to manage,” said Mohd Yusof.
Yusof has refused to comment on whether there was any truth to Raja Petra’s allegations.
Anwar is being prosecuted by an eight men prosecution team comprising Mohd Yusof, Datuk Nordin Hassan, Mohamed Hanafiah Zakaria, Wong, Noorin, Mira Mirna Musa, Naidatul Athirah Azmad and Farah Azlina Latif.
Anwar, the 62-year-old PKR de facto leader, is charged with sodomising Saiful at Unit 11-5-1 of the Desa Damansara Condominium in Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara here between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
The former deputy prime minister has denied the charge, describing it as “evil, frivolous lies by those in power” when the charge was read out to him. He is charged under section 377B of the Penal Code and can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction. The trial is taking place 18 months after Anwar was charged in court in August 2008.
Anwar was charged with sodomy and corruption in 1998 after he was sacked from the Cabinet and was later convicted and jailed for both offences. He was freed in September 2004 and resurrecting his own career by winning his old Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in a 2008 by-election.
He had earlier led the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, to a historic sweep of five states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.