No political conspiracy, prosecution says in Anwar’s Sodomy II appeal

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim arriving at the Place of Justice in Putrajaya this morning. Today is the prosecution's turn to answer points raised by the defence in Anwar's Sodomy II trial. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, October 31, 2014.The prosecution in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's appeal to overturn his sodomy conviction will aim to dismantle the opposition leader's claim that the charge against him was a political conspiracy, chief prosecutor Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the Federal Court today.

"The entire dominant (theme in the) defence of the appellant was that there was a political conspiracy. At least two of his counsel submitted on this and also his statement from the dock," Shafee said as the apex court began its fourth day of the hearing.

Anwar's co-counsel N. Surendran had submitted on Tuesday that the charge against his client of sodomising Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008 was politically motivated.

Anwar had also made this claim in a 32-page unsworn statement from the dock during the trial.

Citing Anwar's statement, Shafee said the opposition leader had claimed the charge was a wide allegation and was in no uncertain terms "a conspiracy of the highest level from the prime minister to the humble investigating officer (IO) Jude Pereira".

Shafee said Anwar was again making the same kind of conspiracy claim he had made against former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom Anwar had accused of wanting to send him (Anwar) into political oblivion.

Shafee told the court that he would examine and analyse what the defence meant by claiming a political conspiracy.

No one had asked Anwar to give an unsworn statement, Shafee said. The Permatang Pauh MP could have chosen to "shut his mouth" but Anwar instead wanted to explain why he had to make a statement from the dock.

An unsworn statement from the dock is treated as testimony that is not admissible and which cannot be cross-examined.

Anwar's lawyer Surendran had on Wednesday asked the Federal Court to give weightage to his client’s unsworn statement made during the trial, submitting that Anwar had explained five times why he chose to do so.

The High Court and Court of Appeal had dismissed his unsworn statement, considering it a "bare denial" of the charge.

As Shafee went through Anwar's unsworn statement, the prosecutor picked out highlights for rebuttal.

On the point of alibis, he asked why Anwar could not produce a witness instead of claiming that his alibi witnesses had been harassed.

During trial, the defence had said that Anwar was not in the condominium unit where the alleged sodomy took place and that the unit's owner had been harassed by police.

Shafee said "it didn't add up" that the alibi witnesses were scared of the police who only wanted to interview them.

On Anwar's claim that the investigating officer Supt Jude Pereira had tampered with the DNA evidence, Shafee said it was "unreasonable" that Pereira would have been able to find a fresh semen sample. 

"Did he go to a sperm bank? How do you get a reasonable fresh semen which is about 60 hours old?" Shafee said to the court.

Shafee submitted that Anwar only made claims of a conspiracy when situations and people were against him.

But besides claiming an "elaborate political scheme", Anwar should also explain how his sperm ended up in "intimate areas" of Saiful, Shafee said.

He said the trial judge was wrong to acquit Anwar on the basis of doubts about the DNA evidence as there had been no tampering of the samples handled by Pereira, the investigating officer.

Anwar's defence team of 14 lawyers is led by retired Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram.

A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria is hearing the appeal.

Anwar was acquitted by the High Court in January 2012 after a lengthy trial.

This was overturned by the Court of Appeal in March this year, and his five-year jail sentence was given a stay of execution pending the outcome of his appeal in the Federal Court.

The opposition leader is alleged to have performed carnal intercourse on Saiful, his former aide, at an apartment in Damansara on June 26, 2008.

This is the second sodomy charge against Anwar. The first was in 1998, after he was sacked from government while still holding the posts of deputy prime minister and finance minister. He was then accused of sodomising his former driver and eventually acquitted by the Federal Court in 2004.

This time, Anwar's political career could come to an end if the apex court upholds the Court of Appeal's conviction and grants the prosecution's request for an enhanced sentence which could be extended up to 20 years under the law. – October 31, 2014.

* Reporting contributed by Tarani Palani, The Edge Financial Daily.