Malaysian Doctor Says No Evidence of Anwar's Former Aide Being Sodomized

Text of report in English by Malaysian independent website Malaysiakini, owned by Mkinin Dotcom, on 28 July

There is no evidence that Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan was sodomised, according to the doctor who examined him four hours before he lodged a police report alleging he was sexually assaulted by PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim.

It is believed that Anwar's former aide Saiful went to two different hospitals on June 28 -the day he lodged the police report claiming that he was sodomised by his ex-boss.

He first went to Hospital Pusrawi (Pusat Rawatan Islam) in Jalan Tun Razak -a government-linked Islamic medical institution -at about 2pm.

According to a copy of the two-page medical report obtained by malaysiakini yesterday, Saiful went to the hospital complaining of 'tenesmus' -a medical term for difficulty and pain in passing motion.

He was examined by Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid, the medical officer on duty.

The doctor said that the patient had alleged he was assaulted by the intrusion of a piece of "plastic" in the anus.

Mohamed Osman, according to his medical report which was recorded at 2.14pm, found "zero active bleeding", "zero ulcer or pus", "zero tear and scar" in Saiful's anus.

He also stated that Saiful appeared "alert", "comfortable", "not pale" and did not show any fever symptoms.

A senior Pusrawi official told malaysiakini this morning that the hospital had launched an internal investigation on how Saiful's medical report was leaked, which is widely considered as a major infringement of patient privacy.

When malaysiakini showed him a copy of the report, he refused to return it saying, "It's our document."

A check at the emergency unit where Mohamed Osman is attached revealed that he has taken leave since last week.

Meanwhile, Pusrawi general manager Wan Mahmood Wan Yaacob refused to comment on the matter.

Conflicting medical reports

Mohamed Osman, in his report's concluding remarks, advised Saiful to go to a government hospital so as "to rule out" assault and sodomy.

At 6pm on that day, Saiful went to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for his second medical examination. He subsequently lodged a report against Anwar at the police beat at the hospital.

According to an expert who has dealt with rape and sodomy cases, the victim must provide a second medical examination in a government hospital.

This expert said the court will only accept evidence from a government hospital but the first medical examination must collaborate with the second report, otherwise this could be challenged during the trial.

"From the report, the doctor had failed to find any evidence to support the patient's complaint. That was why he asked the patient to go to a government hospital to conclusively rule out assault or sodomy," said the expert who requested anonymity.

It is learnt that the police have recorded statements from Mohamed Osman after Saiful lodged the report against Anwar.

The doctor was said to be under tremendous stress as a result of the police interrogation and was advised by the hospital to take leave.

Mohamed Osman, a Burmese Muslim, has 20 years of experience as a doctor. He previously worked in government hospitals before joining Pusrawi about a year ago.

Efforts by Malaysiakini to contact Saiful have not been successful.

When contacted, Saiful's lawyer Zamri Idrus said that he would not respond to the latest development.

"I am not going to comment (on the matter) because the investigations are still going on."

When pressed whether Saiful had issued an instruction not to react to the issue, Zamri repeated "no comment".

Originally published by Malaysiakini website, Petaling Jaya, in English 28 Jul 08.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific