Anwar Ibrahim (C) is taken back to police headquarters after being taken to a hospital for a medical examination.
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police arrested opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim Wednesday over allegations of sodomy levelled by a male aide, which threaten to derail his plan to seize power.
After a long interrogation at police headquarters, he was taken to hospital for a medical examination and would be held overnight at an undisclosed location, his lawyers said.
Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said she feared for his safety, after the events of a decade ago when he was sacked as deputy premier, beaten up by the police chief, and jailed for six years on sodomy and corruption charges.
Wan Azizah, a parliamentarian whose Keadilan party leads a three-member opposition alliance, railed at police for "reneging on a promise" to release him promptly.
"They told me that they would not keep him overnight," she said. "I feel sad and disappointed that after 10 years this thing has to repeat."
Earlier Wednesday, Anwar dismissed the accusations as a conspiracy to prevent him from seizing power, and said it was a re-run of past events when he was slapped with charges widely seen as politically motivated.
"There's no basis for this whole fabrication and malicious attacks. It is just a repeat of the 1998 script. You can see the pattern," he told reporters. "I will challenge them on every ground."
The charges threaten to derail Anwar's political comeback, and his plans to oust the government with the help of defecting lawmakers after landmark March elections that handed the opposition unprecedented gains.
Keadilan said Anwar was in a vehicle approaching his home when the road was blocked by 10 police cars and a contingent of 20 balaclava-clad special forces, who took him to police headquarters.
His lawyer Sankara Nair criticised authorities for pouncing just an hour before Anwar had agreed to appear at the headquarters for questioning.
After Anwar spent more than six hours at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters, giving a statement over the sodomy allegations made by Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a 23-year-old former aide, he was taken to hospital.
His lawyers said he underwent a physical examination but refused to give a DNA sample.
Keadilan vice-president Syed Husin Ali said they expected Anwar to be taken to court on Thursday morning to extend his detention.
"We expect Anwar to be produced in court to be remanded tomorrow morning and the family is now trying to determine what will happen to Anwar and his precise whereabouts for the night," he said.
Police are allowed to hold Anwar for 24 hours but then must apply for a court order that would allow them to keep him for up to 14 days without charge.
Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is illegal in predominantly Muslim Malaysia and punishable by 20 years imprisonment.
Outside police headquarters, a crowd of some 600 protesters who had faced off authorities earlier had mostly dispersed, but some 200 remained and held a peaceful candlelight vigil.
Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan described the arrest as regrettable and said police appeared to have acted because they thought Anwar would not turn up for the interrogation.
"The treatment of Anwar will receive the utmost public scrutiny and we really hope we are not seeing a repeat of the fiasco of 1998," she said. "They didn't need to arrest him, that's not a very good start."
Police chief Musa Hassan warned opposition supporters against creating any disturbances and said authorities would "not hesitate to act" against those who stepped outside the law.
- AFP /ls
Channel NewsAsia
17/07/08
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