KUALA LUMPUR: Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial started at 9.45am this morning with his lawyer Karpal Singh getting a chance to grill accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan on his allegations against his former boss.
The cross-examination started at about 10.40am after High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah rejected Karpal's application to compel the prosecution to hand over the witness list to the defence.
The application was rejected on the grounds that the prosecution just needed to comply with a Federal Court ruling on the documents that must be handed over.
The judge made his ruling after a short break and asked Karpal to start question Mohd Saiful who looked calm in his grey suit, then took the stand.
However less than an hour after questioning Mohd Saiful, Karpal applied for the witness' caution statement to be produced, saying the witness was not telling the truth.
The senior lawyer then sought for a postponement until tomorrow morning to give him time to prepare allow him to study the matter. The prosecution did not object and the court fixed the hearing to continue tomorrow morning.
Earlier during his cross-examination on Mohd Saiful, Karpal had asked him a range of questions from the meeting with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to the alleged injuries in the witness' anus.
Mohd Saiful said that he had met Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on June 24, 2008. The meeting took place at Najib's residence in Jalan Duta.
Mohd Saiful said that he had met Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on June 24, 2008. The meeting took place at Najib's residence in Jalan Duta.
He said that after that meeting, he met with police officer SAC Rodwan Yusof at Hotel Melia.
"Rodwan called wanting to meet me... I told him that Anwar had sodomised me twice,” he said.
He also said that he had not met Najib or his wife Rosmah Mansor before June 24.
To another question, Mohd Saiful said he had not taken his bath for two days – June 24 to 26. He however disagreed with Karpal that he was not being a good Muslim by not keeping himself clean.
"I put it to you that you do not understand the Islamic religion, as you should have mandi junub (performed the ritual bath) after sexual intercourse,” said Karpal.
“It was an emergency period,” replied Mohd Saiful in admitting that he had failed to perform the ritual bath after the alleged intercourse with Anwar.
He however said that he had a light shower before going to perform Friday prayers. He said he aspires to be a good Muslim.
'Possibly the doc is lying'
Karpal then moved on to question Mohd Saiful on the medical report which said that there were no signs of scarring or recent injuries on Saiful.
“I do now know. I can't see my anus,” was the witness' response.
Karpal then referred Mohd Saiful to the report which stated that Mohd Saiful's pain was caused by introduction of a plastic object into his anus, to which the witness said the report was wrong.
“It is not true,” he said.
When Karpal said that Mohd Saiful was lying, the witness retorted by saying that he does not know and that "possibly the doctor is lying”.
He said that he was inspected by one Dr Osman Abdul Hamid at the Pusrawi hospital in Kuala Lumpur, where he complained of stomache pains and pain in the anus.
He however said he had no comments on the HKL report which had three doctors stating that there were no injuries on Mohd Saiful.
He added that there were no injuries due to lubricants being used during the act.
Conflict over witness list
Earlier this morning, Karpal had told the court that it was important for the defence to see the witness list before they can proceed with cross-examining Mohd Saiful.
Solicitor-General II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin, who is heading the prosecution team, however told the court that the witness list was not important and that the defence can cross-examine their case immediately.
He also said that it was only a matter of practice that the prosecution handed over the list to the defence in the past.
Karpal however asked if the prosecution's reluctance was due to a need to protect someone from appearing as a witness.
“Why is this secrecy? Is it because the prime minister is involved and that this is a political conspiracy against Anwar?” he asked.
To this Mohd Yusof reminded Karpal that the court room was not a place to make political statements and urged him to continue with the case.
Judge Mohamad Zabidin, who earlier said that he had ordered the prosecution to hand over the list to the defence, stood down the matter at about 10.15am to decide on Karpal's application.
Grilling Saiful
Yesterday Karpal told FMT that Mohd Saiful must explain his allegation of not defecating for two days after being allegedly sodomised by Anwar.
"He really needs to answer his allegation that he did not pass motion for two days,” he said.
Karpal said Mohd Saiful will also be grilled on who were the people he came into contact with before lodging his police report.
Apart from this, the former aide to Anwar will also be questioned on the three medical reports, from Tawakal, Pusrawi and Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
"There will be no further delay in this trial, since everyone is eager to hear more from him (Mohd Saiful) who has made all kind allegations against Anwar," Karpal said, adding that the focus will be on the witness' credibility.
Karpal said the defence team might use the entire five-day trial period to zero in on Mohd Saiful because there are many issues to be covered.
Anwar, 63, is charged with sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful, 25, at Unit 11-5-1 Desa Damansara Condominium, Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
He is charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code and faces up to 20 years' in jail and whipping upon conviction.In his opening statement, Solicitor-General II Mohd Yusof had told the court that the prosecution would adduce evidence to show that the semen specimen taken from Mohd Saiful's anus was confirmed by the Chemistry Department to be Anwar's.
Anwar is represented by Karpal, Param Cumaraswamy, CV Prabakharan, Ram Karpal Singh Deo, SN Nair, Mohd Radzlan Jalaludin and Marisa Regina Fernando.
Meanwhile, Mohd Yusof is assisted by seven deputy public prosecutors, Nordin Hassan, Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, Wong Chiang Kiat, Noorin Badaruddin, Farah Azlina Latiff, Mira Mirna Musa and Naidatul Athirah Azmad.
Anwar, who was jailed for a similar offence in 1999, has claimed, like before, that the current charge against him is part of a political conspiracy.
10/05/10
The cross-examination started at about 10.40am after High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah rejected Karpal's application to compel the prosecution to hand over the witness list to the defence.
The application was rejected on the grounds that the prosecution just needed to comply with a Federal Court ruling on the documents that must be handed over.
The judge made his ruling after a short break and asked Karpal to start question Mohd Saiful who looked calm in his grey suit, then took the stand.
However less than an hour after questioning Mohd Saiful, Karpal applied for the witness' caution statement to be produced, saying the witness was not telling the truth.
The senior lawyer then sought for a postponement until tomorrow morning to give him time to prepare allow him to study the matter. The prosecution did not object and the court fixed the hearing to continue tomorrow morning.
Earlier during his cross-examination on Mohd Saiful, Karpal had asked him a range of questions from the meeting with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to the alleged injuries in the witness' anus.
Mohd Saiful said that he had met Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on June 24, 2008. The meeting took place at Najib's residence in Jalan Duta.
Mohd Saiful said that he had met Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on June 24, 2008. The meeting took place at Najib's residence in Jalan Duta.
He said that after that meeting, he met with police officer SAC Rodwan Yusof at Hotel Melia.
"Rodwan called wanting to meet me... I told him that Anwar had sodomised me twice,” he said.
He also said that he had not met Najib or his wife Rosmah Mansor before June 24.
To another question, Mohd Saiful said he had not taken his bath for two days – June 24 to 26. He however disagreed with Karpal that he was not being a good Muslim by not keeping himself clean.
"I put it to you that you do not understand the Islamic religion, as you should have mandi junub (performed the ritual bath) after sexual intercourse,” said Karpal.
“It was an emergency period,” replied Mohd Saiful in admitting that he had failed to perform the ritual bath after the alleged intercourse with Anwar.
He however said that he had a light shower before going to perform Friday prayers. He said he aspires to be a good Muslim.
'Possibly the doc is lying'
Karpal then moved on to question Mohd Saiful on the medical report which said that there were no signs of scarring or recent injuries on Saiful.
“I do now know. I can't see my anus,” was the witness' response.
Karpal then referred Mohd Saiful to the report which stated that Mohd Saiful's pain was caused by introduction of a plastic object into his anus, to which the witness said the report was wrong.
“It is not true,” he said.
When Karpal said that Mohd Saiful was lying, the witness retorted by saying that he does not know and that "possibly the doctor is lying”.
He said that he was inspected by one Dr Osman Abdul Hamid at the Pusrawi hospital in Kuala Lumpur, where he complained of stomache pains and pain in the anus.
He however said he had no comments on the HKL report which had three doctors stating that there were no injuries on Mohd Saiful.
He added that there were no injuries due to lubricants being used during the act.
Conflict over witness list
Earlier this morning, Karpal had told the court that it was important for the defence to see the witness list before they can proceed with cross-examining Mohd Saiful.
Solicitor-General II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin, who is heading the prosecution team, however told the court that the witness list was not important and that the defence can cross-examine their case immediately.
He also said that it was only a matter of practice that the prosecution handed over the list to the defence in the past.
Karpal however asked if the prosecution's reluctance was due to a need to protect someone from appearing as a witness.
“Why is this secrecy? Is it because the prime minister is involved and that this is a political conspiracy against Anwar?” he asked.
To this Mohd Yusof reminded Karpal that the court room was not a place to make political statements and urged him to continue with the case.
Judge Mohamad Zabidin, who earlier said that he had ordered the prosecution to hand over the list to the defence, stood down the matter at about 10.15am to decide on Karpal's application.
Grilling Saiful
Yesterday Karpal told FMT that Mohd Saiful must explain his allegation of not defecating for two days after being allegedly sodomised by Anwar.
"He really needs to answer his allegation that he did not pass motion for two days,” he said.
Karpal said Mohd Saiful will also be grilled on who were the people he came into contact with before lodging his police report.
Apart from this, the former aide to Anwar will also be questioned on the three medical reports, from Tawakal, Pusrawi and Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
"There will be no further delay in this trial, since everyone is eager to hear more from him (Mohd Saiful) who has made all kind allegations against Anwar," Karpal said, adding that the focus will be on the witness' credibility.
Karpal said the defence team might use the entire five-day trial period to zero in on Mohd Saiful because there are many issues to be covered.
Anwar, 63, is charged with sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful, 25, at Unit 11-5-1 Desa Damansara Condominium, Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
He is charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code and faces up to 20 years' in jail and whipping upon conviction.In his opening statement, Solicitor-General II Mohd Yusof had told the court that the prosecution would adduce evidence to show that the semen specimen taken from Mohd Saiful's anus was confirmed by the Chemistry Department to be Anwar's.
Anwar is represented by Karpal, Param Cumaraswamy, CV Prabakharan, Ram Karpal Singh Deo, SN Nair, Mohd Radzlan Jalaludin and Marisa Regina Fernando.
Meanwhile, Mohd Yusof is assisted by seven deputy public prosecutors, Nordin Hassan, Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, Wong Chiang Kiat, Noorin Badaruddin, Farah Azlina Latiff, Mira Mirna Musa and Naidatul Athirah Azmad.
Anwar, who was jailed for a similar offence in 1999, has claimed, like before, that the current charge against him is part of a political conspiracy.
10/05/10
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