KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is crying foul. With less than a month before he goes on trial for sodomy again, the opposition leader has yet to receive key documents from the Public Prosecutor (PP), which he says he is entitled to under the law.
In a statement yesterday from his lawyer, the former deputy prime minister accused the PP of purposely withholding information and denying him a fair trial.
He also charged the PP of taking part in a political conspiracy against him and demands the sodomy charges against him be dropped immediately.
“The Public Prosecutor has much to hide and as such, this prosecution of Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim is clearly an abuse, frivolous, unjust and is tantamount to a political persecution,” Sankara Nair said on behalf of Anwar.
Sankara noted the PP seemed to be repeating tired methods to deny Anwar a fair trial, employing an “ambush prosecution” tactic used in the Sodomy I case back in 1998/ 99.
Among the documents asked for are testimonies from witnesses, the original DNA samples sent for testing, medical notes, photographs and CCTV (closed circuit television) recordings showing Anwar with his accuser, a 23-year-old former male aide.
Sankara claimed that he had written to the PP asking for copies of the various pieces of proof as early as Sept 8 last year.
Several reminders sent out since January have been largely ignored, Sankara said.
“Save for the earlier delivery of just one statement and a few photo prints picked out of a purported CCTV recording, nothing else that was requested by us have been supplied,” he said.
He added that the last they heard from the PP was on June 6, when they received a letter rejecting their requests except to provide the results of the DNA tests.
“We are deeply disappointed and rather perturbed that the Public Prosecutor has acted most unprofessionally and unethically,” he said.
Sankara said Anwar was left with little choice but to apply to the High Court for an order to force the PP to release the pieces of proofs they plan to use in the upcoming trial.
Anwar's trial will run starting from July 1 to 24.
The 61-year-old father of six is charged with sodomising Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at Desa Damansara Condominium in the leafy enclave of Damansara Heights in June last year.
If found guilty, he can be jailed up to 20 years and whipped under Section 377B of the Penal Code.
No comments:
Post a Comment