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Thursday 13 May 2010

Saiful met several figures before police report, court told

Written by Chua Sue-Ann, The Edge

The sodomy trial of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday, May 12, heard that complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had made contact with several figures, including Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, before lodging a police report against Anwar days later.

Anwar's lead counsel Karpal Singh on Wednesday continued cross-examining Saiful after the court declined to grant a stay of proceedings pending an appeal.

Anwar is expected to file his notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal this afternoon to appeal against the High Court's earlier decision to not grant him access to Saiful's witness statements.

When asked, Saiful reiterated that he met Najib at the latter's Taman Duta residence at about 8pm on June 24, 2008 to complain about his "problems".

According to Saiful, he was brought to Najib's house by Najib's former special officer Khairil Anas Jusoh and met the then-deputy prime minister for about 20 minutes.

Saiful, who is the prosecution's first witness, told the court that Najib did not give him any advice on what to do, and said Najib appeared "skeptical" when told about Saiful's "problem".

Questioned by Karpal, Saiful said he did not meet with Najib's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and only saw the latter as he was leaving Najib's house.

To another question, Saiful said former national athlete Datuk Dr Mumtaz Jaafar was not at Najib's house when Saiful visited.

Mumtaz is believed to be a close associate of Rosmah, but the former's links to the case is yet to be made clear.

Saiful said he first met special officer Khairil sometime in December 2007 or January 2008 to obtain a letter of support for Saiful's application for a MARA education loan to pursue a pilot training programme in Kota Bharu, Kelantan.

Saiful had earlier dropped out of his engineering course in UiTM after apparently receiving poor grades due to his involvement in student council activities.

'No statement taken'

According to Saiful, after he met with Najib, he had received a call from a senior police officer Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SAC) II (who was then Assistant Commissioner of Police) Datuk Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof and they met a room in Melia Hotel here.

Saiful said Rodwan did not record any statement from him during the meeting, and scheduled another meeting at the Concorde Hotel here the next day on June 25, 2008.

Rodwan, however, cancelled the June 25 meeting ahead of time and both men did not meet again, Saiful told the court.

When asked, Saiful admitted to contacting Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan via telephone on the morning of June 25, 2008 to "complain about [his] problem".

Saiful's testimony prompted loud murmurs in court when he maintained that he "had been severely wronged by Anwar (memang banyak dianiyai oleh Anwar)".

"I wanted to tell him (Musa) that I had been sodomised several times inside and outside the country by Anwar but after less than a minute (of conversation) he hung up and told me not to contact him again. Maybe he thought it was a prank call," Saiful said.

When asked, Saiful said he obtained Musa's telephone number when he was at Najib's house on June 24, 2008.

The 24-year-old claimed he had saved Musa's number in his mobile phone after overhearing the number when Najib apparently asked his aides for the number.

Saiful, who was Anwar's aide for several months in 2008, said he first confided in his uncle Tuah Mohd Halim about the alleged sodomy on June 26, 2008.

Saiful had lodged a police report and performed a medical examination on June 28, 2008, accusing Anwar of sodomising him.

Saiful, in his police report, claimed that June 26, 2008 was "the last time" he was sodomised by Anwar, the date on which the trial and charge is focused on.

Karpal then asked the court to adjourn proceedings until Mumtaz and Ezam can be brought to court for Saiful to identify, prompting disagreement from Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden who said that prosecutors needed some time to arrange for that.

Karpal then said the proceedings could wait for Mumtaz and Ezam to appear, asking "What's the hurry (to go on with the trial)?"

To that, Saiful retorted, "It's been two years", referring to the time since he lodged a police report on June 28, 2008 alleging sodomy by his former employer.

Tuah and Mohd Rodwan were produced in court today for identification.

When asked, Saiful said his friend Rahimi Osman had brought him to meet with former PKR Youth Chief Ezam Mohd Noor around midnight between June 27, 2008 and June 28, 2008.

Saiful said that he, Rahimi, Tuah and Ezam met in Bandar Tasik Puteri, Rawang.

Saiful had earlier testified that he was roped in to Anwar's office shortly before the general elections in March 2008 by his close friend Rahimi, who was then working for the PKR adviser.

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