Anwar 28 Hours Later

28 Hours Later

By Shannon Teoh

KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 –

Yesterday must have been a long one for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Consider this: the 61-year-old was put in a police lock-up where he spent the night after at least seven hours of questioning by the police.

Still, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim commended the police officers who were assigned to him during the time he was detained although he was somewhat sarcastic when he thanked them for not beating him.

Some 28 hours after he started his day yesterday at the ACA headquarters in Putrajaya yesterday where he went to answer questions about a charge he made against the IGP and A-G on the fabrication of evidence 10 years ago, Anwar is relating yesterday's events to a horde of reporters and well-wishers.

At 11.45am at the ACA HQ yesterday, he and his lawyers had, after two hours of questioning regarding his complaint against Inspector-General Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail for allegedly fabricating evidence in his 1998 black eye incident, sought permission to be excused and resume the interview at a later date.

They had wrapped up at 12.20pm and he found a spare moment to joke with reporters, saying that if he were arrested, then he would just have to give his statement from the lockup, before rushing home.

According to Anwar, it was simply to have a quick lunch and then to head to the IPK KL at 1.30pm to meet a 2pm appointment as agreed with the investigating officer DSP Jude Pereira.
At 12.45pm, Pereira had called Sankara Nair, one of Anwar's lawyers, to confirm their attendance. But just five minutes later, very close to his home, Anwar was "ambushed" by police officers.

According to Nair, at least 10 men in balaclavas – later described by CID chief, Datuk Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin as CID Special Forces – were part of the arrest party.

The opposition chief reached the city police headquarters (IPK) shortly after 1pm in a convoy of at least 10 police vehicles and this led to a stream of opposition figures arriving at the HQ.
Apparently, a prior agreement had been struck to allow his lawyers and a number of MPs access to their leader but finally, only two lawyers were allowed to accompany him.

It is understood that he was taken up to the 7th floor to record his statement. This began at 2.30pm, at which point, his support crew was whittled down to just one legal counsel, PKR vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah, who would be the only man to have access to Anwar throughout the rest of the proceedings.

Questioning took a massive five hours with intermittent breaks in between. He was given food and drink although he had missed his lunch by several hours by then. As for hygiene facilities, Nair quipped, "they were not very hygienic."

Anwar stated that he was assured that he would be released on bail the same day by an ACP Razali and SAC II Khor, giving him renewed hope even as he was then rushed to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for a medical examination.

"I was stripped naked. They examined my private parts. They measured what needed to be measured. Of course, I refused to be photographed, it will be on YouTube very soon."

But the pressing issue was the request for a blood sample. Anwar had been advised by his lawyers not to comply.

"I asked the doctors, how will you guarantee the safety of this specimen? They said they would handle it professionally. But after that? It will be submitted to the police. I was worried. The reason being that my DNA specimen will be in custody of the police and (his accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari) is in custody of police," he said.

He brought up again the exposure of fabricated evidence in the form of stains on a mattress in the 1998 sodomy trial: "I have reasonable grounds for having no confidence in the system". He also pointed out that the police should already have his DNA sample from the 1998 case.

It would not be the last piece of drama for the night as his return from the hospital saw over 20 outriders and 13 vehicles in the convoy – some of his supporters were overhead saying that even the Yang di-Pertuan Agong did not get that sort of security detail.

Then Pereira dropped the bombshell, informing him that he would be detained in the IPK lock-up for the purpose of recording further statements in the morning. Despite the protestations of Anwar and his lawyers – even giving their undertaking to return at anytime to continue with the statement – the police refused bail.

Anwar said he spent the night in a cell on the 7th floor, reserved for hardcore criminals with only a cement floor for a bed.

"My hip condition is well-known, which was due to the beating I received from the then IGP, Tan Sri Rahim Noor in 1998," he said.

When he was finally released about 10am this morning, he was rushed to a physician where he was given a dose of the painkiller Voltran to ease the discomfort from a night that aggravated his injury.

This was after a rather anti-climactic – albeit, something of a relief for Anwar – 30-minute statement that needed to be recorded.
"I take to task the IGP for this abuse of police power against me. My unwarranted arrest, my overnight incarceration which was uneccessary were an act of personal vendetta against me in retaliation for the reports I lodged against him which are now being investigated by the ACA," he said.

Anwar is also upset that he and his lawyers have yet to see his case report, saying that even if it is given now, "I won't be convinced. How would I know that this is the original report and not the one that had been changed or doctored?"

He claimed the police last night also told him that they were instructed not to give him the report. "I want to know, who gave the instruction? Is it (Datuk Seri) Najib or is it his wife? Is it the IGP? Or they are waiting to perfect the report?"

His strength regained and back in his home, he looked none the worse for these events and if appearances were to tell the story, Anwar seems to have survived unscathed from the most challenging day yet, in his bid to take Putrajaya.

kzso - anwar is desperate. he knows that the police is more thorough and can anticipate his 'tactics', so he needs to divert the issue and manipulate his case by saying this and that but this will only conflicting his statement. well... tun dr mahathir did say that anwar is experienced in talking. previously, there is not much internet used during his 1st sodomy case and anwar can manipulate his supporters but with the www nowadays, the informations are more wider, faster and people can analyse analyse this new case better with three sides of the story ie one from pro anwar, anti anwar and the neutral (silent majority).