Anwar’s Sodomy II trial on hold... yet again
By Debra Chong KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II trial date has again been pushed to a later date as has his challenge to get the prosecution to produce a new certificate needed under law for his trial proper to start.
In the criminal High Court today, judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah set November 3 for re-mention of Anwar’s sodomy trial.
The prosecution asked for more time as the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya has fixed October 23 to hear their bid to block the 62-year-old politician from getting his hands on proofs pre-trial.
The judge will also decide on that day when to hear the former deputy prime minister’s bid to strike out the charges against him.
Anwar has maintained that he is innocent and that the charges were cooked up by a prejudiced prosecution to effectively put an end to his political career.
The PKR adviser’s separate suit challenging a compulsory certificate under Section 51c of the Criminal Procedure Code was also postponed today.
The Section 51c certificate is a relatively new provision of law put in in 2007, which must be supplied to the court before trial can begin, to show that the prosecution has given the defence a fair chance to prepare themselves.
Anwar’s lawyers filed the application on Aug 3. They want the judge to set aside the certificate signed by deputy public prosecutor Hanafiah Zakaria, one of the lawyers on the seven-member prosecution team.
They also want the judge to order the prosecution to produce a new certificate stating facts in favour of the defence.
The defence claims the prosecution is misleading the court when there are clearly documents, such as the medical reports from the private Pusrawi Hospital and the government-run Hospital Kuala Lumpur stating that complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan was not sodomised because there was no anal penetration, which is a fact in the defence’s favour.
Coincidentally, judge Lau Bee Lan, from the High Court’s appellate and special powers division, set November 3 to fix a hearing date for the striking out of charges.
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