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Anwar lawyers call for 'flimsy' sodomy charge to be thrown out

Date: 08 Sep 1999
Time: 05:19:34
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Anwar lawyers call for 'flimsy' sodomy charge to be thrown out

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (AFP) - Lawyers for Malaysia's ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim urged the high court Wednesday to throw out a sodomy charge against him, describing the case as "flimsy" and "frivolous."

Anwar's lawyer Christopher Fernando said the prosecution had twice amended the date of the charge which rested primarily on the evidence of ex-driver Azizan Abu Bakar, who was allegedly sodomised by the defendant.

"The charge was doomed to failure from the outset," Fernando told the high court in his submission to have the charge against Anwar thrown out at the end of the prosecution case.

"This charge would qualify for the top prize of vagueness," he said, adding that it was "absolutely ludicrous" for the prosecution to claim they had proved their case beyond reasonable doubt.

Defence lawyers Tuesday failed in their bid to have the testimony of Azizan, who was also a key witness in Anwar's earlier corruption trial, declared inadmissible due to inconsistency.

Anwar, who was sacked and arrested in September last year and serving a six-year sentence for abuse of power, is jointly on trial with his Indonesian adopted brother Sukma Darmawan for allegedly engaging in sodomy with Azizan.

Sukma faces a further charge of abetting Anwar to sodomise the driver.

Fernando said the prosecution was first forced to amend the date of the charge from May 1994 to May 1992, to align with Azizan's testimony in Anwar's corruption trial.

"(Azizan) is the main actor in the show," he said. "He came here and put the last nail into the coffin of the prosecution case. He killed the prosecution case. He confirmed there was no sodomy after Septeber 1992."

The lawyer said prosecution had to amend the date for a second time to between January and March 1993, due to "slipshod" police investigation which failed to establish that the building where the alleged offence was to have taken place was not completed in 1992.

"How can the accused commit an offence when there is no venue?" he said, adding that it was akin to "missing an elephant in a desert."

Fernando urged the high court to strike out the sodomy charge.

"From the evidence, I think justice was the last thing on the mind of those who dragged (Anwar) and Sukma to court on such flimsy and utterly frivolous charges," he said.

"The prosecution should have dropped the charges and the whole world would have applauded them," he said, warning that the prosecution would face a "brick wall to ask for defence to be called" on such weak evidence.

Anwar faces another 20 years in jail if convicted of sodomy.


Last changed: September 08, 1999