By Teoh El Sen
The High
Court has allowed an application by the opposition leader to interview 15
witnesses, including the prime minister and his wife.
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here
today has allowed an application by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today to
interview 15 witnesses, including Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife
Rosmah Mansor.
In delivering the decision, Judge
Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah said that it was up to the prosecution, which
provided the witnesses, to make sure that the witnesses attend an interview.
“The defence has the right to
interview the witnesses on condition that they are willing (to be
interviewed),” said Zabidin.
The court, excited as Anwar could
possibly take the stand as the first defence witness, then stood down for a
break.
In 2008, Anwar, 64, was charged
with having sodomised a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, then 22, the
same year. The incident allegedly occurred at a Desa Damansara condominium unit
in Bukit Damansara between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26.
If convicted under section 377B of
the Penal Code, Anwar could face up to a maximum of 20 years and whipping.
This is the second time the PKR de
facto leader has been charged with sodomy, the first being in 1998 alongside
charges of corruption.
The Permatang Pauh MP has
consistently denied the charges, saying they were “evil, frivolous lies”
concocted by those in power meant to undermine his political career.
10 alibi
witnesses
On May 16, Zabidin ordered Anwar to
enter his defence after ruling that the prosecution had established a prima
facie case. The judge ruled that Saiful was a “credible” and “truthful” witness
whose testimony was corroborated by the evidence of expert witnesses, including
doctors and chemists.
In his application, Anwar is
seeking a court order to direct the prosecution to ensure the attendance of the
witnesses, who were offered by the prosecution, for the defence to interview.
The people he wants to interview
include Hasanuddin Abd Hamid, the owner of the condominium unit where the
incident allegedly occurred, former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan and
former Malacca police chief Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof.
He also wants to interview 10 alibi
witnesses before he is expected to take the stand next Monday when the case
resumes. It will proceed until Aug 26.
The 15 witnesses are among the 25
the defence wants to interview to prepare for its case.
At the close of their case, the
prosecution offered 71 witnesses, of whom the defence chose to interview 25.
So far, the defence has interviewed
five witnesses, including Mumtaz Jaafar – a close associate of Rosmah – and Dr
Muhamad Osman Abdul Hamid, formerly from Hospital Pusrawi, who was the first to
examine Saiful, his youngest sister Saidaiti Azlan, a Kuala Lumpur Hospital
doctor known as Dr Daniel, and Khairil Anaz Yusof, a special assistant to Najib
when he was deputy prime minister.
Najib and Rosmah had allegedly met
with Saiful at their official residence when Najib was the deputy prime
minister, two days before the alleged sodomy incident.
Anwar
surprised
Meanwhile, Anwar speaking to
reporters outside the court, said the decision came as a surprise to him.
“Although my position is that the
judge has pre-judged the trial as I have not been given a balanced trial, this
ruling gives us an avenue to interview key witnesses, and that’s important,”
said Anwar.
“We have seen in the past, from
(Dr) Mahathir’s (Mohamad) time until now, that prime ministers can make
scurrilous attacks but they don’t have the courage to come to court and be
interviewed. I think the prosecution made a blunder in offering the witnesses
to us… because when they offer they have to produce them (to be interviewed),
so now we shall see,” he said.
Anwar’s counsel Karpal Singh said
that he hoped that with the court order now, the witnesses would not continue
to evade being interviewed.
“If they refuse to come, it is
contempt of court and they could be issued a warrant of arrest,” he said.
Defence lawyer Sankara Nair said
the interview is to determine whether the 25 are suitable to be witnesses.
He also said the call by certain
quarters to expedite the trial was “uncalled for” and if it happened again,
they may have to undertake contempt of court proceedings.
“We were ready to go for trial
today, but it was the prosecution that asked for more time. The allegation that
the defence is stalling is totally unfounded,” he said.
Asked on Najib’s assertion that he
was not a material witness, Sankara said: “There’s evidence by Saiful that he
met with him, isn’t that relevant enough?”
Source : FMT
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