Anwar's stay application to be heard today.......

The Court of Appeal has fixed to hear opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's application for a stay over his sodomy trial. It will be heard at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya today.

Anwar wants his appeal to get complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's statements to the police to be heard first. This follows the filing of the application by Anwar's lawyers on Thursday and Friday.

Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah had on May 12, dismissed Karpal's application to get Saiful's witness statement following a contradiction with the complainant's testimony regarding the charge in which Anwar is facing.

This comes after Saiful testified that the alleged incident was non-consensual, and this was similarly stated in his police report. However, Anwar is charged under Section 377b of the Penal Code for consensual unnatural sexual intercourse.

Lead counsel Karpal Singh, in applying for access to Saiful's statements to the police recorded by investigating officer DSP Jude Aloysius Pereira, had also moved to impeach the star witness. The difference between consensual under Section 377b and non-consensual (Section 377C) of the Penal Code, is that under the latter, there is a minimum jail term of five years. The maximum jail sentence for both sections is 20 years and in addition to that, the offenders are liable for whipping.

Justice Zabidin in dismissing Karpal's application, ruled the prosecutors had wide discretionary powers to charge a person under whichever section was deemed appropriate.

"I agree with solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden that despite the accused being charged under section 377b, the witness had testified that it (the sodomy) was non-consensual. It cannot be on the basis of a hunch to say that the witness testimony was opposed to what he had complained," Justice Zabidin had ruled.

Karpal then apply for a stay of the proceedings pending his application to appeal over the ruling. However, this was dismissed by Justice Zabidin, who instructed the cross-examination to continue.

During Saiful's cross-examination, the star witness related his meeting with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, as well as calling the Inspector General of Police, Musa Hassan, to relate his problem. Saiful also testified that he had only rinsed his body after the alleged incident and did not wash his anus to protect the evidence.

Anwar's trial is scheduled to resume with continued cross-examination of Saiful on May 31.

source:malaysiakini

Dont be too excited, you can guess what the final decision will be. Remember Anwar is on trial not Bung"bocor" Mokhtar........

cheers.