Sodomy II: Judgement day beckons...

Judgment day is fast approaching for Anwar Ibrahim as the Kuala Lumpur High Court will from tomorrow, hear submissions at the end of the prosecution's case with regards to the ongoing Sodomy II trial, where the opposition leader's former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan is the complainant and star witness. Certainly the case had seen a lot of drama in and outside court when the prosecution took 57 days to try and prove its case against the Permatang Pauh MP.

The prosecution in presenting the facts certainly went through ups and downs, notably when Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, rejected the evidence of the crucial mineral water bottle, Good Morning towel and also the white toothbrush retrieved from Anwar's cell when he was detained overnight on July 16, 2008 only to see it overturned on review.

The defence team led by Karpal Singh is seen to be preparing for any eventuality in what some observers called "a politically motivated" trial by naming Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor as potential witnesses should the defence be called. A total of 27 witnesses had testified for the prosecution in the 57 day hearing, and none of them as controversial as the complainant Saiful himself.

Anwar's sodomy case was further complicated even before the prosecution closes its case with a sex-tape allegedly featuring the opposition leader shown to several journalists and top newspaper editors. The showing of the sex tape on March 21, was in the midst of Karpal submitting a reply for the prosecution's application for a review of the three items and two days before Justice Zabidin was supposed to deliver the crucial decision in overturning a decision it made.

Anwar has vehemently denied that he was the man in the video.

Following the revelations by the "Datuk T" trio, made up of businessperson Shazryl Eskay Abdullah, former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik and former Perkasa treasurer-general Shuib Lazim behind the showing, Anwar has alleged that Umno was behind this latest attack on him. The prosecution led by solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, will be the first to submit to their case tomorrow and this will be followed with a reply from Karpal.

Prosecution's case in a nutshell

The prosecution's case relies heavily on the testimony of Saiful regarding Anwar's sexual advances at the Desa Damansara condominium between 3.15pm and 4pm on June 26, 2008, where Anwar was said to be holding a meeting with several people. Saiful had also testified that he did not defecate for two days before meeting the Hospital Kuala Lumpur doctors and denied a plastic object was inserted in his anus. From court, the scene shifted to the condominium - the scene of the alleged incident - where Saiful showed where it took place.

It also relied on the testimony of the three Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) doctors who examined Mohd Saiful at about 9pm, two days later to corraborate Saiful's evidence. However, it is important to note that prior to going to HKL, Saiful had gone to Pusrawi hospital and Tawakkal hospital before that.

The three doctors, Dr Mohd Razali Ismail, Dr Siew Sheue Feng and Dr Khairul Nizam Hassan, were the ones responsible to check and retrieve samples from Saiful. Dr Razali had inspected Saiful's anus and retrieve samples from the peri-anal, lower and upper rectum, while Dr Siew was responsible from taking the sample from Razali in the procedure and marking it. Dr Razali was responsible in conducting the physical examination on Saiful. The examinations took more than three hours.

Next came chemist Dr Seah Lay Hong who testified the presence of semen and the DNA of male Y which was retrieved from Saiful's low rectal area implying there was penetration. This was followed with testimony from another chemist Nor Aidora Saedon that the DNA of male Y was found on three items the mineral water bottle, the towel and toothbrush.

Police witnesses brought in by the prosecution tried to show the three controversial items were obtained from a cell where Anwar was held overnight and they had remained untouched until a police crime scene investigation team was brought it. What followed as mentioned earlier, were arguments by the prosecution and defence over the legality of the evidence gained from the cell which was on the seventh floor of the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.

Building its case against Anwar, the prosecution will try and show from its submission by joining the dots that the sodomy incident did take place and this is further corroborated from the evidence of the three doctors, two chemists and police to prove there was penetration.

Doubts to the prosecution case

While the prosecution tries to build its case to show Anwar was the perpetrator, the case is not watertight as there are certainly weaknesses in their case. First and foremost, there is a medical report by Pusrawi hospital doctor, Dr Mohamad Osman Abdul Hamid, who was the first to examine Saiful, showed there was plastic inserted in his anus, to which the complainant has denied.

The three doctors who examined Saiful, especially Dr Siew, had refused to look at their own medical notes when testifying in the case and had give evidence based on memory. The purpose was not to have the defence access to the medical notes.

The second follows the presence of other semen or DNA other than male Y in Saiful's peri-anal area which highlights the possibility of more than one male. Lawyer Ram Karpal Singh, pointed out this possibility when cross-examining Dr Seah.

Doubts were further strengthened when the semen stains on Saiful's pants said to be used during the sodomy incident and also the briefs did not correspond. The stains were found on the front of Saiful's pants while on the complainant's brief it was at the middle.

Ram further brought the prosecution's case into disrepute in questioning the findings of Nor Aidora on the male Y DNA and also following revelations that she was directed by the then director-general to do the tests unlike in other normal cases where such orders do not come direct from the top.

Further uncertainty in the prosecution's case exist in the manner the sample retrieved from HKL doctors were kept when investigating officer DSP Jude Blacious Pereira (left) said he kept it in his metal safe rather than following the recommendation from the chemist that it be kept in a freezer.

There was also credence to the high level political conspiracy theory when Jude also testified that he took statements from Najib and also Rosmah with regards to the case. Saiful had denied ever meeting Rosmah but he admitted in meeting Najib, who was then the deputy prime minister. Anwar had charged that as the police had recorded a statement from Rosmah, it showed that Saiful had lied in court and was not a credible witness.

The submissions are expected to begin at 9am today and Malaysiakini will carry it live.

Should Justice Zabidin decides a prima facie case exist, then defence will be called.

Otherwise, Anwar will be acquitted.- Hafiz Yatim

source:malaysiakini

Apakah Najib sanggup melihat Anwar bebas daripada pertuduhan liwat? Polis, AG dan mahkamah sudah dalam gengaman Najib.

Kita sudah jangka apakah keputusannya......

cheers.