Anwar's D-Day.......

The prosecution has finally joined the dots based on the evidence gathered by the police to name Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim as "Male Y" - the man allegedly responsible for the sodomy of Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

It remains to be seen whether the prosecution has convinced Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah that a prima facie case has been established and that Anwar's defence must be called.

The judge, who will announce his decision on the matter tomorrow, has the option to acquit the Permatang Pauh MP, who is the lynchpin in the opposition Pakatan Rakyat that consists of PKR, DAP and Islamist party PAS.

Should his defence be called, Anwar has three options.

The first is for him to take the oath from the witness stand and answer the charge.

The second is for him to answer it from the accused dock. If this happens, Anwar's testimony cannot be cross-examined.

Finally, the third choice is for him to remain quiet.

Eyes will certainly be paying close attention to the verdict to be delivered by justice Zabidin, which will be the second time Anwar has faced a sexual charge within a span of less than 15 years. Foreign observers have been a permanent fixture in the trial as representatives from the US, Australia, Britain, Canadia, Germany, Finland and Spain are among those who have frequented the court.

Political conspiracy

Anwar had always maintained that he is the victim of a political conspiracy of the highest order involving the then deputy prime minister, now prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak. The opposition leader is charged with sodomising Saiful at the Desa Damansara condominium between 3:01pm and 4:30pm on June 26, 2008. 27 prosecution witnesses have testified in the trial that has spanned 59 days so far, over almost three years.

On March 21 in the midst of this trial, another bombshell was dropped when a video allegedly depicting the opposition leader having sex with another woman surfaced. The tape, which was shown by the 'Datuk T' trio with links to Umno, is now a subject of police investigation.

Anwar, his family members and other opposition leader have denied he is the man in the video.

'Nothing improbable, incredible or doubtful'

The prosecution, led by solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, in building their case said there was "nothing improbable, incredible or doubtful" for the court not to call Anwar's defence.

Yusof (left) had submitted that the evidence that have been adduced are sufficiently credible for the court to safely accept and call for Anwar's defence as there is no break in the chain of evidence that may affect its integrity.

"With regard to the expert witnesses, it has been shown from the evidence adduced that not only are they competent in conducting the examination and analysis they have been tasked with, they have explained and also given their reasons for such findings or opinions," he said.

"There is nothing improbable, incredible or doubtful for the court not to feel safe to accept and act upon. They are credible witnesses giving credible evidence," Yusof said.

In his submission in naming Anwar as "Male Y", Yusof said Anwar was the sole person held in the Kuala Lumpur police lock-up cell on July 16, 2008. The solicitor-general submitted that the DNA recovered from three items (a mineral water bottle, the white toothbrush and towel) from the cell where Anwar stayed overnight were found to match the DNA found in the low rectal area of Saiful.

"This confirms that the unknown contributor 'Male Y' is Anwar. This shows there is a prima facie case," Yusof said, adding that the case had also fulfilled the 'beyond reasonable doubt' test. "This piece of evidence will confirm the identity of the 'Male Y' and bring home the charge against the accused beyond any shadow of a doubt," he added.

'Don't rely on Saiful'

Lead defence counsel Karpal Singh has urged that justice Zabidin reject Saiful's examination on the grounds of the many inconsistencies contained in his testimony, reminding the judge not to repeat the same mistake as Sodomy I judge Justice Arifin Jaka.

Justice Arifin had painted complainant Azizan Abu Bakar - Anwar's former driver - as a truthful and credible witness whose testimony stands as solid as the 'Rock of Gibraltar'. Yet, the Federal Court subsequently overturned the High Court's decision.

This court, Karpal (right) said should not fall into that fallacy as Saiful is the star witness of the prosecution (in the Sodomy II trial).

"It is important for this court to consider whether his evidence is acceptable or not.

"Saiful is no country bumpkin, but a dishonest witness who was not credible either, as there were holes in his testimony," Karpal had submitted, in pointing out there was a conflict over whether consensual or non-consensual sodomy had taken place.

He said Saiful could have run many times before the alleged sex act took place but did not and instead the star witness had testified to having sat down for 20 minutes, eating curry puffs and drinking coffee.

Chemist and IO cannot be believed

Karpal's son Ram Karpal, who is also one of Anwar's counsel, submitted that the two chemists Dr Seah Lay Hong and Nor Aidora Saedon, were not credible witnesses due to the discrepancies in their findings.

Seah has also admitted to the presence of another male's DNA in Saiful's anus area. "The function of an expert witness is to give an honest opinion," Ram Karpal said.

However, the defence posited this was not done and point out that Seah and Nor Aidora were biased in their analyses.

Another lawyer for Anwar, Sankara Nair, pointed out that the DNA samples were only handed to the chemist by investigating officer DSP Jude Blacious Pereira 97 hours, or four days after the alleged commission of the act, for testing.

This, said Sankara, may have resulted in the degradation of the samples.

He also raised the possibility of evidence being tampered, as Pereira had cut open the heat-sealed plastic pack containing the specimen cotton swabs given to him by the doctors and had repackaged them.

Sankara described Pereira as a most untruthful witness, as the officer has not only failed to follow recommendations put forward by the doctors, but violated the Inspector-General's Standing Orders when re-packing the package containing the cotton swabs.

Karpal, in reply to Yusof, had also raised the question as to what had transpired on June 27, the day after the alleged sodomy act. He said this was crucial as Saiful, purportedly the victim of a sodomy assault a day earlier, went to the PKR office and Anwar's house, and later met Mumtaz Jaafar and Ezam Md Noor.

"Mumtaz and Ezam were not called by the prosecution as witnesses. There is also Saiful's testimony that Mumtaz had advised him against making a report. But what led him to change his mind?" he asked, adding that this was never explained.

Fatal to case

Karpal also said the prosecution's failure to call Pusrawi Hospital's Dr Mohd Osman Abdul Hamid was fatal to the case as the latter's medical report had stated a plastic object was introduced into Saiful's anus. Upon finishing their oral submissions, the prosecution and defence made additional written submissions, mainly on the DNA tests conducted.

The possibility is there for Anwar to be acquitted if the Hanif Basree Abdul Rahman case is any indication. Hanif, charged with the murder of Noritta Samsuddin, was freed after doubts were raised of the DNA sample that had implicated him with the crime. In Hanif's case, as in the case of Saiful, other male DNA were found present on the victim.

Yusof, when contacted by Malaysiakini, declined to state his views of what may happen tomorrow. He cited the court's earlier rejection of the prosecution's evidence relating to the three items obtained from Anwar's cell.

Karpal was reported by Bernama yesterday as saying that was prepared for all possibilities and was already laying groundwork in the event that Anwar was ordered to enter his defence.

Sankara, another lawyer for Anwar, believes Anwar is innocent and he deserves an outright acquittal.

"There is certainly no case to answer," he said.- Hafiz Yatim

source:malaysiakini

Liwat II: Hari penentuan untuk Anwar

Tindak tanduk pihak pendakwa dan mahkamah sejak kes ini bermula aku gerenti....tak perlu tunggu 16 Mei aku dah tau apa keputusannya.."

Pikiaq2 sendiri....

cheers.