PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has fixed July 22 and 23 to hear the prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on a charge of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Court of Appeal deputy registrar N Kanageswari fixed the dates after the matter came up before her for case management today.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Noorin Badaruddin appeared for the prosecution while lawyer Zaleha Al-Hayat represented Anwar.
Noorin told reporters that both parties would meet for another round of case management on April 26 to finalise the notes of proceedings.
On Jan 9 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court acquitted and discharged Anwar of sodomising Mohd Saiful, 26, at a Desa Damansara condominium unit in Bukit Damansara here, between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
Anwar, 65, was charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code, which carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years and whipping, upon conviction. The prosecution filed on Jan 20 last year a notice of appeal against the opposition leader’s acquittal from the sodomy charge.
On July 9 last year, the prosecution filed its petition of appeal, containing nine grounds, after obtaining the written judgment from the High Court.
The 80-page written judgment by High Court judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah revealed that there was penile penetration but it was uncorroborated by other evidence.
He said the court could not be 100 per cent certain on the integrity of samples taken for DNA testing from Mohd Saiful as the samples could have been compromised before they reached the chemistry department for analysis. — Bernama