PUTRAJAYA: Come tomorrow, the prosecution is set to rebut the defence arguments in Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal in the Federal Court, as it seeks to set aside his conviction and five-year jail sentence for allegedly sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari.
Lead prosecutor Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the defence had added new grounds in the appeal and the prosecution team needed time to go through the lenghty submission.
“I will start by laying down the facts of the case. Just me submitting the submission,” he told reporters outside the Federal Court here today, after the appeal proceeding was adjourned.
He said the prosecution received the submission, which included new grounds in the petition of appeal from the defence, just recently.
Muhammad Shafee said the prosecution completed 85 per cent of its submission and had to prepare another 15 per cent for the new grounds raised by the defence.
The defence today concluded its arguments after three days of submitting before a five-man bench chaired by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria.
The court heard submissions from Anwar’s lead counsel Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, who was a former Federal Court judge, and co-counsels N. Surendran, Sangeet Kaur Deo and Ramkarpal Singh.
On Tuesday, Sri Ram informed the Apex Court that the defence cited 46 grounds in the new petition of appeal.
On April 24, Anwar filed the petition of appeal stating 35 grounds why the Apex Court should free him of the sodomy charge, an hour before the deadline to do so, ended.
Anwar, 67, was alleged to have sodomised Mohd Saiful at Unit 11-5-1 of the Desa Damansara Condominium in Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
The charge under Section 377B of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 20 years, and whipping upon conviction. -Bernama