KUALA LUMPUR: PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is in jail for sodomy, was brought to the High Court today to testify at the hearing of a defamation suit he had brought against Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
Anwar, attired in a white shirt and black pants and accompanied by several prisons officers and policemen, arrived at the court at 8.50 am.
His wife, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail; daughters Nurul Izzah and Nurul Nuha; Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali and several opposition party leaders were present in the courtroom.
Anwar was brought by the police from the Sungai Buloh Prison where he is serving a five-year jail sentence after being found guilty of sodomising a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008.
The Federal Court, on Feb 10, upheld the conviction and sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal which had overturned a High Court decision acquitting him.
Anwar was recalled to attend court today after the High Court allowed an application by Anifah to amend his statement of defence relating to an allegation that Anwar had offered him RM100 million to switch to the opposition.
At the hearing before Judicial Commissioner Siti Khadijah S. Hassan Badjenid, Anwar was represented by counsel Razlan Hadri Zulkifli while counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah appeared for Anifah.
The hearing of the suit began on Aug 25 last year and ended on Dec 26 after Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi, who was the last witness called by Anifah, had testified. (Anwar had testified on Aug 27.) However, after hearing the testimony of the witness, Anifah made an application to amend his statement of defence.
Anwar filed the RM100-million defamation suit against Anifah, the MP for Kimanis, on May 27, 2009, claiming that the minister’s remarks at a media conference in Washington with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on May 16, 2009, had tarnished his image.
He accused Anifah of having depicted him as a person who was unfit to hold political office or any other post, and dangerous to Malaysian society.
Anwar also alleged that Anifah’s remarks, which he claimed were widely reported in the local and foreign media, had cast imputations on his character and directly and indirectly portrayed him as unethical, unprincipled and corrupt. — BERNAMA