Court dismisses Anwar’s application

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here yesterday dismissed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s application to call star witness Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan and deputy public prosecutor Farah Azlina Latif to testify about their alleged affair.

TALKING STRATEGY: Anwar (second right) sits next to his wife Wan Azizah Ismail as he discusses with his lawyers Sankaran Nair (left) and Karpal Singh (second left) at a cafeteria in Kuala Lumpur during a break on his ongoing sodomy trial. — AFP photo

Judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah ruled that the issue had been answered via affidavits and that the court was not willing to be dragged into the matter.

In rejecting Anwar’s application, Mohamad Zabidin said the court practised the adversarial system and that he did not want to descend into the situation.

He also rejected an application by Karpal Singh, Anwar’s lead counsel, to cross-examine senior deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, who had filed an affidavit-in-reply to Anwar’s affidavit in relation to his (Anwar’s) application to have the charge against him dropped on the grounds that the integrity of the prosecution team had been compromised in the wake of the alleged affair.

Mohamad Zabidin also ruled that the defence’s allegation that Mohd Hanafiah had illegally married and attempted to register the marriage with the Kota Baru Syariah Court, was not related or relevent to Anwar’s trial.

Earlier, Karpal Singh in his verbal application to cross-examine Mohamad Hanafiah, had told the court that the credibility of the senior DPP was at stake.

“We want Mohamad Hanafiah to be in the witness box to answer the allegations against him as we have documented proof on the allegations,” Karpal Singh told the court.

This, however, received strong objection from Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohamed Yusof Zainal Abiden who contended that the defence’s application showed clear abuse of the court process.

“I’m saying this for the first time, we can’t allow the defence keep on delaying this trial, we simply can’t look only at the interest of accused. We must look into interest of complainant and the public as well,” pointed out Mohamed Yusof, who is heading the prosecution.

This drew an immediate rebuke from Karpal Singh who said: “We are not delaying this trial and this trial has been delayed mainly due to misbehaviour of this DPP who committed a serious offence under the Syariah Law. What kind credibility has this man got?”

Mohamed Zabidin then ordered Karpal Singh to submit on the merits of his application to drop the charge against Anwar.

Anwar, 63, the Parti keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor and member of parliament for Permatang Pauh, is accused of sodomising Mohd Saiful at Unit 11-5-1 Desa Damansara Condominium, Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

Karpal Singh had argued that the application (to drop the charge against him) should be allowed because neither Farah Azlina nor Mohd Saiful had replied to the allegations made in Anwar’s affidavit.

“Both of them personally never denied the alleged affair and had access to the investigation papers of the case. Why did they not submit affidavits-in reply and why did DPP Mohamad Hanafiah issue the reply when Anwar’s allegations against them are very serious,” Karpal Singh said, adding that without Farah Azlina and Mohd Saiful’s affidavits, it could be presumed that Anwar’s affidavit was true.

He further contended that even Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had issued a press statement that an investigation on the alleged affair was still ongoing and this was the reason the reason the defence wanted to ensure Farah Azlina and Mohd Saiful replied to Anwar’s affidavit.

Karpal Singh also questioned as to why Mohd Saiful, who had taken an oath at the mosque prior to this concerning his accusation against Anwar, was very reluctant in rebutting the allegation against him.

“Anwar had alleged that due to the affair, Farah Azlina had access to the investigation papers (IPs) and that Mohd Saiful, the lead prosecution witness, was  privy to the IPs,” added Karpal Singh.

Karpal Singh also told the court that the contents of Mohamad Hanafiah’s affidavit were mainly newspaper cuttings, claiming whatever were reported were merely hearsay.

“The court must strike out the charge against Anwar since the entire charge against him is tantamount to abuse of court process,” Karpal concluded.

Mohamed Yusof, however, had argued that Anwar in his affidavit must show how the alleged affair had caused prejudice to his sodomy case as well as how the affair had affected the integrity of the prosecution team.

He submitted that the contents of Anwar’s affidavit were worthless as there was no evidence to support the allegations.

He stressed that Mohamad Hanafiah had stated in his affidavit that Farah Azlina was merely a typist and assisted in general duties in the team, and only he was in charge of the IPs.

He added that Farah Azlina had joined in the team in January this year, replacing DPP Shamsul Sulaiman, who took up optional retirement.

He argued that even though Mohd Saiful had the access to the documents, this had not affected the trial as what was said by Mohd Saiful in court was already in the public domain and that Mohd Saiful’s testimony was to confirm the matter.

The testimony from Mohd Saiful in court was on his personal experience, he added.

The court will hear the defence’s submissions on the merits of dropping the charges today. — Bernama