PUTRAJAYA - Sodomy II complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan never idolised his former boss Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and hated him instead, defence lawyer Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said today, citing evidence presented by the youth’s friend during trial in 2011.
Sri Ram noted that in his testimony, PKR member Mohd Najwan Ali had said that before Saiful joined Anwar’s staff, the latter had always shown hatred for the Opposition Leader.
“Witness (Najwan) said Saiful had campaigned for BN (Barisan Nasional) and once uploaded a picture of Anwar and called him munafik (hypocrite),” the lawyer reminded the court.
Despite this, the prosecution had argued against accepting Najwan’s testimony, claiming that the witness was jealous of Saiful, Sri Ram said.
Back during the trial for Sodomy II in October 2011, Najwan, who was Saiful’s ex-university mate, had testified that the latter had always been pro-BN during his university days and even found Anwar to be an “untrustworthy” person.
The testimony raised eyebrows at the time as Saiful himself had previously testified that he viewed Anwar as a role model and an idol.
Najwan told the court then that he had known the complainant since 2003 when they were both in Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten). He said they even stayed in dormitories across from one another.
According to Najwan, it was a shock to him when he discovered that Saiful had joined Anwar’s staff in 2008 and he even went as far as to warn the Opposition Leader about the matter in an email.
“I warned Anwar because I thought Saiful was not fit to work for him,” Najwan was reported saying in 2011 during cross-examination by then lead prosecutor Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden.
After recalling Najwan’s 2011 testimony, Sri Ram then pointed out that Saiful had also reportedly “seduced” a member of the prosecution team, Farah Azlina Latiff.
Farah Azlina was a deputy public prosecutor who was part of the prosecution team in the trial for Sodomy II. Following reports of her alleged relationship with Saiful, the DPP was removed from the team to avoid further allegations of impropriety.
“This was never denied in the affidavit. He seduced the girl to illicit information,” Sri Ram told the Federal Court.
“My tales are real, not of flying carpets...this is real. Therefore the tale told of an easily over-powerable man by someone of position of appellant is a false tale,” he added.
The Federal Court is hearing today Anwar’s challenge of the Court of Appeal’s decision to overturn a lower court’s decision to acquit him of the charge.
The High Court had in 2012 acquitted Anwar of the 2008 charge but the appellate court ruled on March 7 this year that the trial judge had erred when rejecting the DNA evidence produced in the case.
Anwar has repeatedly maintained his innocence, insisting that the charges were trumped up to kill his political career as he allegedly poses a threat to the Barisan Nasional coalition’s decades-long rule with the Pakatan Rakyat alliance, which he now leads.
If Anwar fails to reverse his five-year imprisonment sentence and conviction in the Federal Court, he would lose his seat as the law bars anyone fined RM2,000 or imprisoned for one year from serving as a lawmaker.
Today’s hearing is presided over by a five-member panel led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria. Others include Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif and Federal Court judges Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Embong, Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar and Datuk Ramly Ali.
Anwar is represented by a 14-man defence team led by Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram. Others include lawyers R.Sivarasa, Latheefa Koya, N. Surendran and Gobind Singh Deo. - Malay Mail
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