PETALING JAYA - Both sides in the final appeal of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's case against a sodomy conviction and five-year jail sentence are in the dark as to when the Federal Court will deliver its judgment.
When contacted, N. Surendran, who is part of Anwar's legal team said, "I do not know (when the judgment is coming out). The court has not told us anything."
"We have not received any notice from the court," added Latheefa Koya, another member of the Opposition Leader's legal team.
The Permatang Pauh MP's legal team, aside from Latheefa and Surendran comprises Ramkarpal Singh Deo, Sangeet Kaur Deo, Gobind Singh Deo, R. Sivarasa, J. Leela, Lim Choon Khim, Eric Paulsen, Michelle Yesudas, Shahid Adli Kamaruddin, Zaleha Al-Hayat, Jeremy Vinesh Anthony and Mohamed Aliff Bolkin.
It is led by former Federal Court Justice Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram.
Prosecution team leader Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah also said that he has yet to be informed by the Federal Court as to when the decision would be ready.
"I do not know. It could be this month, it could be next month. I cannot say when the decision will be ready," said Shafee, who is being assisted by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria.
If Anwar is found guilty, he would be disqualified as Permatang Pauh Member of Parliament following Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution, which states that an MP would be disqualified if he or she is sentenced to a jail term of more than a year, or fined more than RM2,000 (S$751.96).
Selangor Sultan last month revoked Datuk Seri award given to Anwar Ibrahim. The move was seen as a signal of which way the wind would blow in Anwar's politically-charged sodomy case, for which charges he has accused Prime Minister Najib Razak of fabricating in a bid to destroys the Opposition..
In the appeal, Anwar, 67, is seeking the apex court to set aside the conviction and sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal on March 7 last year after it had overturned a High Court decision to acquit him.
The hearings ran for eight days from Oct 28 to Nov 7, 2014.
The Court of Appeal found the de-facto PKR leader guilty of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 27, 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 sentence of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.
On Jan 9, 2012, the High Court acquitted and discharged Anwar for sodomising Mohd Saiful on the grounds that the court could not be 100 per cent certain on the integrity of samples taken for DNA testing from the alleged victim.
The court had ruled that the samples could have been compromised before they reached the Chemistry Department for analysis.
The Court of Appeal, in convicting Anwar on the sodomy charge, however, held that the trial judge had erred in his findings about the samples, which were based on the evidence of two expert witnesses called by the defence. - ANN
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