Anwar would’ve been torn to shreds if he took the stand, Shafee tells paper

Umno lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hid behind a skirt when he chose not to be cross-examined. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 13, 2015. 

After successfully prosecuting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a sodomy case this week, Umno lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has continued to speak out against the jailed opposition leader – this time with pro-government daily New Straits Times (NST).

He accused Anwar of hiding behind a skirt when he chose not to take the stand to be cross-examined.

Shafee also told the NST he was “satisfied” that Anwar had been found guilty and that if he had a chance on Tuesday, he would have told Anwar “to stop this habit and repent”.

The report also quoted Shafee as saying that critics of the Federal Court’s decision which convicted Anwar of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan would not “have a leg to stand on” if Anwar took the stand.

Shafee, who was the lead prosecutor, reportedly said that the torrent of questions would have been so unrelenting that Anwar would have been cut to pieces.

"I think he would have fainted in the witness box because he wouldn't be able to explain a lot of things, like why he put in his defence of alibi and then backed off," Shafee said, according to the report.

He also said that hundreds of facts would have been zoomed in if Anwar had taken the stand.

The lawyer also urged everyone to read the full judgement to understand how the Federal Court arrived at its decision based entirely on facts and not ideas like the ones being entertained by the opposition and the Bar Council.

"I will politely tell them to go and read the judgment.

"I have read the compressed summary of the judgement and can gauge what is coming, and I'm sure the full version of the judgment will be very thorough," he said, according to the report.

Shafee also said that he was game for a debate, whether it was with the Malaysian Bar Council or whoever.

He was also quoted as saying that he fought to the best of his ability to convict Anwar with a clear conscience and was 100% sure of the opposition leader's guilt.

Former Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan yesterday said that it was unprecedented for a deputy public prosecutor to attack an accused person after the court delivered its verdict.

Ambiga added that she was surprised by Shafee's conduct.

"It was not done in good faith and it is improper because Anwar could not defend himself," she said.

- TMI