Affidavit could see Anwar’s suit reinstated, says lawyer

Affidavit could see Anwar’s suit reinstated, says lawyer

anwar-ibrahim-fmt-070918-1 Affidavit could see Anwar’s suit reinstated, says lawyer
PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

PETALING JAYA: A lawyer says the Court of Appeal is likely to reinstate Anwar Ibrahim’s suit following the revelation that Muhammad Shafee Abdullah who was ad hoc prosecutor at the time received RM9.5 million from Najib Razak to prosecute the former opposition leader in his Sodomy 2 case.

SN Nair said the affidavit by Siti Rahayu Mohd Mumazaini from the Attorney-General’s Chambers was fresh evidence that would greatly assist Anwar’s lawyers.

“This is an important piece of evidence that was not available to Anwar last year and is now coming from the government whom he named as a respondent.

“The affidavit should aid Anwar’s lawyers to allow his appeal and see the case sent back to the High Court for trial,” he told FMT.

Nair, who represented Anwar in the Sodomy 1 and 2 trials, was responding to Rahayu’s affidavit released yesterday which alleged that two cheques were deposited into Shafee’s CIMB bank account on Sept 13, 2013 and Feb 17, 2014.

The first cheque was reportedly for RM4.3 million while the second was for RM5.2 million. Both cheques were issued from Najib’s AmIslamic Bank Bhd account.

Rahayu said the information was obtained when the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission froze Shafee’s bank account while investigating the senior lawyer for money laundering offences.

She said Shafee filed an affidavit in the High Court last year claiming he had not received the money.

“This information establishes that Anwar’s (the appellant’s) allegation that Shafee received payment of RM9.5 million from Najib was true and Shafee’s denial was untruthful,” she said in the affidavit filed in court yesterday.

Anwar, who released the contents of the affidavit last night, urged those responsible for safeguarding the country’s institutions to consider corrective steps to instil confidence in the integrity of the legal system.

Lawyer J Leela meanwhile said the Court of Appeal had fixed Sept 14 to hear Anwar’s appeal against the High Court’s ruling to strike out the suit.

“Lawyer Gopal Sri Ram will argue the case for Anwar,” she added.

Judge Azizah Nawawi, who allowed the government to annul the suit, said Anwar’s claims regarding payment were “bare allegations” and that he had not given any evidence in support of his action.

The court also denied Anwar’s application to compel Najib and Shafee to reveal their bank account details.

Anwar filed the suit last June saying he had been denied a fair trial following allegations by Sarawak Report that RM9.5 million was transferred to Shafee from Najib’s private account.

Anwar said the Court of Appeal’s decision on March 7, 2014, to convict him of sodomising Saiful Bukhari Azlan was done in an unconstitutional manner.

The appeals court’s decision was upheld by the Federal Court on Feb 10, 2015.

The government had given Shafee a temporary licence to be made ad-hoc prosecutor to conduct the appeal which led the court to set aside Anwar’s acquittal by the High Court in 2012.

https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2018/09/07/affidavit-could-see-anwars-suit-reinstated-says-lawyer/