Anwar and Azmin to be charged over Bersih rally

PETALING JAYA , MAY 21 – PKR leaders Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali are expected to be charged on Tuesday in relation to the Bersih rally on April 28. The PKR de facto leader and the PKR deputy president are expected to be charged for breaching the court order barring the public from entering Dataran Merdeka that day. The duo are...

Anwar Ibrahim ‘elated’ at acquittal on sodomy charges

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been acquitted of sodomy after a two-year trial. The ruling came as hundreds of Mr Anwar’s supporters waited outside the court in Kuala Lumpur. Mr Anwar, 64, has consistently denied the charges and called them a government bid to cripple his political ambitions and influence. He was jailed for...

Malaysia’s Anwar told to stand trial on sodomy charge

(CNN) — A Malaysian court on Monday ordered opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to enter his defense to sodomy charges after ruling that there was a case to answer. Anwar is being tried in the Kuala Lumpur High Court for allegedly sodomizing a former male political aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in June, 2008. The judge, Zabidin Mohamad...

Defence close Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trial

Defence lawyers representing Malaysia’s main opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim have made their closing arguments at his sodomy trial in Kuala Lumpur. They urged the country’s High Court to acquit Mr Anwar of all charges, claiming that the man who accused him is a “compulsive and consummate liar”. Prosecution lawyers are expected to address the court...

Malaysia DNA ruling overturned in blow for Anwar

The judge hearing sodomy charges against the Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has reversed an earlier ruling to now allow key DNA evidence. Judge Zabidin Mohamed Diah had earlier barred the use of DNA taken from items used by Mr Anwar in a police cell. After a prosecution appeal, he has said it can be...

Anwar’s defence questions Saiful’s ‘calm’ state of mind

KUALA LUMPUR: Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan was calm and composed during his medical examination at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL), the High Court heard. Forensic pathologist Dr Siew Sheue Feng and Emergency Care Specialist Dr Khairul Nizam Hassan both described Mohd Saiful as such during his medical examination on June 28, 2008. Sankara Nair, counsel for...

Anwar withdraws appeal to recuse judge

KUALA LUMPUR (March 16, 2010): Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has withdrawn his appeal to recuse Justice Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah from hearing his sodomy trial. Anwar’s counsel, Karpal Singh, told reporters at the Parliament lobby today the defence had withdrawn the appeal because it did not want to unnecessarily prolong the trial as the...

Saiful suffered anal penetration, say doctors

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Hospital Kuala Lumpur doctors told the High Court here that Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had suffered anal penetration as there was presence of semen in his high and low rectal areas. Forensic pathologist Dr Siew Sheue Feng and Emergency Care specialist Dr Khairul Nizam Hassan had previously said in their medical report...

Malaysian leader hires Indian expert to fight sodomy case

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has engaged three international DNA and forensic experts, including an Indian professor, to assist in the ongoing trial he is facing on a sodomy charge. The names of C. Damodaran, a professor from Chennai; Brian Leslie McDonald from Sydney and David Lawrence Noel Wells, a professor from Melbourne, were announced...

Anwar’s sodomy trial hit by affair

KUALA LUMPUR: In a sensational twist in the sodomy trial of the Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, a prosecutor has been dropped after being accused of having an affair with the star witness. Defence lawyers said the move bolstered its charge that Mr Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who was sacked and jailed on separate...