Umno lawyer gets nod to prosecute Sodomy II appeal
(MM) – The Federal Court dismissed today Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to bar Umno lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah from heading the prosecution in the government’s appeal against the opposition leader’s acquittal of a second sodomy charge.
In a unanimous decision, the country’s top court ruled that there was no conflict of interest in Putrajaya appointing the prominent Umno lawyer to act as a deputy public prosecutor (DPP).
“We dismiss the appeal and affirm the decision of the Court of Appeal,” Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Rauf Sharif, who chaired a full bench in the apex court, said in the judgment today.
Rauf pointed out that Shafee was not found to be a relevant witness during Anwar’s second sodomy trial at the High Court.
The chair of the five-man bench also said that the Umno lawyer’s presence at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s residence at the time the opposition leader’s accuser, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, had gone to see the country’s top leader to accuse Anwar of sodomy, was irrelevant.
“It’s too fleeting to bear any relevance to the sodomy charge,” said Rauf.
Anwar’s lead counsel, Karpal Singh, told the court on November 11 that it was perceived that Shafee was an interested party in the entire case due to his presence at the prime minister’s residence at the same time when Saiful was there.
But Shafee had countered that the court cannot make a decision based on unproven claims, as there was no evidence to support the argument that there was a conflict of interest in his appointment by the Attorney-General to lead their appeal against Anwar’s acquittal.
He had said the mere fact that he was present in “one corner of the house”, while the meeting between Najib and Saiful went on, did not prove that he had anything to do with it.
The Federal Court also ruled today that Section 378 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) – which Karpal has argued that it allows only DPPs in regular government service to appear on behalf of the public prosecutor in criminal appeals – could not be read in isolation.
The court said that it must be read together with the CPC’s Section 376(3), which allows the public prosecutor to appoint fit and proper people as DPPs, and Section 379, which allows an advocate to be employed on behalf of the government to conduct criminal prosecutions.
“We’ll take Shafee on. No problem, despite the fact it’s not in accordance with provisions of the CPC,” Karpal told reporters after the court decision.
Anwar, who was with Karpal, smiled when reporters asked for comments, and said: “I’m not surprised”.
The government’s appeal against Anwar’s acquittal is scheduled to resume on December 11 at the Court of Appeal.
