D-Day for Anwar?

Karen Arukesamy, The Sun Daily

If all goes according to schedule, the Federal Court may deliver its judgment on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy appeal on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who is leading the prosecution team, is expected to wrap up his submissions today, with former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, lead counsel for the Opposition Leader’s legal team, and another co-counsel to rebut after that.

And if the five-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria decides not to reserve judgment, Anwar should know his fate by Wednesday.

Anwar’s final attempt to overturn his sodomy conviction in the apex court continues today, entering Day 5 of the hearing.

Accused of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008, Anwar, who was acquitted in the High Court, was later convicted by the Court of Appeal in March and sentenced to five years in jail.

Anwar’s lawyers have thus far made four submissions against what they called miscarriage of justice by the Appellate Court, Saiful’s credibility as a witness, the tampering of DNA samples, the conduct of the investigating officer (IO) and that the whole charge was a political conspiracy.

Sri Ram had said that the Court of Appeal exceeded its power by making its own findings instead of reviewing facts.

He said it has also made findings based on the issue of alibi that was not pursued by the High Court during the trial in 2012.

Co-counsel Sangeet Kaur argued that the DNA of the semen found in Saiful’s rectum did not have any link to the appellant.

She had also submitted that the DNA profiling was obtained from circumstantial evidence – a toothbrush, a towel and a mineral water bottle – taken from Anwar after he was detained overnight in a lock-up in July 2008.

Sangeet pointed out that the DNA from the three items matched the DNA in Saiful’s rectum but it was not established that the DNA has a link to Anwar.

Another co-counsel, Ramkarpal Singh, submitted that the DNA samples were tampered by IO Supt Jude Pereira by opening the sealed envelope and kept in a filing cabinet which could have also contaminated the samples.

Shafee, who began his submission on Friday, said that Saiful was an “unwilling” participant in the sodomy scandal as Anwar was a dominant, charismatic and influential superior.

He also said that Pereira did not tamper with the DNA samples as the inner seal in the envelope remained intact.

The others in the panel are Tan Sri Raus Sharif, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Embong, Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar and Datuk Ramly Ali.

Anwar’s sodomy trial has been one of the most high-profile in Malaysia and also internationally.

Throughout the hearings, hundreds of his supporters had gathered outside the court.