Anwar confident court will decide in his favour
(The Star) – PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is confident that the Federal Court will rule in his favour when it convenes on Feb 10 to hand down its decision of his appeal against his sodomy conviction on Feb 10.
“Based on the arguments put forward by my legal team, I am confident I will be acquitted based on the detailed facts and solid legal principles that were presented before the Federal Court panel.
“Slander should not be used as a tool in games of political boxing,” said Anwar in a blog post on his official website, www.anwaribrahimblog.com on Monday.
The Feb 10 date was announced in a tweet on Monday by Federal Court communications and international relations chief Mohd Aizuddin Zolkeply, who said “Decision of DSAI v PP at Federal Court fixed on February 10, 2015 at 9.00 am” on the Malaysian Judiciary’s official Twitter account, @MYJudiciary.
If Anwar is found guilty, he would be disqualified as the member of parliament (MP) for Permatang Pauh as per Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution which states that an MP would be disqualified if he or she is sentenced to a jail term of more than a year, or fined more than RM2,000.
In the appeal, Anwar, 67, is asking the Federal court to set aside the conviction and sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal on March 7 this year after it had overturned a High Court decision to acquit him.
The hearings ran for eight days from Oct 28 to Nov 7 2014.
The Court of Appeal found Anwar guilty of having sodomised his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 27, at Unit 11-5-1 of the Desa Damansara Condominium in Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
The charge under Section 377B of the Penal Code carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.
On Jan 9, 2012, the High Court acquitted and discharged Anwar of having sodomised Mohd Saiful on the grounds that the court could not be 100 per cent certain on the integrity of samples taken for DNA testing from the alleged victim.
