I’m the victim, Anwar the accused, Saiful reminds Malaysians as sodomy verdict looms
(Malay Mail Onine) – With two days left on the clock before the court finally closes the chapter on Sodomy II, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan spoke out today to lament the public’s treatment of him as the victim in a case involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, “a VVIP politician of great importance”.
The 30-year-old former political aide to Anwar expressed disappointment, saying his voice and cry for justice has often been drowned out by those more interested in the political implications of the case.
“In all frankness, I’d like to express how very sad and disappointed I am. How I’ve been treated and concern towards me as the victim is often overlooked and even regarded as unimportant or irrelevant.
“This is even though I am the victim and Anwar Ibrahim, the accused,” he said in a blog post today.
“It disappoints me even more when others in both the ruling party and the opposition, analysts and the public care more about the effect this case may have on the political landscape, instead of the truth, the facts, and justice for me as the victim.
“Whatever it is, I am well aware… who am I? I am just a little person of no importance. Anwar, on the other hand, is a VVIP politician of great importance,” he said.
Saiful said, however, that he is ready to accept the court’s verdict next week, even if it sides with Anwar.
He said if Anwar wins the case, it would not change his position on the matter.
“I will hold on to the truth no matter how hard it may be to bear, because I believe that God would not be so unjust to His servants who uphold the truth,” he said.
He urged the court to deliver a fair judgment in the matter and not to allow itself to be influenced by anyone.
Saiful also accused those in Anwar’s camp who claim to be fighting for a “clean and independent judiciary” of being “hypocrites” for urging the federal government to throw out the Opposition Leader’s sodomy charges.
“Isn’t that a form of hypocrisy of the highest order? Fighting for a clean and independent judiciary but in this case of mine, they want the government to interfere,” he said.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court had in 2012 acquitted Anwar of allegedly sodomising his former political aide Saiful in an upscale Bukit Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.
But the decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, last year, and the Opposition Leader was subsequently sentenced to a five-year jail term.
Anwar then appealed to the Federal Court, which announced that it will deliver its ruling on the case on February 10.
