Report: Anwar’s lawyers to push for house arrest if acquittal bid fails
(MMO) – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s legal team will settle for house arrest if efforts to get the jailed former opposition leader’s sodomy conviction reversed fails, The Weekend Australian reported.
US lawyer Kimberly Motley was quoted saying that Anwar’s lawyers would again highlight the lack of DNA evidence and inconsistency of Saiful Anwar Bukhari’s testimony in the October 12 legal review.
“Of course we want to get him released, period, and are going for an acquittal. If that doesn’t work we will try for house detention which is allowed under Malaysian law,” said Motley.
The review will be the last legal recourse to overturn Anwar’s conviction.
Motley told the paper that she was confident that Anwar was innocent, claiming the investigation and prosecution of the PKR de facto leader were “riddled with problems”, particularly on the allegations of evidence tampering by police.
“Why would a senior police — officer tamper with evidence? He was instructed to refrigerate it. Instead he opened it and stuck it in his filing cabinet for several days.
“There is no evidence of anything that convicts. I don’t know of any court where this would have led to a conviction,” she told The Weekend Australian.
Anwar is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for sodomy after he was convicted in March 2014 in what has been widely condemned as a politically motivated and legally compromised trial.
Motley, who specialises in human rights litigation, said that she took on the case as she felt a strong injustice towards Anwar.
The former beauty queen who has taken on high profile human rights cases in the past, is adamant that she will somehow be able to meet Anwar and represent him in future cases.
Motley told The Weekend Australian that Anwar appeared tired when she met him in the Sungai Buloh prison but remains resolved.
“He’s trying to keep his spirits up. He is obviously preparing for (the review) but he’s not necessarily expecting a victory,” she said.
“Every single step of the way has been a fight. There’s a lot of — intimidation going on.”
