Anwar's sodomy charge fabricated by 'forces' behind scene: lawyerKUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 (AFP) - The sodomy charge against former Malaysian deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was trumped up by "forces lurking behind the scenes," his lawyers charged Tuesday.Defence counsel Christopher Fernando also accused key prosecution witness Azizan Abu Bakar, who alleges Anwar sodomised him, of being a liar and said his evidence should be rejected. "Azizan is a person who has no regard for the sanctity of an oath. He has not merely contradicted himself. He has in fact, committed perjury on more than one occasion," Fernando said in his submissions to have the case thrown out. The lawyer said Azizan had testified he did not tell the police he was sodomised in 1994, the original date of the sodomy charge against Anwar before it was amended to 1992 and finally to early 1993. Neither did Azizan inform police he was sodomised in 1992. "This is a case of sodomy. There are no eyewitnesses," Fernando said. "If he did not tell the police, who was it or who were the persons who fabricated the charges? "The only irresistible conclusion is that someone or some people -- we do not know who they are -- have sat down to fabricate this charge. This matter is utterly unconceivable. It defies logic and common sense. It is utterly incredible," he said. "Your lordship will have no option but to hold there were forces lurking behind the scenes to come up with yet another false charge." Fernando said Azizan had also testified that he came forward to accuse Anwar of sodomising him "in the interest of religion and honour". But Azizan was himself jailed for three months by an Islamic court last month for attempted illicit sex with a woman he later married. "That was a very tall claim he made," the lawyer said. "For a man who elevated himself to that level, he has again beyond dispute shown himself to be a liar, a classic example of a hypocrite." Azizan's evidence was now "totally suspicous and can no longer inspire confidence," Fernando said. "The star witness is a man who is unreliable, untrustworthy and lacks credibility," he said. "Your lordship should without any hesitation throw this case out." Anwar, sacked and arrested in September 1998, was jailed for six years in April for abusing his official position to cover up allegations of heterosexual and homosexual misconduct. In the current case he and his Indonesian adopted brother Sukma Darmawan are accused of sodomising Azizan, the ex-driver of Anwar's wife. Sodomy is punishable by up to 20 years. Anwar says he is the victim of a top-level political conspiracy. In addition, Fernando said a doctor had testified that he had operated on Sukma, who is suffering from constipation, to enlarge his anal canal. "This is not the anatomy of a sodomist. This is not how the rectum of a victim of a sodomy would look like," he said. Earlier, Judge Arifin Jaka threw out a second application by the defence to recall Azizan to the stand following his conviction by the Islamic court. "The defence can refer to the record of the proceedings (of the Islamic court), touching on the credibility of Azizan as a witness," he said. |
