'The prosecution is not worried about the DNA evidence being expunged because they have created a doubt - that Anwar did sodomise Saiful.'The key actors were known and available. No sleuths needed here.Our MALAYSIAN response to a scandalous mess is neat and categorised. Cash and sex are the north and south pole of mass interest, each with a sprawling magnetic field. We divide the hemispheres with the equator of logic. Cash and corruption are the preserve of politics. Sex is the province of glamour. We refuse to recognise any cross-over evidence.The words of this column will make no difference. The UMNO government's Mission achieved: Anwar dragged through mud My apologies for a rare detour into the personal, but this is a rare moment to Mahatir had become impervious to anything except sycophancy. Words demand a different kind of loyalty, and one was relieved to return to the world of words.Ego sometimes persuades a pompous politician to flaunt a bogus ‘Dr’ on his nameplate. This is not a reward for academic brilliance but an upgrade to a peacock feather, the ‘honorary doctorate’, a worthless piece of paper handed out by an institution desperate for attention. However, this does not matter too much, since we do not expect a high level of honesty from our politicians. Only two letters separate use from abuse, so there will always be a quack preening himself in the garb of a doctor. But when a person held in high esteem dilutes the trust reposed in him, it affects the collective reputation of the brotherhood.
Prosecution will not appeal ruling
It unlawful extraction of evidence is inadmissible and it was a landmark ruling by the Federal Court then the prosecution should know about it.
The question is that why they still proceed? Well, there are only two possible answers. Either that are inefficient or they did it deliberately to have this part of the evidence reported to the public.This is to give the opportunity to BN control media to paint the guilty picture so that many rural folks will see it that way. If the latter is true then it is politically motivated and got nothing to do with the case. The government and the police knew all along they got no case on Anwar Ibrahim. One would expect the prosecution to appeal all the way to the Federal Court and they had never failed to win. That they do not want to appeal shows that the verdict was pre-planned. Umno may have realised that it is against their interest to jail Anwar.With the DNA evidence disqualified the prosecution has no case so we can expect Anwar to be acquitted for lack of evidence. However Umno has achieved its purpose of dragging Anwar through mud.The whole trial was a sham. The prosecution is not worried about the DNA evidence being expunged because they are banking on the fact that they have created a doubt - that Anwar did sodomise Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. This is all Umno needs to refer to this in the GE campaigns by saying that Anwar got away through a technicality.Now, naturally most people who are not exposed to the BN Machiavellian moves may buy into this and believe this lie. So Anwar, you are checkmated despite your innocence. How I wish people would use their heads to think for themselves but knowing the people in this country that's unlikely.With this ruling, Umno still wins, the West will look at the judiciary as "fair", but since the evidence already shows that the DNA of those three articles match the one planted into Saiful's arse, Anwar will still be "guilty" by those in Malaysia who see the print media as gospel truth. It looks like no matter which way the verdict goes, Anwar's credibility is now down the drain.Who is Saiful? When the evidence relating to the DNA found in three items (a mineral water bottle, a 'Good Morning' towel, and a toothbrush) had been expunged by the court, only Saiful's testimony can wage a challenge to the defence, said Karpal.But is Saiful a credible witness? Is he a reliable person? Do you trust him? Did he behave as someone who was a victim of sodomy? He said he went to the bathroom and came out clad in a towel before the said encounter with Anwar;
Secondly, he was seen entertaining some guests in Anwar's office the day after the said incident. If you are puzzled by Saiful's action as usual behaviour, what then had caused his attitudinal change?How do you explain that? Could it be that there was an incentive offered to him so huge that he could not possibly refuse?It should be obvious to everyone by now that Anwar's blood from Sodomy I was mixed with Saiful's semen and inserted up Saiful's rectum with the use of a plastic syringe. This is the plastic object referred to when Saiful told the first doctor he saw at Hospital Pusrawi that his anus had a plastic object inserted.Saiful is not gay, but because the plot had to be adhered to with the corresponding juicy payoffs, he allowed the officer (assigned to him by Najib Razak) to insert the syringe up his rear end at a room at the Concorde Hotel when he met him after meeting Najib, and before going to the hospital.That also explains the apparent presence of Anwar's DNA at the front (not the back) of Saiful's underwear as the liquid from the syringe could easily have been jettisoned forward, when Saiful was bending over, with the officer manipulating the syringe from behind him. The dripping of excess fluid would fall onto the front, and not the rear of his underpants. The night is still young. They will plant some other damning evidence some place else. Umno is dead set on getting rid of Anwar, so this is not the end of the persecution.At the same time, Najib can say the police may be slightly dirty but the judiciary and the attorney-general are clean. We must remember that the big picture includes Altantuya Shaariibuu, Scorpene, space tourists, PKFZ, BMF, Proton, MAS, APs, Sime Darby, Perwaja, and on, and on, and on. Prosecution will not appeal? I thought this is the ace up their sleeves. Appeal cannot be allowed? This is incredulous. At last some order is being adhered to, or is it? I am dying in suspense.'The judge, faced with just and persuasive arguments, had no choice but to rule against the admission of the illegally obtained evidence.'
Mini-trial: Judge disallows items as evidence The whole objective of the prosecution was to link the DNA extracted from the three or four items, including the bulu (hair), to 'Male Y', whose DNA was supposedly found on Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's anus and pants. This is to prove that Male Y is Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and that his DNA was found on Saiful's butt and pants.If the team of prosecutors hope to use this to secure a conviction in Sodomy II, then they can join their esteem lawyer-colleagues in the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission). Is Anwar discredited? As far as I am concerned, it has not even scratched his reputation. The judge, faced with just and persuasive arguments, had no choice but to rule against the admission of the illegally obtained evidence. In other words, he had to be seen as doing the right thing but let's see how he behaves as the trial goes on and we will know whether he is just another dishonest cog in Umno's wheel.Based on the testimonies of the forensic head and the chemist, the world now knows whose semen it was in Saiful's anus. The fact that the evidence provided by the three items has been ruled inadmissible does not erase that knowledge. This is a technical victory for the defendant which may or may not lead to his acquittal.If it is proved to be the former, then an interesting contrast with Sodomy I will come into being: Sodomy I, Anwar convicted, but innocent in public opinion. Sodomy II, Anwar acquitted but guilty in public opinion (more so, if he refuses to voluntarily give a DNA sample).The latter's a crueller fate for him, and it may well turn out to be so. All Anwar has to do is to submit to a DNA test and show that the sperm is not his. Why would someone not want to show this if it could prove his innocence? To say that it could be tampered with is baseless.Have two or three independent tests. That will show who is telling the truth. There will always be a presumption of guilt if he does not submit to a DNA test.To those who believe Anwar having sodomised Saiful by virtue of DNA evidence in his anus, how sure are you that the DNA samples obtained from Anwar previously was not implanted into Saiful's rear cavity.The fact that the first doctor who examined Saiful had categorically stated no sign of anal penetration and that it was a direct meeting with the DPM Najib Razak no less which started the whole trial rolling is cause for concern.Anyway, this whole trial is a sham and is being used to avoid discussions on more serious issues afflicting the nation.The abhorrent wastage of taxpayers money on such a frivolous case is frustrating to the ordinary rakyat who are suffering due to the rise in prices whilst salaries are stagnating. Endemic corruption and a host of other issues demand immediate action. Shame on the government When Dr Mahathir Mohamad jailed Anwar on trumped-up sodomy charges, he thought he would not only remove a threat to his hold on power but also disgrace him at the same time.But the election results showed that Malays saw through his disgusting strategy and consequently shifted their support to the opposition. So it was surprising to see that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib Abdul Razak used the 'same sodomy strategy' by charging Anwar again on clearly trumped-up charges. They probably had not learnt their lessons from Sodomy I.But after Najib became PM, he hired some very expensive consultants like the RM77-million Apco Worldwide who may have told him that if he put Anwar in jail, he would lose a lot of Malay and Chinese votes to the opposition and lose the next elections.
With this latest ruling, it will be the right thing to do for the attorney-general to exercise his discretion and withdraw the charges against Anwar and hence stop this divisive trial. It is within the AG's absolute power to do so under the Federal Constitution and no one, not even the court, can question his decision.
Anwar wins critical ruling in sodomy trial
As a third party observer, I remember many here and in Pakatan Rakyat proper claiming and shouting the courts are unfair, biased, BN lapdogs and so on, whenever Anwar has a ruling against him, whether it is legally right or wrong.Now hear people saying judge is good, courts are fair and so on. I do not want to point fingers, but do think for yourselves.
The judge has taken the same action as in the previous Sodomy I where the evidence to use the DNA splashed on mattress were considered irrelevant by the judge, but the ending of this ongoing trial is yet to be concluded.We pray that judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah will continue to show that justice is not only seen but done. May Allah show you the right path.
The PM must be quite comfortable with the two by-election wins that Anwar is no longer a threat at the next general elections and he can demonstrate that the judiciary is independent. Otherwise, this is not over yet.The judge has a discretion whether to admit the evidence improperly obtained, unlike in US where it is strictly inadmissible. The appellate court may simply rule that he has exercised his discretion badly and reinstate those evidence on appeal without a chance for the defence to cross examine further.
Anwar is not out of the woods yet and I believe the judge has no choice but to make this ruling. This is still a political trial to end Anwar's political life and let's not be under any illusion that Umno/BN under Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor will free Anwar, who is the biggest threat to their rule and riches.
So even if it's illegal, it's admissible? If they had not obtained Anwar's DNA legally or illegally, how are they going to implant it into Saiful's anus? Now the question is: Did Amwar's DNA really reside there or was it implanted by those 'kidnappers'?Since they had not arrested Anwar legally, all these must have been done illegally. As such, we must give Anwar the benefit of the doubt. Anything that can become law or is passed by Parliament to become law must have its indispensable elements of morality. Law without morality cannot be enforced in any part of the world.Morality is about right or wrong, good or bad, the right to go on living and not the right to interfere with another person's right or to kill him. Any law that is not imbued with morality cannot stand alone and cannot even exist.If any judge were to allow an illegal piece of evidence or an illegally obtained evidence to stand in court, then that country is an uncivilised country. The judges and the lawyers who represent that court is not learned in the law. That court will be the laughing stock of the world.It looks to me like "procurement (of evidence) by deception". It involves the misuse of official power and the misrepresentation of official purposes.If you take home a government pencil and use it for your own purposes, that is the appropriation and "conversion" of public resources to an illicit private use. It is in principle the same (but in practice far worse) with the grabbing for personal or partisan use of official power and authority.Here, in this instance, it's not just a pencil that has been grabbed to write a shopping list. It is the procurement (without any adequate safeguard or protection for the integrity of the chain of transmission and custodianship) of apparent evidence in a strategy of illicit entrapment.From its origins, from the very outset, this stratagem is fatally tainted. Any court that can find this move permissible is not in the business being an honest arbiter but of self-serving arbitrariness. Try arguing otherwise!
Such a blatant gross injustice to a political leader who has a very large following. This is like the government is telling the rakyat not to trust the law to provide justice. This affront to justice is tempting the creation of a climate for anarchy.I fear to think that if BN loses the next GE, it will precipitate unrest by convicting and jailing DSAI (Anwar), thus giving it the reason to impose emergency rule.The aim of the trial was two-fold - firstly, to distract Anwar from the political process of building up a challenge to Umno, and secondly, to discredit Anwar as a leader of good morals. In both, I'm afraid they have succeeded.
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