Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has lost a final bid to have his sodomy trial held in a lower court, ending a long wrangle over where the case should be heard, his lawyer said Thursday.

The Court of Appeal rejected the application and affirmed an earlier decision that the politically charged case should be heard in the High Court. The trial is due to start July 8.

Amid widespread doubts over the standards of Malaysia’s judiciary, Anwar’s supporters have said they fear authorities will be able to manipulate the case more easily in the High Court.

“The decision is not appealable. I am most disappointed with the decision today,” his lawyer Sankara Nair told AFP.

Anwar, 61, has repeatedly rejected sodomy allegations levelled by a 23-year-old former aide; the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago, as a government conspiracy to derail his plan to topple the ruling coalition.
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Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has won the first battle in his Sodomy II trial.

Today, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court judge S M Komathy Suppiah ruled the certificate signed by the Attorney-General requesting the case be transferred to the High Court was invalid.

This will give a fillip to Anwar’s fight against the sodomy charge which he has denied and suggested is politically-motivated.

His case will now be heard in the Kuala Lumpur Criminal Sessions Court.

“This case raises a unique situation where it is evident that any involvement by the AG in this case would seriously undermine public confidence in the administration of criminal Read the rest of this entry »

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Sessions court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah has lifted the media gag on the contents of nine “exhibits” referred to by the defence team in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II hearing.

Yesterday, Judge Komathy had allowed the prosecution’s application to issue a gag order to restrain the media from reporting about Abdul Gani Patail’s alleged involvement as shown in the contents of the exhibits.

Anwar’s lead counsel Sulaiman Abdullah had argued before Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah that the three exhibits [two statements of claim respectively filed by Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan and the then investigation officer in the 1998 Anwar case Mat Zain Ibrahim and newspaper reports on that incident] had been read out in open court.
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The Sessions Court here on Tuesday ruled that it had the discretion to hear submissions on the defence objection questioning the validity of the certificate produced by the prosecution to transfer Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy case to the High Court.

Judge S.M.Komathy Suppiah rejected the preliminary objection by the prosecution which contended that it was mandatory for the Sessions Court, under Section 418A (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, to transfer the case to the High Court once the transfer certificate had been issued by the prosecution.

She made the decision based on four cases, including the corruption case of former Read the rest of this entry »

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The Sodomy II trial of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been postponed yet again, after Sessions Court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah ordered a two-week recess so she can decide on whether to allow the prosecution’s application to transfer the case to the High Court.

She is set to deliver the decision on October 7.

At the previous hearing on Sept 10, Senior Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden, submitted a certificate of transfer to move the Sodomy II trial to the High Court.

Anwar’s defence team, led by Sulaiman Abdullah, objected to the transfer application on several grounds, primarily that the certificate was signed by Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, the Attorney-General (A-G) Read the rest of this entry »

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Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II trial was today postponed to Sept 24 following objections from his defence team over the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s involvement.

The objection was a clear sign of how politics will continue to play a major part in this highly-charged trial, in which Anwar has already accused the Attorney-General and the Inspector-General of Police of being involved in a conspiracy against him.

It also showed Anwar’s legal team would not be prepared to give an inch to the prosecution and was likely to challenge their every move.

Today, S.M. Komathy Suppiah, the Criminal Sessions Court judge presiding over the case, was supposed to set the dates for his trial to begin.
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This morning the Malaysian Election Commission announced nomination and polling day for the by-election that I will contest in Permatang Pauh. I look forward to the campaign period to meet with voters in my home constituency. I invite all Malaysians to join me in this historic campaign to bring forth a New Dawn for Malaysia as we work together to build a more peaceful and prosperous nation.

At the same time we would reiterate our longstanding concerns about the integrity of the electoral process. To this date, the evidence of phantom voters and ballot box stuffing has yet to be addressed by the Election Commission. The poor handling of the use of indelible ink in the General Elections gives all Malaysians, particularly those in Permatang Pauh, reason to be concerned about the conduct of polling this month. I urge the Election Commission to take this opportunity to restore some credibility to its reputation by fulfilling its constitutional mandate to ensure that voting is fair and unbiased. Read the rest of this entry »

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Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be charged for sodomy when he turns up at the Jalan Duta sessions courts tomorrow after police took a civil approach today and served him with a subpoena to appear in court. In a similar sequence of events 10 years ago, balaclava-clad elite policemen arrested him and detained him under the Internal Security Act before preferring charges.

His court appearance will come a day after the Election Commission decided that the Permatang Pauh by-election will be held on Aug 26 which Anwar said he will contest.

A police team led by DSP Jude Pereira served the subpoena just a little after noon today when they turned up at his Bukit Segambut house, which is incidentally near the Jalan Duta courts.

Anwar is scheduled to hold a press conference later at 3pm and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) officials said it could be related to a sodomy charge. He is currently speaking to his lawyers, according to lawyer Sankara Nair. Read the rest of this entry »

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