Anwar's bid to reinstate sodomy suit dismissed by appeal court
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PUTRAJAYA • The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who sought to reinstate his lawsuit against the government relating to his second sodomy conviction.
A three-man panel chaired by Justice Lee Swee Seng was unanimous in its decision to dismiss the appeal yesterday. The other panel members were Justices Abu Bakar Jais and Supang Lian.
In the decision, read by Justice Abu Bakar, the panel was of the opinion that the High Court did not err in striking out Datuk Seri Anwar's application to reinstate the lawsuit.
To support his application, Mr Anwar had argued he had not received a fair trial as the lead prosecutor in his sodomy case appeal, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, was not independent as the latter had received RM9.5 million (S$3 million) from then Prime Minister Najib Razak.
"The appellant only said that it was in the public domain that Shafee had received the money from Najib. That allegation by the appellant was a mere assertion unsupported by evidence. Therefore, the assertion that Shafee was not independent as the lead prosecutor is devoid of any merits," the judge said.
The panel also said that even if it was proven that the money was paid to Mr Shafee by Najib, it would not have affected the appeals at the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
"The decisions given by those courts were given by judges independently and without any influence or knowledge of any payments between the two individuals. Therefore, it does not matter if there was a payment by Najib to Muhammad Shafee, it is a matter for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate and the Attorney-General to prosecute if there is corrupt payment and receipt of the said sum," Justice Abu Bakar added.
The court further said Mr Anwar has had his right of hearing beginning at the High Court where the case was concluded, and that he was not denied the opportunity to defend himself up to the highest court.
Mr Anwar was appealing against the decision by the High Court on Nov 8, 2017, which allowed the government's application to strike out his originating summons over his sodomy conviction involving Mr Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Mr Anwar was convicted and sentenced to five years' jail for sodomising Mr Mohd Saiful, and given a royal pardon on May 16, 2018.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
The court said Mr Anwar has had his right of hearing beginning at the High Court where the case was concluded, and that he was not denied the opportunity to defend himself up to the highest court.
