Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's opposition leader
Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday filed an application before a court
seeking disqualification of the prosecution team in his
ongoing sodomy trial on the grounds of "a real danger of
bias."
Anwar, a former deputy premier and adviser to the
opposition PKR party headed by his wife, filed the application
for a judicial review through his lawyer Sankara Nair.
The opposition leader was charged with sodomy by his
former aide Mohd Saiful last year. Anwar has denied the
charge.
Anwar claimed that the application was not meant to delay
court proceedings but to ensure that he was entitled to equal
protection under the law.
He claimed that he had an arguable case and that there
were points of law to be raised in his application.
Anwar said his application was due to reasonable
apprehension of bias and/or a real danger of bias by the
respondents against him.
Anwar said he was also concerned about the existence of
conflicts of interest and "prosecutorial misconduct" by the
respondents.
He contended that several prosecutors involved in the
current sodomy trial were also involved in his previous case
in 1998 which was done in "bad faith" and aimed at tarnishing
his name.
He claimed there was suppression of evidence, arguing
that until now the prosecution had failed to supply certain
documents which he requested for preparation of his defence in
the trial.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 18:32