Anwar lodges police report against Saiful, Farah

Malaysia Chronicle

UPDATED Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has lodged a police report against the complainant Saiful Bukhari Azlan and a deputy public prosecutor Farah Azlina Latif in his sodomy trial for allegedly breaching 8(1) and Section 8(2) of the Official Secrets Act 1972.

Allegations have swirled the past week that Saiful and Farah were having an affair, prompting concerns that due to their closeness, Saiful may have obtained access to confidential information from Farah such as the prosecution’s Investigation Papers.

This would allow Saiful to gain unfair advantage against Anwar, whom he has accused of having sodomized him in 2008.

“I have asked the police to speed up the investigations as we will submit our arguments to strike out the sodomy charge next Monday,” Anwar told reporters on Monday.

Clear the air

Meanwhile, Anwar’s lead counsel Karpal Singh said both Saiful and Farah – because of their status in the case - have to come clean on the matter.

According to him, Farah is in violation of Section 8(1) of the Official Secrets Act and Saiful is in violation of Section 8(2). Both provisions relate to wrongful communication of secret documents.

Karpal wants them to lodge separate affidavits stating clearly their relationship with each other.

“So far, the prosecution has neither acknowledged or denied the allegations. For us, we are certain they have been having an affair so if they cannot confirm, it is up to them to deny,” Karpal told reporters.

But Solicitor-General II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden is not cowed and denies the trial has been compromised.

"This is a bare allegation and there is no substance (to the claim). Do they have personal knowledge (about the alleged affair)?" Malaysiakini reported Yusof as saying.

Further disrepute

But despite the show of bravado, Yusof’s boss Attorney-General Gani Patail last week decided to drop Farah from the case. Neither she nor Saiful have made any public response to the allegations so far. Both were noticeably absent from the courthouse this morning.

The brouhaha came about following a report in Malaysia Today, where top blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin had accused the two of having an affair.

The news plunged the already widely-criticized Sodomy II trial further into disrepute. Some Muslim leaders have even called for the religious authorities to probe the allegations.

When the trial resumed earlier on Monday, Anwar’s lawyers applied to the court to strike out case. Their application will be heard on August 9.

“As a result of the affair, integrity of prosecution has been compromised. The charge against Anwar should be struck out. The DPP is part of the prosecution. By having an affair, there is the likelihood that Saiful would have been aware of the entire investigation,” Karpal had told the court.