Sodomy complainant Saiful Bukhari Azlan has broken his silence on recent allegations he had an affair with Farah Azlina Latif, the deputy public prosecutor in the trial against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, but he steered clear of clarifying whether the accusations were true or not.
“This sort of vague statement is not good at all. By the fact that Saiful is the key witness in the case and Farah was in the prosecuting team, there is very high risk of conflict of interest,” PKR MP for Batu Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
“They cannot expect the episode to blow over just like that. Anwar has been maligned. His image has been tarnished. His family is suffering. They are entitled to justice too. Saiful and Farah must reveal what sort of relationship they are in. Whether they intended to or not, their behavior may have triggered a mistrial."
Speculation of photos, video
Despite the intense public scrutiny, neither Saiful or Farah has made any public responses so far. However, it is telling that the Attorney-General decided to drop Farah from the case and has said he cannot "verify" if they had an affair.
There is also speculation that the prosecutors are worried there may be photos or even a video that could trip them again if they rushed to issue a denial now.
Meanwhile, Saiful warned on Twitter that evil will be eliminated. He did not write anything on the matter on his blog at http://mohdsaifulbukhari.blogspot.com/.
“Smg segala kebatilan akn dilenyapkan oleh Yang Hak. Akan trs berdoa, istiqamah & sabar. Tdk sesekali akn melatah & menyerah kalah.Slm#Sabar, or The righteous will eliminate all evil. I will continue to pray, be steadfast and patient. I will not overreact or surrender. Salam. Patience,” Saiful tweeted.
Anwar applies to strike out Sodomy II
On Monday, Opposition Leader Anwar had lodged a police report against him and Farah for allegedly breaching 8(1) and Section 8(2) of the Official Secrets Act 1972.
A Malaysia Today report by top blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin had accused Saiful and Farah of having an affair, prompting concerns that due to their closeness, Saiful may have obtained access to confidential information 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 had told reporters.
Anwar, the 62-year-old PKR adviser, was accused of sodomizing Saiful at Unit 11-5-1 of the Desa Damansara Condominium in Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
He has denied the charges and accused Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor of collaborating with Saiful to frame him and derail his political comeback. At that time, Najib was deputy premier and had met Saiful just days before Saiful lodged the police complaint against Anwar.
Meanwhile, Anwar’s lawyers have separately applied for a stay of proceedings ahead of an Appellate Court hearing this Friday. Anwar is challenging the Attorney General’s refusal to grant his lawyers access to key medical notes they need to prepare his defense.
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