What will Najib and Rosmah say on Thursday to set aside their sodomy subpoena

It is a given that Prime Minister Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor will accuse arch rival Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim of abusing the court process to force their appearance as witnesses in the ongoing Sodomy II trial.

And the court is expected to accept their claims and set aside the subpoena obtained by Anwar's lawyers earlier this month, after the first couple shocked the nation by refusing to testify.

"Of course, they will deny, what do you think? It will be an open and shut session," pundits who have been following the long drawn-out case toldMalaysia Chronicle.

"Saiful has said he met the first couple when Najib was then the deputy prime minister. That part of Saiful's testimony has already been expunged from the court records, can you imagine? As for Rosmah, the testimony Saiful gave in court differs from his previous statements."

Deny

Najib, 58, and Rosmah, 60, are due to appear in court on Thursday when their application will be heard. However, it is likely that the first couple may be represented by their army of lawyers instead

Pundits expect Rosmah to deny meeting sodomy complainant Saiful Bukhari Azlan, while Najib may tell the court that he did not order former Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan and another senior Rodhwan Ismail to help Saiful frame Anwar.

Najib, who earlier tried to deny meeting Saiful, but was found out in the lie and had to retract his denial can be expected to stick to the script that he had agreed to meet Saiful but did not plot with him to lodge the police complaint against Anwar.

The master-minds

The PM and wife have been accused of master-minding sodomy charges against Anwar in a bid to destroy his political career. In June 2008, soon after Anwar announced plans to return to active politics, he was accused of sodomising Saiful, a former political aide.

Anwar has denied the charges, saying it was a conspiracy drummed up by the first couple together with Musa and Rodhwan.

"The preparation entailed in this conspiracy was most elaborate and went all the way to the Prime Minister himself and his wife Rosmah Mansor both of whom by the complainant’s own admission had met him in their residence where he purportedly complained of being sexually assaulted," Anwar had said from the dock on the first day of his defence being called.

"The initial statement by Najib that he had met with the complainant merely to discuss about a scholarship was a blatant lie only to be retracted later after various exposes were made via the social media and the internet blogs."

Malaysia Chronicle