Anwar has repeatedly accused Najib of being involved in the Sodomy II trial, and has called it a conspiracy to destroy his political career.
Lead defence counsel Sankara Nair today reiterated Anwar’s claims, pointing out that complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had admitted to meeting Najib in 2008, when the latter was still deputy prime minister, days before the alleged sodomy act took place.
The lawyer also argued that there were many “inconsistencies” with the prosecution’s case, and questioned not only Saiful’s credibility, but that of other prosecution witnesses as well.
“It is as clear as daylight that the fingerprints of Datuk Seri Najib Razak are all over this sordid plot notwithstanding the desperate attempts by various quarters to smudge them,” Sankara said during his closing submission of the defence’s case.
The lawyer said the meeting between Saiful and Najib at the latter’s official residence back in June 2008 gave rise to a “suspicion of some foul play at the very least and at worst some nefarious machination at work.”
Sankara charged that the prime minister gave “contradictory” answers to the media when asked about the matter, first stating that Saiful had come to see him about obtaining a scholarship and, later, changing it to a public statement that Saiful went to see him to complain about “alleged misdeeds” by Anwar.
“Why did Najib not come clean the first time he was asked about this? What was there to hide? Why did he have to resort to lies?” said Sankara.
Adding to the suspicions of a conspiracy, said Sankara, were SAC Datuk Rodhwan Ismail’s and former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan’s “involvement” in the case.
The lawyer questioned the reason behind Rodhwan meeting Saiful just before he lodged a police report against Anwar, as the former was not the investigating officer at the time.
“One story that defies us here is how SP1 (Saiful) got hold of TS Musa’s number. Apparently he overheard a conversation between Datuk Khairil Anas or an aide and Najib where Musa’s number was mentioned and he saved it in his handphone upon overhearing the conversation.
“This, again, is an insult to one’s intelligence,” said the lawyer.
Sankara also pointed out the fact that Najib and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor had applied to set aside a subpoena to appear in court as defence witnesses, saying that they should not have done that if there was “nothing to hide.”
“If the premier and Rosmah had no relevance to this case, why then did investigating officer DSP Jude Pereira record their statements? This is not just our conclusion. It is also the conclusion of the public and at large,” he said.
Another defence lawyer, Ramkarpal Singh, said there was no evidence to confirm that the DNA from Male Y found on rectal swabs taken from Anwar came from sperm cells.
Ramkarpal said the DNA could have been easily obtained from the mineral bottle, toothbrush and “Good Morning”-brand towel retrieved from Anwar when he was detained overnight on July 16, 2008 at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.
Saiful accused the PKR de facto leader of sodomising him at the upmarket Desa Damansara Condominium in Damansara Heights here on June 26, 2008.
Anwar has repeatedly denied this, and opened his defence case by calling the sodomy charge a trumped-up allegation masterminded by Najib.
The former deputy prime minister said Najib wanted to end his political career and the hopes of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) taking over the federal government.
His lawyers had named 25 witnesses who included Najib, Rosmah and Musa.
The trial resumes tomorrow afternoon.
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