‘Acquitting Anwar was the right thing to do’

Bar Council chairman said the prosecution had denied Anwar's defence crucial documents.

PETALING JAYA: The Bar Council welcomed the High Court’s decision to acquit Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim from the sodomy charge levelled against him.

In a statement today, its president Lim Chee Wee said the court was right to acquit Anwar as the prosecution team had relied heavily on a compromised DNA evidence for their case.

“And the defence team was also denied access to crucial documents and physical evidence which may have helped Anwar’s lawyers to prepare his defence,” said Lim.

Earlier today, High Court judge Mohammad Zabidin Mohd Diah acquitted Anwar of the charge of sodomising his male aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

In his judgment, Zabidin said the court could not be 100% certain that the DNA evidence was not compromised and therefore it was not safe to rely on the evidence.

Lim then called upon the the Attorney-General’s Chambers not to appeal against the verdict and focus its resources on more serious crimes in the country.

‘Besides, the charge against Anwar is based on an archaic provision of the Penal Code that criminalises consensual sexual relations between adults. The case has unnecessarily taken up too much judicial time and public funds,” he said.

Earlier, about 5,000 people arrived at the court in a show of support for the opposition leader as early as 6am.

Among Pakatan Rakyat leaders with the crowd were PAS president Hadi Awang, his deputy Mohamad Sabu, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PKR deputy president Azmin Ali.