Shafee says qualified to prosecute Anwar as not material witness in Sodomy II

Putrajaya and Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (pic) have moved to rebut Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's objections to the senior lawyer becoming the lead prosecutor in the Sodomy II appeal, saying he was never a material witness in the case.

Anwar's objection rests on Shafee being present when Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan accused the opposition leader of sodomy in then deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's house.

But affidavits filed by Deputy Public Prosecutor Noorin Badaruddin and Shafee and sighted by The Malaysian Insider say the lawyer was never called as a witness despite giving a statement to police on what transpired in Najib's house.

"I was not a material witness. Therefore I could not have been in the chain to unfold the prosecution's story.

"It is for this reason that neither the prosecution, nor the defence, called me to testify in the sodomy trial," Shafee said in the affidavit.

Shafee, 61, said he was offered as a defence witness but that was on the basis that police had recorded a statement from him.

Noorin, in support of Shafee's sworn statement, said that the lawyer was not a key witness.

"The allegation that he was a material witness was a figment of Anwar's imagination," she said in her affidavit.

Noorin said police had recorded a statement from Shafee as he was at Najib's residence when Saiful went to meet the then deputy prime minister.

She said a statement was taken from Shafee to conclude that he did not see or hear the conversation between Najib and Saiful.

Najib, in a 2008 interview, admitted having met Saiful who told him that he was allegedly sodomised by Anwar. This meeting took place several days before Saiful lodged a police report on the sodomy allegation.

Shafee in his affidavit said his appointment as a DPP to lead the prosecution team in the Court of Appeal was in strict compliance with the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

As a precedent, he said Harry Elias, a famous lawyer from Singapore (when the island republic was part of Malaysia), was appointed to prosecute those who violated copyright laws.

Shafee added that another lawyer, Datuk V.L. Kandan, was also appointed to handle copyright and trademark violation cases.

He said recently, Datuk Tan Hock Chuan was appointed conducting officer in the inquest to determine the cause of death of Teoh Beng Hock.

Shafee said lawyers Karpal Singh and Gobind Singh Deo, who held a watching brief for the family of Teoh, did not object to Tan's role on behalf of the Attorney-General's Chambers.

He said Karpal, as a member of parliament, had also advocated in the Dewan Rakyat in the past that lawyers should be given the role and responsibility to handle serious cases for the Attorney-General's Chambers.

Anwar last month filed an affidavit to prevent Shafee from leading the prosecution team on grounds the lawyer was a potential prosecution witness.

Anwar said Shafee need not be employed as DPP because the Attorney-General's Chambers has enough competent legal officers to conduct the appeal.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the expenses incurred to hire Shafee will be borne by taxpayers.

Anwar's application will be heard at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

The opposition leader was freed in January last year of sodomising Saiful, his former political aide, at Desa Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.