Shafee, the prosecuted rather than the prosecutor

Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (pic) is usually the man who takes charge, but a retired police detective is taking him on and making the Umno lawyer appear to be prosecuted rather than the prosecutor.

Shafee made news when Putrajaya named him to lead the prosecution in  Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's appeal against a second sodomy conviction, but a police report and statutory declaration by former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim is igniting a political firestorm and disquiet over his position.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Putrajaya is concerned that issues erupting around the senior lawyer could distract and delay the Federal Court hearing.

"This case is about Anwar, not Shafee, but it appears that it's now about the lawyer," a Putrajaya insider said over the weekend.

"Mat Zain doesn't appear to want to let go and is going after Shafee," he said.

There has been one application by Anwar's lawyers to disqualify Shafee from the case on the grounds it was an illegal appointment, but the Court of Appeal had dismissed that complaint.

Anwar's lawyers filed a fresh application last week to disqualify Shafee, citing Mat Zain's 31-page sworn statement about meeting the Umno lawyer and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to discuss Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail's conduct.

Shafee filed an affidavit to counter the application, but Mat Zain yesterday stood his ground and lodged a police report, saying the lawyer's documents had inaccuracies that were an offence under law.

Most complainants normally wilt when coming head to head with Shafee, who has won a string of high-profile cases and is seen as a top lawyer in his field.

But Mat Zain appears to be holding his ground and is responding point for point against the senior lawyer, and Putrajaya insiders say there is now pressure on Shafee to clear his name.

"This is going to take some time to clear and meanwhile, Anwar's case will be on hold.

"The attorney general will have to decide on his options for the appeal now," another source told The Malaysian Insider.

In his police report lodged in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday, Mat Zain said Shafee had committed at least two offences under the Penal Code. The first was for making false statements in the affidavit.

He alleged that Shafee had suppressed material evidence with the intention of deceiving the court.

Shafee said that Mat Zain had "slanted" what he had said in his October 7 statutory declaration (SD) about a meeting held in Dr Mahathir's house that was attended by, among others, Dr Mahathir's former political secretary Matthias Chang, and former commercial crimes police director Datuk Ramli Yusuff, who had briefed the former premier over his run-ins with Abdul Gani.

"My affidavit is supported by Datuk Ramli Yusuff. I do not need to ask Matthias Chang to affirm it, and there is no need to trouble Tun (Dr Mahathir Mohamad)," Shafee said when asked to respond to the contents of the SD.

Shafee had vowed to expose in court a link between Mat Zain and Anwar, as the former had filed a defamation suit against the former prime minister, but was not serious about the case, resulting in the court striking out the matter.

Mat Zain had then shot back at Shafee, saying the content in the affidavit was "a load of rubbish".

Anwar filed the application on December 6 using Mat Zain's SD as grounds to disqualify Shafee, saying Shafee's appointment to lead the prosecution team would deny him a fair trial.