The Court of Appeal today unanimously ruled there were no exceptional circumstances for Anwar Ibrahim to recall former investigating officer Supt Jude Blacious Pereira.
In dismissing Anwar's application, Justice Aziah Ali, who chaired the three member panel, unanimously ruled that there was no need to adduce further evidence from the former IO.
Senior lawyer Karpal Singh (right) for Anwar, had applied to call Pereira on the grounds that the Kuala Lumpur High Court, had found him “not to be a fit and proper person” to be admitted as a lawyer to practise at the High Court of Malaya.
This was on the grounds that Suhakam found him to be not a credible witness in the arrest of five lawyers in 2009 at Brickfields police station.
Justice Aziah said the court found the Suhakam report was readily available even during Anwar's trial, as it was there on April 23, 2010 and the witness (Pereira) never denied this.
Anwar's sodomy trial had commenced on Feb 3, 2010.
“Furthermore, the trial judge made his findings based on the testimonies of other witnesses including the complainant (Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan), the doctors and chemist and not solely on Pereira's testimony alone,” she said.
“Hence, the court agrees that the application failed to meet the conditions (to warrant a recall) and we dismiss the application,” the court ruled.
Karpal immediately applied for a stay of the ruling on the grounds that they will take the appeal to the Federal Court.
However, lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (right) objected to the stay and postponement.
After a short recess, Justice Aziah allowed for a stay of the hearing.
“While we are concerned over the continuous postponement (of the Sodomy II case appeal), the court has to be fair and seen to be fair. For this reason, the appellate court will allow a stay,” Aziah explained.
Notice of appeal
Karpal promised to file a notice of appeal tomorrow, and Justice Aziah fixed Feb 28 for case management to fix a trial date.
The court also ordered Karpal to file submissions on the appeal proper for which the DAP leader said it did so this morning.
Outside court, Anwar expressed disappointment in the decision and stressed the importance of calling Pereira was to test his credibility further following this decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Shafee described the appeal as ridiculous and a stalling tactic employed by Anwar's defence team.
“I do not understand why are they delaying the case. The prosecution filed their submissions to court since July and the defence only filed today. It shows they are not ready,” he said.
Shafee said he will write to the Federal Court to fix an early hearing date.
The delay will see more time for Anwar (left) to concentrate on the Kajang by-election where he is contesting under the PKR and Pakatan banner.
Nomination day is set for March 11 and polling on March 22.
Anwar was acquitted last year, of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at the Desa Damansara condominium on June 28, 2008.
Today's proceedings also attracted a host of international observers namely Mark Trowell from Lawasia and International Parliamentary Union, Anthony Breen from the International Federation of Human Rights, Anthony Jones from the International Bar Association and J Elizabeth Evall from the International Council of Jurists.
In dismissing Anwar's application, Justice Aziah Ali, who chaired the three member panel, unanimously ruled that there was no need to adduce further evidence from the former IO.
Senior lawyer Karpal Singh (right) for Anwar, had applied to call Pereira on the grounds that the Kuala Lumpur High Court, had found him “not to be a fit and proper person” to be admitted as a lawyer to practise at the High Court of Malaya.This was on the grounds that Suhakam found him to be not a credible witness in the arrest of five lawyers in 2009 at Brickfields police station.
Justice Aziah said the court found the Suhakam report was readily available even during Anwar's trial, as it was there on April 23, 2010 and the witness (Pereira) never denied this.
Anwar's sodomy trial had commenced on Feb 3, 2010.
“Furthermore, the trial judge made his findings based on the testimonies of other witnesses including the complainant (Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan), the doctors and chemist and not solely on Pereira's testimony alone,” she said.
“Hence, the court agrees that the application failed to meet the conditions (to warrant a recall) and we dismiss the application,” the court ruled.
Karpal immediately applied for a stay of the ruling on the grounds that they will take the appeal to the Federal Court.However, lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (right) objected to the stay and postponement.
After a short recess, Justice Aziah allowed for a stay of the hearing.
“While we are concerned over the continuous postponement (of the Sodomy II case appeal), the court has to be fair and seen to be fair. For this reason, the appellate court will allow a stay,” Aziah explained.
Notice of appeal
Karpal promised to file a notice of appeal tomorrow, and Justice Aziah fixed Feb 28 for case management to fix a trial date.
The court also ordered Karpal to file submissions on the appeal proper for which the DAP leader said it did so this morning.
Outside court, Anwar expressed disappointment in the decision and stressed the importance of calling Pereira was to test his credibility further following this decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
Shafee described the appeal as ridiculous and a stalling tactic employed by Anwar's defence team.
“I do not understand why are they delaying the case. The prosecution filed their submissions to court since July and the defence only filed today. It shows they are not ready,” he said.
Shafee said he will write to the Federal Court to fix an early hearing date.The delay will see more time for Anwar (left) to concentrate on the Kajang by-election where he is contesting under the PKR and Pakatan banner.
Nomination day is set for March 11 and polling on March 22.
Anwar was acquitted last year, of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at the Desa Damansara condominium on June 28, 2008.
Today's proceedings also attracted a host of international observers namely Mark Trowell from Lawasia and International Parliamentary Union, Anthony Breen from the International Federation of Human Rights, Anthony Jones from the International Bar Association and J Elizabeth Evall from the International Council of Jurists.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.