In a surprising move, the Federal Court today rejected granting Anwar Ibrahim more time to file his petition of appeal over the Sodomy II conviction following the death of his lead counsel Karpal Singh.
Instead the apex court asked the opposition leader's lawyers to file in a proper notice of motion over the matter.
PKR’s legal head Latheefa Koya said Karpal’s firm, who are the solicitors, had written in citing two reasons for seeking an extension, namely the senior lawyer’suntimely death and that the other counsel Ramkarpal, who is Karpal’s third son, was still grieving.
However, a lawyer from Karpal’s firm, Zaleha Al Hayat, said they have rejected this written letter and demanded that we file a proper notice of motion over this. Even with the notice of motion, there is no guarantee that they will allow an extension.
“It is highly inconsiderate of the court and shows a lack of sympathy and understanding for the tragedy of Karpal’s death. Even in death Karpal’s law firm is being harassed. It appears also that the court is bent on rushing through the Federal Court appeal since they will not even grant an extension on compassionate grounds ,” Latheefa told Malaysiakini.
Normally, a petition of appeal is to be filed within 10 days after receiving the court’s written judgment. The petition includes a list of grounds where the appellant (Anwar) is seeking to set aside the conviction.
The Court of Appeal had on May 7 overturned the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision and found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at the Desa Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.
Basically, the written judgment by the appellate court found that the specimen is intact despite investigating officer Supt Jude Blacious Pereira having cut open the plastic holding all the samples retrieved from Saiful.
Sulaiman replacing Karpal
Yesterday, it was reported that former Malaysian Bar president andsenior lawyer Sulaiman Abdullah would replace Karpal as lead counsel, and Ramkarpal, who played a pivotal role in questioning the DNA evidence, would also be part of the team.
Sulaiman (right), who also played a pivotal role in the Sodomy I case in the late 1990s, was initially the lead counsel in this case until he fell ill, resulting in Karpal and his team replacing Sulaiman.
It was also reported yesterday that Karpal’s law firm is writing in to seek an extension of time to file the petition.
Following this latest development, the new legal team may not be able to take chances and has file the petition possibly by tomorrow or at the latest by Friday.
Instead the apex court asked the opposition leader's lawyers to file in a proper notice of motion over the matter.
PKR’s legal head Latheefa Koya said Karpal’s firm, who are the solicitors, had written in citing two reasons for seeking an extension, namely the senior lawyer’suntimely death and that the other counsel Ramkarpal, who is Karpal’s third son, was still grieving.However, a lawyer from Karpal’s firm, Zaleha Al Hayat, said they have rejected this written letter and demanded that we file a proper notice of motion over this. Even with the notice of motion, there is no guarantee that they will allow an extension.
“It is highly inconsiderate of the court and shows a lack of sympathy and understanding for the tragedy of Karpal’s death. Even in death Karpal’s law firm is being harassed. It appears also that the court is bent on rushing through the Federal Court appeal since they will not even grant an extension on compassionate grounds ,” Latheefa told Malaysiakini.
Normally, a petition of appeal is to be filed within 10 days after receiving the court’s written judgment. The petition includes a list of grounds where the appellant (Anwar) is seeking to set aside the conviction.
The Court of Appeal had on May 7 overturned the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision and found Anwar guilty of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at the Desa Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.
Basically, the written judgment by the appellate court found that the specimen is intact despite investigating officer Supt Jude Blacious Pereira having cut open the plastic holding all the samples retrieved from Saiful.
Sulaiman replacing Karpal
Yesterday, it was reported that former Malaysian Bar president andsenior lawyer Sulaiman Abdullah would replace Karpal as lead counsel, and Ramkarpal, who played a pivotal role in questioning the DNA evidence, would also be part of the team.
Sulaiman (right), who also played a pivotal role in the Sodomy I case in the late 1990s, was initially the lead counsel in this case until he fell ill, resulting in Karpal and his team replacing Sulaiman.It was also reported yesterday that Karpal’s law firm is writing in to seek an extension of time to file the petition.
Following this latest development, the new legal team may not be able to take chances and has file the petition possibly by tomorrow or at the latest by Friday.
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