Anwar claims he was denied a fair trial after prosecutor Shafee was allegedly paid RM9.5 million by PM.
PUTRAJAYA: The government has applied to strike out a suit by Anwar Ibrahim to quash his sodomy conviction on grounds that he was denied a fair trial, following a claim that a senior prosecutor had received millions of ringgit from the prime minister.
The former opposition leader’s lawyer Latheefa Koya said the government filed the application last week and a copy of the court papers was served on the legal firm Daim & Gamany.
“They are basically stating that Anwar’s application is frivolous and an abuse of court process,” she told reporters after attending a court proceeding here.
She said Anwar would respond.
On another matter, she said lawyer Mohamed Hafarizam Harun would represent Najib Razak in response to Anwar’s application to compel the prime minister to disclose his bank account transactions between August 2013 and March 2014.
On June 21, the High Court ordered counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to file his case in response to Anwar’s application to compel the lawyer to disclose his bank account transactions during the same period.
Anwar has filed two suits: one over not receiving a fair trial, and the second to compel Najib and Shafee to reveal bank account details.
Anwar filed the suits following allegations that RM9.5 million had been transferred to lawyer Shafee from Najib’s private account.
In the last case management on June 21, Najib was not represented.
On June 9, Anwar filed a suit to quash his sodomy conviction on grounds the court did not come to a just decision as Shafee, then appointed as ad hoc prosecutor, had allegedly received RM9.5 million from Najib.
Online portal Sarawak Report reported that Shafee had received the money in two tranches in 2013 and 2014 from Najib.
Anwar wants the court to set him free by setting aside the Court of Appeal’s decision in March 2014, which overturned his acquittal on a charge of sodomising a former PKR aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008.
The decision was reaffirmed by the Federal Court on Feb 10, 2015, which sentenced Anwar to five years’ jail.
At the trial stage, the prosecution was led by then solicitor-general Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin.
Following Yusof’s early retirement, Shafee was given a licence to prosecute the case.
He was appointed by then attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail to lead the prosecution team in the sodomy trial.
Anwar also filed a discovery application to direct Najib and Shafee to disclose their bank accounts, following allegations that RM9.5 million had been transferred to the lawyer. -FMT
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