Court: Saiful-Farah 'liaison' not enough to drop sodomy charge

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has dismissed Anwar Ibrahim's application to strike out his sodomy charge, following an allegation that a member of the prosecution team had romantic relations with the complainant.

Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah ruled that the allegation does not compromise the prosecution's integrity.

This is because DPP Farah Azlina Latif had no access to vital prosecution documents, as stated int he affidavits of investigating officer Jude Blacious Pereira (left) and DPP Mohd Hanafiah Zakaria.

Justice Zabidin said there is no reason for the court not to accept the assertion by Jude and Hanafiah on this issue.

"From their explanation, it was reasonable to decide that although DPP Farah Azlina Latif is part of the prosecution team, her role was limited to a 'need to know' basis.

"She did not have access to the investigation papers or documents, and neither was she involved in the briefing sessions. As Farah had no access to the investigation papers or to knowledge of the contents of the case, then (the complainant) Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan could not have gained accesss to these through Farah."

On the issue of the prosecution's integrity, Justice Zabidin ruled that Farah was not a prosecutor responsible for charging the accused, as she was merely in court to take notes.

The judge noted that she was not responsible for examining the witnesses either.

"With that, I am of the viewthat Saiful (right) did not have any influence on Farah based on the alleged relationship, and that this could not have influenced the prosecution and compromise the integrity of the team.

"...The issue of prejudice to the applicant (Anwar) in this trial, hence does not arise. Based on this reason, I find there has been no abuse of the court process as alleged and hence, the application is dismissed."

The judge also ruled that the matter was interlocutory and ordered the trial to resume, despite objections from the defence.

He also ruled that the matter was interlocutory and ordered the trial to resume, despite objections from the defence.

About 10.50am, following a recess, lead defence counsel Karpal Singh said he would file notice of appeal and a stay application within an hour.

The judge said he would hear the application by 2.15pm.

Another failed attempt

Anwar had applied to strike out the case due to an allegation on theMalaysia Today blog that Mohd Saiful had initimate links with Farah Azlina.

Farah Azlina was then removed from the team, which was seen in many quarters as lending credence to Anwar's claims.

Karpal had previously claimed that this is the first time in the history of the Commonwealth that a DPP has been alleged to have a romantic relationship with a complainant.

In his application, Anwar stated that if Saiful and Farah Azlina were indeed in a relationship, the complainant may have had access to vital prosecution documents that could compromise the trial.

In reply, the prosecution claimed that Farah Azlina was a junior member of the team and had no access to important documents in the first place.

Neither Saiful nor Faraz Azlina has denied the allegations.

This is Anwar's second attempt at striking out the sodomy charge. The first application, which was denied, was on grounds that Kuala Lumpur general hospital's report stated that no sign of penetration had been found on the complainant.

[More to follow]