Thursday, October 30, 2014

Day 3 of Sodomy II: Prosecution to make submissions (1)


The prosecution team led by government-appointed lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, is expected to seek a longer jail term for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in the Federal Court as the Sodomy II case enters its third day today.

Shafee is likely to submit either later this morning or in the afternoon on the issues raised by newly appointed Anwar's lead counsel, retired Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram.

The Umno-linked lawyer had told journalists outside court yesterday that "there was nothing new” that was raised by Anwar's defence team over the past two days.

Throughout the sodomy trial and the prosecution's appeal at the Court of Appeal last March, the case was handled by the late Karpal Singh who was tragically killed in a car crash early this year.

Initially, former Bar Council chairperson Sulaiman Abdullah, who led the defence when Anwar was charged in 2008, was slated to lead the PKR de facto leader's team.

However, he has not fully recovered following a surgery to his leg, and the defence team subsequently approached Gopal Sri Ram.
          
In the morning, defence lawyer and Karpal’s son, Ram Karpal, is expected to continue his submission on the discrepancy in the DNA findings linking ‘Male Y’ to Anwar.

Yesterday, Ram had submitted on the possibility of the samples taken from alleged victim Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's anus could be contaminated following the presence of an unidentified male DNA which was not reported by the Chemistry Department.

The unidentified DNA was found in the peri-anal and high rectum swab from Saiful.

He also said the samples were given to the department 96 hours after the alleged sodomy incident and yet it was found to be in "pristine" condition.

Ram questioned how the samples from the low rectum and high rectum swabs could still be fresh when they were not kept in the freezer as recommended. Investigating officer DSP Jude Blacious Pereira had kept it in a steel cabinet at his office.

Sangeet Kaur Deo, another scion of the Karpal family and a member of Anwar’s huge defence team, also questioned the manner three items - a mineral water bottle, a toothbrush and a white towel - was retrieved from the opposition politician's cell when he was held overnight at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters.

She complained that there was deception and trickery adopted by the police in trying to get Anwar's DNA after the Permatang Pauh MP had refused to give his sample at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur.

Sangeet also argued that there was no evidence that Anwar had used those items.

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