Anwar fails to disqualify sodomy lawyers
The Kuala Lumpur High Court today dismissed Anwar Ibrahim's application to replace the prosecutors in his sodomy trial.
According to Justice Alizatul Khair Osman Kamaruddin, Anwar’s bid should have been done through the criminal court.
"In the present case, the applicant is not challenging any specific act or exercise of power by the seven respondents which requires this court to exercise its supervisory powers," said Alizatul.
She said there must be a specific act or unlawful exercise of power which was to be challenged as required under Order 53 of the Rules of High Court 1980 in order to prevent the seven respondents from acting for the public prosecutor or respondents to recuse themselves from this trial.
She added the proper remedy for Anwar's application was the criminal court and not the appelate court.
Alizatul said the applicant seemed to hold the view that no one from AG's office could appear in the case.
"This amounts to undermining and stopping criminal proceedings even though Sivarasa (Anwar's counsel) had submitted that applicant did not mean to stop the whole prosecution team," added Alizatul.
She concluded by saying the application in her view was misconceived and as such, was dismissing the leave application with costs.
In the dock for allegedly sodomising a former aide, Anwar had wanted to bar the seven because he believes they would be influenced by the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, who was also the lead prosecutor in a previous sodomy trial against him.
In 1999, Anwar - a former Deputy Prime Minister - was jailed on sodomy and graft charges. The sodomy charges were later overturned in 2004, enabling him to make a brilliant political comeback. However, in 2008, he was again accused of sodomy – this time by a personal aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
The 62-year Permatang Pauh MP has pleaded not guilty, counter-accusing Prime Minister Najib Razak of fabricating the case to kill his growing political clout.
The seven lawyers are: Solicitor General I Idrus Harun, Solicitor General II Yusof Zainal Abiden, deputy public prosecutors (DPP) Nordin Hassan, Hanafiah Zakaria, Wong Chiang Kiat, Shamsul Sulaiman and Noorin Badaruddin.
According to Justice Alizatul Khair Osman Kamaruddin, Anwar’s bid should have been done through the criminal court.
"In the present case, the applicant is not challenging any specific act or exercise of power by the seven respondents which requires this court to exercise its supervisory powers," said Alizatul.
She said there must be a specific act or unlawful exercise of power which was to be challenged as required under Order 53 of the Rules of High Court 1980 in order to prevent the seven respondents from acting for the public prosecutor or respondents to recuse themselves from this trial.
She added the proper remedy for Anwar's application was the criminal court and not the appelate court.
Alizatul said the applicant seemed to hold the view that no one from AG's office could appear in the case.
"This amounts to undermining and stopping criminal proceedings even though Sivarasa (Anwar's counsel) had submitted that applicant did not mean to stop the whole prosecution team," added Alizatul.
She concluded by saying the application in her view was misconceived and as such, was dismissing the leave application with costs.
In the dock for allegedly sodomising a former aide, Anwar had wanted to bar the seven because he believes they would be influenced by the Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, who was also the lead prosecutor in a previous sodomy trial against him.
In 1999, Anwar - a former Deputy Prime Minister - was jailed on sodomy and graft charges. The sodomy charges were later overturned in 2004, enabling him to make a brilliant political comeback. However, in 2008, he was again accused of sodomy – this time by a personal aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
The 62-year Permatang Pauh MP has pleaded not guilty, counter-accusing Prime Minister Najib Razak of fabricating the case to kill his growing political clout.
The seven lawyers are: Solicitor General I Idrus Harun, Solicitor General II Yusof Zainal Abiden, deputy public prosecutors (DPP) Nordin Hassan, Hanafiah Zakaria, Wong Chiang Kiat, Shamsul Sulaiman and Noorin Badaruddin.
Labels: Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia
posted by Ah Yun Wong at
7:26 PM
1 Comments:
i dread for YB ANWAR (with a kangaroo court like what is going on now)
my prayers are with you YB ANWAR
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