By Debra Chong
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 30 — The Court of Appeal will deliver its decision on Nov 6 whether opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has the right to get key evidence for his new sodomy charge, including crucial DNA samples, before the start of his trial.
The three-man panel of judges, led by Datuk Hasan Lah, explained today that they needed time to think over the arguments presented this morning by both the prosecution and defence lawyers.
The on-going trial has been a distraction for Anwar, who successfully lead an alliance PKR, DAP and PAS to win four more states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008, snapping Barisan Nasional's customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.
Solicitor-General II Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden had earlier said that Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, sitting in Anwar's trial, had gravely made a mistake when he ordered the prosecution to hand over several key proofs to the defence before trial.
Yusof argued that under criminal law, the High Court judge did not have the authority to make that decision and appealed for the three-man Bench to reverse the decision.
It was the prosecution's call to supply the defence with certain documents, if any, that were in its favour, and there is none, he added.
Anwar's defence lawyers, however, claimed the law provided for the opposite.
R. Sivarasa countered that the judge had the discretion and had used it correctly to interpret the provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to award the proofs so the defence could better prepare for the trial when it starts.
He also pushed the appeal court judges to allow the defence to get extra proofs, notably the original DNA samples taken from Anwar and his complainant, former 24-year-old male aide Mohd Saiful Bukhary Azlan.
Sivarasa explained that the High Court judge was only concerned the samples may be contaminated if unsealed before the trial starts.
The Subang MP tried to convince the appeal court judges that the fear was unfounded because they could simply order the defence's team of DNA experts to inspect the samples under the court's supervision.
But the prosecution claimed that court supervision may not be appropriate because it had no expertise in dealing with chemical exhibits.
Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who returned to Parliament after winning the Permatang Pauh seat in a by-election last year, is charged with performing sex against the order of nature for the second time in his career under strikingly similar circumstances to the one he went through a decade ago.
Anwar, 62, claims the charge is politically motivated to effectively prevent him from taking over Putrajaya.
He faces a jail term of up to 20 years if found guilty.
He has also separately filed two applications against the prosecution — one challenging a compulsory certificate signed by the Attorney-General needed before the trial can start claiming there are no facts in his favour; and the other, a bid to kick out the entire team for past bias.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court is set to fix the trial start date next Tuesday morning as well as his bid to disqualify all seven members on the prosecution team.
A separate branch of the High Court, the appellate and special powers, is also set to hear Anwar's review later the same day.
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