Saiful will swear by Quran soon, says his lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 -- Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan who made the sodomy allegation against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will swear by the Quran soon that the incidents really took place, his lawyer disclosed Wednesday.

Zamri Idrus, who is representing Saiful, said Saiful would take the oath as soon as police had completed their investigations into the report lodged by him on June 28 on the alleged sodomy.

He said until now the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jawi) had not contacted Saiful on his intention to swear by the Quran to prove that he was telling the truth.

"The media will be informed about the swearing rite. For the time being, let the police carry out their investigations without any hindrance.

"He (Saiful) maintains his stand to swear by the Quran on the sodomy incidents and he will do so voluntarily," he added at the press conference here Wednesday.

"My client has a strong case against Anwar," Zamri said before reading a three-paragraph statement from Saiful said to be in his own handwriting.

In the statement, Saiful said there was no reason for him to wrongly accuse or to purposely get the Parti Keadilan Rakyat advisor into trouble.

"I hope the police will speed up the investigations, and that the public will not make all kinds of speculation on this case," he said.

Asked whether Saiful, 23, was being threatened by any quarters as he declined to meet the media, Zamri said Saiful made the decision for safety reason, but would meet them at a suitable time.

"Saiful is not afraid of the media or does not wish to meet them but he is worried about his safety. For your (media) information, Saiful is in the country and under police protection. He is staying separately from his father."

Asked whether Saiful had gone to Pusat Rawatan Islam (Pusrawi) for a medical examination following the last sodomy incident, Zamri declined to comment on the medical report.

"We leave it to the police to investigate and Saiful is willing to cooperate with the police anytime."

Meanwhile, a relative of Saiful who wished to be identified only as Rahim, said Saiful's spirits had not been dampened in trying to prove that he was telling the truth.

"Saiful remains strong and calm in the face of various accusations and criticisms against him. And in the latest development, there is an unconfirmed medical report that Saiful had not been sodomised," Rahim told Bermana here Wednesday.

However, he said, Saiful was confident that the police would solve the case in the best possible way.

"He is in good health but has lost some weight, perhaps from pondering a lot about his future. But in this trying situation, he can still smile and think positively."

Rahim revealed that Saiful was spending a lot of time in the house and had to keep his plan to continue his studies abroad on hold until the sodomy case was resolved.

-TMB