Anwar charged, out on RM20,000 bail

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — Eight years and one day shy of his first sodomy conviction, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim again denied another similar accusation today when he was charged for having carnal intercourse against the order of nature at the Sessions Criminal Court 1.

Sessions Court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah allowed Anwar to be released on a personal bond set at RM20,000 without surety after his defence lawyers pleaded for him to be released on personal bond under Section 388 (ii) of the Criminal Procedure Code while the prosecution argued for bail to be set at RM20,000. The judge set mention of the case for Sept 10.

Anwar's legal team comprises lead counsel Sulaiman Abdullah, R. Sivarasa, Sankara Nair, Saiful Izham Ramli, Leela Jeyaman Jesuthasan, Edmund Bon, Amer Hamzah Arshad, Lateefah Koya, Mohd Razlan Jelaludin. The prosecution is led by Mohd Yusuf Zainal Abiden, the Attorney-General’s Chambers prosecution chief, and Solicitor-General Datuk Idris Harun.

Holding watching brief for the Bar Council are George Varghese and Rajpal Singh. For the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Forum Asia and the Human Rights Watch are lawyers Roger Chen Weng Keng and Sahadeva.

Anwar was charged following a complaint by 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, his former aide. The charge carries a punishment of 20 years’ imprisonment and possibly whipping if found guilty.

A big crowd and heavy police presence as Anwar arrives in court. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

-TMI