Anwar to be charged tomorrow for sodomy

Police officers at Anwar's house this afternoon.- Picture by Adib Zalkapli

(UPDATED) KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be charged for sodomy when he turns up at the Jalan Duta sessions courts tomorrow after police took a civil approach today and served him with a subpoena to appear in court. In a similar sequence of events 10 years ago, balaclava-clad elite policemen arrested him and detained him under the Internal Security Act before preferring charges.

His court appearance will come a day after the Election Commission decided that the Permatang Pauh by-election will be held on Aug 26 which Anwar said he will contest.

A police team led by DSP Jude Pereira served the subpoena just a little after noon today when they turned up at his Bukit Segambut house, which is incidentally near the Jalan Duta courts.

Anwar is scheduled to hold a press conference later at 3pm and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) officials said it could be related to a sodomy charge. He is currently speaking to his lawyers, according to lawyer Sankara Nair.

Anwar was arrested last month for questioning into the sodomy accusations made in a report lodged by former male aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan on June 28. Saiful had claimed Anwar sodomised him in a posh Damansara condominium on June 26 and other occasions abroad.

The former deputy prime minister has denied the charges which mirror charges a decade ago that cost him a chance to succeed former mentor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister. Anwar has claimed Permatang Pauh is the final step before he forms the federal government by his self-proclaimed deadline of September 16.

Police personnel handing over court summons to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail looks on. Anwar will be charged with sodomy at the Sessions Courts in Jalan Duta after his former male aide lodged a report in late June. - Picture courtesy of www.anwaribrahimblog.com

Anwar was convicted for both corruption and sodomy and was given a total sentence of 15 years. He was released in 2004 after the Federal Court overturned the sodomy conviction but lost his Permatang Pauh seat which he had held since 1982. His wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail took over and defended the seat for three terms before quitting last week to make way for him.

She remains PKR president and also created history by being the first woman Parliamentary Opposition Leader.

Meanwhile, Bernama reports that Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said in a statement today that the move to charge Anwar was made following a decision by the Attorney-General's office.

He said a written notice had been issued to Anwar to be present at the Kuala Lumpur Session's Court, Jalan Duta, at 10am.

"Police had carried out an investigation on a sexual crime involving intercourse against the order of nature involving Anwar, based on existing legal principles and procedures.

"The investigation papers had been handed over to the Attorney-General's office for advice and a decision," he said.

In a related development, PKR Youth condemned the summons as political intimidation against Anwar in light of the Permatang Pauh by-election date announced by the Election Commission earlier today.

"PKR Youth believes this action is reprehensible and cruel to prevent Anwar from campaigning actively and contesting in the by-election and we do not rule out political interference to prevent t Anwar from getting to Putrajaya," Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin said in a statement.

He hoped the court will provide bail for Anwar even if the opposition leader is charged with sodomy.

-TMI