Police probing authenticity of doctor's SD

KUALA LUMPUR, (Aug 8 , 2008) : Police are probing the authenticity of a Statutory Declaration (SD) purportedly made by Hospital Pusrawi medical officer Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid on Aug 1.

"There are certain contradictions and errors in the SD that police are concerned about," said

Criminal Investigations Department director Datuk Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin in a media statement released today.

He said police have commenced investigations into the matter, including verifying the authenticity of the SD.

A copy of the SD said to have been made by the doctor was published in the Malaysia-today newsportal yesterday under the heading What the IGP and AG do not know...Yet!

Bakri said police strongly belived that the article is intended solely to skew public perceptions and undermine the police.

He added that police are not at liberty to disclose further information as the doctor is a witness in the upcoming trial of Parti Keadilan Rakyat defacto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The SD which was posted together with what is claimed to be a report made on June 30 about the medical examination of Anwar's accuser Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan conducted on June 28.

In posting the article, Malaysia-Today news portal editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin claimed that in charging Anwar, "what they (the government) do not know yet is that we have a few surprises in store for them. One of them is the documents below."

"The documents, including the SD, prove that there is no case against Anwar and the police are trying to build a case around fabricated evidence.

Anwar had yesterday claimed trial in the Sessions Court to a charge of sodomising his former aide Mohamad Saiful in June.

He is alleged to have sodomised Saiful, 23, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, at Unit 11-5-1 Desa Damansara Condominium at Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara here.

The offence of carnal intercourse against the order of nature under section 377B of the Penal Code carries a penalty of up to 20 years imprisionment and whipping upon conviction.

When pleading not guilty before Sessions Court judge S M Komathy Suppiah, Anwar had declared the charge to be malicious and treacherous defamation.

-TMB