Star witness Saiful in 'good condition'

Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who accused Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomising him, is in 'good condition', according to his lawyer Zamri Idrus.

"He is in a good condition and will be celebrating Hari Raya soon," he said when met at the sidelines of the ongoing sodomy trial at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today.

The 23-year-old former aide of Anwar was last seen in public on Aug 19 when he was at the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) to give a statement over his sodomy allegation.

He has not showed up personally in court for the ongoing trial - which entered its third session this morning - despite being the star witness.

His lawyer, however, has been present since the day Anwar was charged on Aug 8.

According to Zamri, Saiful whose whereabouts he described as 'around the Klang Valley' was still under police protection.

The lawyer said his client may appear in public after the Hari Raya celebrations next week.

"Yes, I would let you know, maybe after Hari Raya," he replied when asked if Saiful would come out of 'hiding' soon.

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Zamri said he had met with Saiful a few days ago but declined to disclose the location. He also revealed that his client was still unemployed.

On June 28, Saiful had filed a police report claiming that Anwar had sodomised him at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur two days earlier.

He also swore on the Quran at the Federal Territory Mosque in Jalan Duta that he was sodomised by Anwar and denied that he consented to the alleged anal intercourse.

Anwar had also filed a complaint with Jawi, urging the religious department to probe the 'false allegation'.

The opposition leader has maintained his innocence, claiming that it is a political conspiracy authored by his rivals.