Court throws out Munawar's appeal

The Federal Court today threw out an appeal by Munawar A Anees for his sodomy charge be remitted to the High Court so that he can argue his case.

Chief Justice Zaki Azmi, who sat with Federal Court judges Nik Hashim Nik Abdul Rahman and Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, delivered an oral decision, stating that their written judgment would made known later.

Munawar's counsel, Manjeet Singh Dhillon, had asked the country's highest court to quash the Court of Appeal's decision on the High Court's dismissal of Munawar's appeal against his sodomy conviction and sentence, and to order the High Court to allow him to argue his case.

Munawar, Anwar Ibrahim's former speech-writer, had served six months in prison in 1998 after pleading guilty to allowing the then deputy premier to sodomise him.

Manjeet had submitted that High Court judge Ahmad Maarop had struck out Munawar's appeal without hearing the merits of the case and the Court of Appeal had dismissed Munawar's appeal against the High Court decision without giving any grounds.The Kuala Lumpur High Court had dismissed the case four years ago after Munawar, who is now living in United States, was unable to attend the hearing.

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court had on Sept 19, 1998, sentenced Munawar to six months' jail after he pleaded guilty to allowing Anwar to sodomise him at Anwar's house in Jalan Setia Murni, Bukit Damansara, in March 1993.

Munawar has served his sentence but filed the appeal in a bid to clear his name.