KUALA LUMPUR: Lead prosecutor in the Sodomy II appeal Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Anwar Ibrahim’s guilt was apparent from his steadfast refusal to be cross-examined to his failure to produce even one of his alleged 13 alibi witnesses coupled with a last ditch effort to save face by suggesting the heinous charge of sodomy was a political conspiracy.
In an exclusive interview with the New Straits Times, Shafee also said that had Anwar taken the stand, he would have “fainted in the witness box” from being unable to explain “a lot of things”.
“I can easily tell you hundreds of facts that would have been zoomed in on if he was cross-examined. He knew that, so that is why I believe he took the cowardly step of giving a statement from the dock,” Shafee told the daily.
Another issue of contention was that of the 13 alibis Anwar supposedly had to corroborate that he was not at the apartment in which the act of sodomy took place.
“His main defence was his alibis. Yet none of his 13 alibi witnesses, including his own wife, was produced,” Shafee said adding that the prosecution even had footage of the closed-circuit television camera, showing the exact time Anwar and Saiful arrived and left the apartment on separate occasions.
“It was clear that Anwar’s alibi had been cooked up,” Shafee said.
He also poked holes in Anwar’s insistence on never being in apartment No. 1, only in apartment No. 2, conveniently leaving out the fact these two units were side by side.
“He said he was never in apartment No. 1 but was in apartment No. 2. Yet they were just next door to each other and were owned by the same person, who was his friend,” Shafee explained adding that Anwar had named his wife, Wan Azizah as his number one alibi who could vouch for his presence there.
“We wanted to know why she was significant to the alibi when she was never even there,” Shafee pointed out.
Saying, “Anwar hid behind a skirt”, by refusing to be cross-examined, Shafee said the defendant then “hatched this idea of a conspiracy” when incontrovertible DNA evidence was about to be introduced in court.
“Crying political conspiracy is a convenient way of hoodwinking the public, so that they get all excited and readily subscribe to the ‘Anwar is a victim of political conspiracy’ theory, so he can blame everyone else,” Shafee said.
He also said those who believed the conspiracy theory should read the full judgement and see for themselves how much was fact and how much fiction.
“Anybody with half a brain, when he finally reads the full judgment, would know that the Federal Court came with a judgment based entirely on facts, not fanciful ideas like the ones the opposition and the Bar Council are entertaining,” he said.
Lastly he addressed the decision not to charge the victim, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan for sodomy, saying, “Saiful resisted, he was not willing, he did not go willingly to be sodomised by his dominant employer,” thereby rendering the act far from being consensual.
He said the reason the Attorney-General did not charge Anwar under Section 377C (where lack of consent must be proven), was simply because it carried a harsher sentence upon conviction.
“Maybe the A-G was being sympathetic and exercising his discretion as a public prosecutor, because under 377C, you will not escape caning even if you are above 50 years old,” Shafee explained.
He also said he was absolutely sure of Anwar’s guilt.
“If you ask me if I am satisfied that Anwar was found guilty, I say yes. But I had argued with the court that as he was a repeat offender, he should serve a longer prison time.”
