Prosecution claims that witnesses 'not obliged' to come.
KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim will be the first to take the witness stand at the High Court here from Aug 8 to 26 to make his defence against a charge of sodomy.
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The date was fixed by Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah after meeting Anwar’s lawyers and the prosecution twice in his chambers this morning
Anwar, 64, is charged with having sodomised a former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, then-22 years old, at a condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26, 2008.
This is the second time the Permatang Pauh MP has been charged with sodomy, the first being in 1998 alongside charges of corruption.
Anwar has consistently denied the charges, saying they were “evil, frivolous lies” concocted by those in power meant to undermine his political career.
Sankara Nair, who is on Anwar’s defence team (which also includes DAP stalwart Karpal Singh and Param Cumaraswamy), today told reporters that the witnesses he had called had not been produced.
“The prosecution says they are not obliged to come, but they have a duty to turn up.”
Sankara said that the defence lawyers had filed an application to force the court to produce the witnesses in question.
The defence counsel have been denied the opportunity to interview most of the witnesses in the list of 71 that the prosecution had provided.
So far only five have been interviewed.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor are among those whom the defence wants to interview.
