The trial of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy charge resumed this morning at the High Court here with Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan taking the witness stand at 10.40am.
Mohd Saiful, Anwar's former aide, was cross-examined by the former deputy prime minister's lawyers.
But before Mohd Saiful took the stand, Anwar's lead counsel Karpal Singh, had asked the court to compel the prosecution to handover its witness list.
Karpal said although it is not stated in the Criminal Procedure Code as an obligation for the prosecution to provide the witness list to the defence team, he, however, insisted that they shall be provided with it in the interest of fair trial.
"I suspect that in the list, there are also names listed as the defence's witnesses, and therefore, this is why the prosecution is not agreeing to provide the list.
"It is clear that there is a political conspiracy on Anwar," said Karpal.
That got lead prosecutor, Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohamed Yusof Zainal Abiden, to immediately stand up and object, causing a heated start to the day.
Earlier, in explaining the reason for not furnishing their witness list to the defence, Mohamed Yusof said by providing the list, it may interfere with court proceedings and also the cross-examination process. Therefore, it should not be allowed, he said.
The court took a stand down at 10.15 am for about 25 minutes before judge Datuk Mohamed Zabidin Mohd Diah rejected the application made by the defence.
This morning, Anwar arrived at court at 9.10am with daughter Nurul Izzah, her husband Raja Ahmad Shahrir Iskandar Raja Salim, and wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The 63-year-old accused was alleged to have committed carnal intercourse against the order of nature on Mohd Saiful, 25, in a Bukit Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.
Trial started on Feb 3 with the prosecution having completed its examination-in-chief. Saiful had earlier testified that it was Anwar who sodomised him.
Last week, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader's 10-month attempt to stop the prosecution from proceeding with the case finally came to an end when the Federal Court ruled that Anwar's appeal lacked merit.
He filed the application to strike out the charge against him on June 17 last year.
Karpal, in his submission to the court, maintained that the charge was defective as the joint report of three doctors at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital concluded there was no sign of penetration at the anus of Saiful and the doctors also held that there were no physical injuries on Saiful.
He had said the prosecution had failed to show absolute evidence that sodomy took place and if traces of Anwar's semen were found in Saiful's anus without first showing penetration, then it could tantamount to "planting evidence".
Mohamed Yusof had said the prosecution would prove the charge and that the doctors' medical report alone was not substantive but merely corroborative.
At Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial here today, a reporter of an English daily was harassed verbally by two of Anwar's supporters who attended the court proceedings.
Of the two, one is believed to be a councillor with the Klang Municipal Council.
It all started in the morning when members of the media were seated in the courtroom and while the trial was going on, the reporter had asked the two supporters to stop talking among themselves as it was difficult for the reporters to listen to the proceedings.
That caused the two to get upset and not long after the hearing took a stand down, the two repeatedly hurled harsh words in English and Tamil at the reporter.
It is learnt that the reporter will be lodging a report on the harassment.
"I was just doing my job, and I was taken aback went the two supporters harassed me with words in the court. I'm still shocked," said the reporter, adding that she will raise the matter to the courtroom police.
