Anwar says he is smeared by lurid sex allegations<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): A Malaysian judge amended four
\ncorruption charges on Wednesday against sacked finance minister
\nAnwar Ibrahim, prompting the former cabinet member to protest he
\nhad been unfairly smeared by sex allegations.<\/p>\n
\"They already stripped me naked. Now they are amending the
\ncharges,\" a fuming Anwar told reporters during a break in his sex
\nand corruption trial, in its 10th week.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said their amendments involved only changes in the
\nwording and did not alter the thrust of the four corruption
\ncharges under initial examination at the capital's High Court.<\/p>\n
But the defense team said they were 11th-hour changes that
\nnarrowed the focus of the charges after the prosecution had spent
\nmore than two months producing sordid testimony.<\/p>\n
\"They are seeking to procure a lower onus of proof in that
\nthey do not have to prove the alleged sexual misconduct and
\nsodomy,\" said Anwar's chief counsel, Raja Aziz Addruse.<\/p>\n
Anwar's wife said the changes showed the prosecution's
\nattempts to prove sexual misconduct had collapsed.<\/p>\n
High Court Judge Augustine Paul, who is judge and jury in the
\ntrial at the center of political turbulence in Malaysia, sided
\nwith the prosecution and accepted the amendments.<\/p>\n
\"I'm of the view that it's no real substantive change,\" the
\njudge told the court, drawing a loud groan from the gallery.<\/p>\n
Anwar's defense team countered later in the day, announcing
\nthat they planned to call Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and
\nthree other cabinet ministers in the trial.<\/p>\n
Anwar was sacked and arrested in September, and later indicted
\non five counts each of corruption and sodomy. He has pleaded not
\nguilty to all of the charges.<\/p>\n
After he fired Anwar, Mahathir said his former protege and
\nheir apparent was morally unfit. Anwar said Mahathir's friends
\nhad smeared him.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said in an interview published in Tokyo on Wednesday
\nthat Anwar could become \"active\" in politics again if he was
\nfound not guilty in his corruption trial.<\/p>\n
In the interview with leading Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun,
\nMahathir said the man he has named as his new deputy prime
\nminister, outgoing foreign minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was
\nthe best choice for the country.<\/p>\n
Each of the corruption counts carries a maximum penalty of 14
\nyears in jail and a 20,000 ringgit (US$5,000) fine.<\/p>\n
The four corruption charges as initially lodged in late
\nSeptember alleged that Anwar directed police officers in August
\n1997 to obtain confessions and written statements from two people
\nwho had accused him of sexual misconduct and sodomy.<\/p>\n
The four amended charges refer to police efforts to coerce the
\ntwo into retracting \"allegations\" of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n
Anwar's counsel Raja Aziz said the changes were prejudicial to
\nhis client as the prosecution had all along accused Anwar of
\nsexual misconduct and sodomy, even introducing a stained mattress
\nas evidence against Anwar.<\/p>\n
\"Having smeared his reputation, it is now unjust and highly
\nprejudicial to the accused if the charges were allowed to be
\namended as proposed,\" Raja Aziz said.<\/p>\n
But chief prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail said corruption, not
\nsexual misconduct, remained the focus of the charges.<\/p>\n
\"There is no amendment as to the offense,\" he said, adding
\nthat under Malaysia's system, government lawyers can amend the
\ncharges until the judge decides if the prosecution has a case.<\/p>\n
Another prosecution lawyer said amendments at this stage of a
\ntrial were common. But Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail,
\ndenounced the prosecution move.<\/p>\n
\"The prosecution set out to prove to the world that Anwar
\nIbrahim is a sodomist and guilty of sexual misconduct,\" she told
\nreporters outside the court.<\/p>\n
\"These allegations collapsed...Anwar will be vindicated with
\nthe grace of God. The prosecution's retreat into legal
\ntechnicality of their right to amend cannot mask the truth.\"<\/p>\n
An independent lawyer told Reuters that the changes appeared
\nto indicate the prosecution felt it was having difficulty proving
\nthe sexual allegations against Anwar.<\/p>\n
\"It seems that the prosecution is having problems proving its
\ncase. That's why they are alluding to the allegations in the
\nletter now instead of outrightly saying he's a sodomizer and
\nsexual deviant,\" said the lawyer.<\/p>",
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