Anwar's ex-driver says he did not write letter<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): The former driver of Malaysia's
\nsacked finance minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday that he
\ndid not write the letter accusing Anwar of sodomizing him.<\/p>\n
Azizan Abu Bakar told the capital's High Court that Anwar's
\nmain accuser, Ummi Hafilda Ali, drafted the 1997 letter which was
\nlater sent to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad saying his deputy
\nhad committed adultery and sodomy, a crime in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"I asked her to put it together because Ummi is very fluent in
\nlanguage,\" Azizan told the court on his second day of testimony
\nin the corruption and sex trial at the center of civil unrest in
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
The court is examining four charges that Anwar abused his
\npower last year by urging police to force Azizan and the female
\naccuser to retract allegations of sex crimes by the former
\nminister, who was sacked and arrested in September.<\/p>\n
Anwar's lawyers are trying to prove that Azizan and Ummi were
\npart of a plot to smear him and destroy his political career so
\nhe could never succeed Mahathir and expose corruption and
\ncronyism.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Azizan stood by allegations in his letter of
\nAugust 5, 1997, that Anwar had made him a \"homosexual slave\" in
\n1992, sodomizing him against his will in luxury hotels on the
\noutskirts of the capital.<\/p>\n
Azizan, cross-examined by defense lawyer Christopher Fernando,
\nsaid on Thursday that he had written the letter in 1997 of his
\nown free will.<\/p>\n
But he acknowledged he had discussed the matter with Ummi, who
\nlater sent her own letter along with Azizan's to Mahathir.<\/p>\n
\"Before that, I discussed with Ummi Hafilda what had happened
\nto me,\" he said. \"At first she wanted to know if her sister-in-
\nlaw was having an illicit affair with the accused.\"<\/p>\n
He was referring to Shamsidar Taharin, the wife of Anwar's
\npolitical secretary, Ummi's brother.<\/p>\n
In her letter to Mahathir, Ummi accused Anwar of committing
\nadultery with Shamsidar. She later retracted the letter.<\/p>\n
A book denouncing Anwar which was published earlier this year,
\n\"Fifty Reasons Why Anwar Ibrahim Cannot Become Prime Minister\",
\naccused him of fathering a child by Shamsidar.<\/p>\n
But the attorney-general recently said that blood tests had
\nproved that Shamsidar's husband was the father.<\/p>\n
Both Ummi and Azizan retracted their allegations after they
\nwere arrested together on August 17, 1997. The prosecution says
\nAnwar forced police to coax the retractions from them.<\/p>\n
In her retraction letter, Ummi said she had met a cabinet
\nminister and Mahathir's closest confidant before leveling her
\ninitial accusations.<\/p>\n
In his cross-examination, defense counsel Fernando dwelt on
\nthe career path of Azizan, who was the Anwar family's driver from
\n1989 to 1992 and is now a sales and administration executive.<\/p>\n
Fernando asked Azizan if he had ever been a director of a
\ncompany. The witness first said no, then later acknowledged he
\nhad served on the board of directors of a company in 1997. But he
\nsaid he could not recall which months.<\/p>\n
\"It must have been a very big occasion for you, and you can't
\nremember when it was?\" Fernando asked. \"No,\" Azizan said.<\/p>\n
\"From a driver to a company director, is this not a dramatic
\nchange in status?\" the lawyer asked. \"No,\" said the witness.<\/p>\n
Asked when he stopped being a director of the firm, Azizan
\nsaid: \"If I'm not mistaken, by August 1997.\" He said he was not
\npaid any fees or perquisites as director.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Thursday, Azizan said Anwar had demanded that he
\ndeny a homosexual relationship when allegations of sex crimes by
\nthe former cabinet minister began to surface this year.<\/p>\n
Acrimony in court between the defense and prosecution deepened
\nThursday as more evidence was piled against Anwar.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors accused defense lawyers of stealing court
\ndocuments from them and even lodged a police report. The police
\nacted quickly by sending officers armed with a search warrant to
\none of the defense attorney's office on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"You should make a strong statement asking the prosecution not
\nto harass the defense counsel,\" Haji Sulaiman, a leading defense
\nlawyer told Judge Augustine Paul.<\/p>\n
\"We are being accused of theft, my Lord,\" he said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/anwars-ex-driver-says-he-did-not-write-letter-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }