Ex-driver says Anwar sodomized him<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): The former driver of Malaysia's
\nsacked finance minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday he stood
\nby allegations he made last year accusing Anwar of committing
\nhomosexual acts with him against his will.<\/p>\n
Azizan Abu Bakar, testifying in Anwar's corruption and sex
\ntrial, told the capital's High Court he stood by a statement he
\nwrote saying he had repeatedly been \"a victim of homosexual acts
\nby Anwar Ibrahim\" in 1992.<\/p>\n
The former driver, who said he was now a sales and
\nadministration executive, made the allegations in a letter dated
\nAug. 5, 1997, which he read to the court.<\/p>\n
The court is examining four charges that Anwar had used his
\nauthority to force police to obtain a retraction from the driver,
\nwho worked for Anwar's family between 1989 and 1992.<\/p>\n
Anwar, who was sacked and arrested in September, has pleaded
\nnot guilty to the charges and said Azizan and another accuser
\nwere part of a plot to destroy his political career.<\/p>\n
His trial is at the heart of simmering civil unrest in
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
Reading from the 1997 letter, Azizan told the hushed court:
\n\"In the name of Allah, I, Azizan Abu Bakar, make a sworn
\nstatement that I have been a victim of homosexual acts by Anwar
\nIbrahim who now holds the position of deputy prime minister.\"<\/p>\n
\"Is what you read entirely true?\" prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail
\nasked Azizan.<\/p>\n
\"It's entirely true,\" said the prosecution witness, who was a
\ndriver for Anwar's family from 1989 until 1992.<\/p>\n
His statement was sent to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in
\nAugust 1997 by Ummi Hafilda Ali, the sister of Anwar's former
\npolitical secretary, who attached her own statement accusing
\nAnwar of adultery and sodomy, which is a crime in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Both Azizan and Ummi retracted their allegations later in the
\nsame month after being arrested by police.<\/p>\n
The government alleges that Anwar urged police to force the
\ntwo accusers to retract their allegations. The former cabinet
\nminister says they had fabricated the allegations as part of a
\nhigh-level conspiracy against him.<\/p>\n
His eyes downcast, Azizan testified in a quiet voice.
\n\"This heinous act was committed several times in 1992 against my
\nwill. It regularly took place in luxurious hotels...without the
\nknowledge of the public and his wife,\" he said, reading from his
\n1997 statement.<\/p>\n
In another development, the judge in the trial of Anwar
\ncanceled on Wednesday a warrant to arrest a lawyer working
\nclosely with the defense team after receiving an apology for the
\nuproar caused by the release of a statement.<\/p>\n
Justice Augustine Paul issued a warrant for the arrest of
\nManjeet Singh Dillon on Monday after sentencing Anwar's defense
\ncounsel Zainur Zakaria to three months in jail for contempt of
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
Zainur had filed an application seeking the removal of two
\nprosecutors from the trial for allegedly going \"out of their way\"
\nto falsely implicate Anwar in sexual offenses with various women.<\/p>\n
The application, filed on Anwar's behalf on Saturday,
\ncontained a statutory declaration by Manjeet and a letter to the
\nattorney general alleging \"blackmail and extortion of the highest
\nculpability\" by the prosecutors.<\/p>\n
The sensational trial of Anwar has come under the scrutiny of
\nthe Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, a senior official
\nsaid on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"The case of Anwar Ibrahim is before the Inter-Parliamentary
\nUnion (IPU) and it will be considered in due course,\" said Clyde
\nHolding, visiting head of IPU's committee on human rights.<\/p>",
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