Anwar judge bars defense plea

Anwar judge bars defense plea

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): The judge in Anwar Ibrahim's sex trial on Thursday rejected a defense request to hold a police officer in contempt of court for alleged lying in his testimony against the former Malaysian finance minister.

Judge Arifin Jaka said he would consider a request by Anwar's lawyers to compel the police to investigate the former minister's contention that he could not have sodomized his ex-driver during the time period in the charge sheet.

Anwar and his adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan, are jointly charged with sodomizing the ex-driver, Azizan Abu Bakar, between January and March 1993.

Police officer Musa Hassan told prosecutors on Wednesday that police learnt of the alleged sodomy in 1997 and decided not to have Azizan examined because any trace of sexual activity would not have lasted that long.