Anwar says he is smeared by lurid sex allegations

Anwar says he is smeared by lurid sex allegations

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): A Malaysian judge amended four corruption charges on Wednesday against sacked finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, prompting the former cabinet member to protest he had been unfairly smeared by sex allegations.

"They already stripped me naked. Now they are amending the charges," a fuming Anwar told reporters during a break in his sex and corruption trial, in its 10th week.

Prosecutors said their amendments involved only changes in the wording and did not alter the thrust of the four corruption charges under initial examination at the capital's High Court.

But the defense team said they were 11th-hour changes that narrowed the focus of the charges after the prosecution had spent more than two months producing sordid testimony.

"They are seeking to procure a lower onus of proof in that they do not have to prove the alleged sexual misconduct and sodomy," said Anwar's chief counsel, Raja Aziz Addruse.

Anwar's wife said the changes showed the prosecution's attempts to prove sexual misconduct had collapsed.

High Court Judge Augustine Paul, who is judge and jury in the trial at the center of political turbulence in Malaysia, sided with the prosecution and accepted the amendments.

"I'm of the view that it's no real substantive change," the judge told the court, drawing a loud groan from the gallery.

Anwar's defense team countered later in the day, announcing that they planned to call Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and three other cabinet ministers in the trial.

Anwar was sacked and arrested in September, and later indicted on five counts each of corruption and sodomy. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

After he fired Anwar, Mahathir said his former protege and heir apparent was morally unfit. Anwar said Mahathir's friends had smeared him.

Mahathir said in an interview published in Tokyo on Wednesday that Anwar could become "active" in politics again if he was found not guilty in his corruption trial.

In the interview with leading Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun, Mahathir said the man he has named as his new deputy prime minister, outgoing foreign minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was the best choice for the country.

Each of the corruption counts carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail and a 20,000 ringgit (US$5,000) fine.

The four corruption charges as initially lodged in late September alleged that Anwar directed police officers in August 1997 to obtain confessions and written statements from two people who had accused him of sexual misconduct and sodomy.

The four amended charges refer to police efforts to coerce the two into retracting "allegations" of sexual misconduct.

Anwar's counsel Raja Aziz said the changes were prejudicial to his client as the prosecution had all along accused Anwar of sexual misconduct and sodomy, even introducing a stained mattress as evidence against Anwar.

"Having smeared his reputation, it is now unjust and highly prejudicial to the accused if the charges were allowed to be amended as proposed," Raja Aziz said.

But chief prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail said corruption, not sexual misconduct, remained the focus of the charges.

"There is no amendment as to the offense," he said, adding that under Malaysia's system, government lawyers can amend the charges until the judge decides if the prosecution has a case.

Another prosecution lawyer said amendments at this stage of a trial were common. But Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, denounced the prosecution move.

"The prosecution set out to prove to the world that Anwar Ibrahim is a sodomist and guilty of sexual misconduct," she told reporters outside the court.

"These allegations collapsed...Anwar will be vindicated with the grace of God. The prosecution's retreat into legal technicality of their right to amend cannot mask the truth."

An independent lawyer told Reuters that the changes appeared to indicate the prosecution felt it was having difficulty proving the sexual allegations against Anwar.

"It seems that the prosecution is having problems proving its case. That's why they are alluding to the allegations in the letter now instead of outrightly saying he's a sodomizer and sexual deviant," said the lawyer.