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.