Ex-driver says Anwar sodomized him

Ex-driver says Anwar sodomized him

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): The former driver of Malaysia's
sacked finance minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday he stood
by allegations he made last year accusing Anwar of committing
homosexual acts with him against his will.

Azizan Abu Bakar, testifying in Anwar's corruption and sex
trial, told the capital's High Court he stood by a statement he
wrote saying he had repeatedly been "a victim of homosexual acts
by Anwar Ibrahim" in 1992.

The former driver, who said he was now a sales and
administration executive, made the allegations in a letter dated
Aug. 5, 1997, which he read to the court.

The court is examining four charges that Anwar had used his
authority to force police to obtain a retraction from the driver,
who worked for Anwar's family between 1989 and 1992.

Anwar, who was sacked and arrested in September, has pleaded
not guilty to the charges and said Azizan and another accuser
were part of a plot to destroy his political career.

His trial is at the heart of simmering civil unrest in
Malaysia.

Reading from the 1997 letter, Azizan told the hushed court:
"In the name of Allah, I, Azizan Abu Bakar, make a sworn
statement that I have been a victim of homosexual acts by Anwar
Ibrahim who now holds the position of deputy prime minister."

"Is what you read entirely true?" prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail
asked Azizan.

"It's entirely true," said the prosecution witness, who was a
driver for Anwar's family from 1989 until 1992.

His statement was sent to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in
August 1997 by Ummi Hafilda Ali, the sister of Anwar's former
political secretary, who attached her own statement accusing
Anwar of adultery and sodomy, which is a crime in Malaysia.

Both Azizan and Ummi retracted their allegations later in the
same month after being arrested by police.

The government alleges that Anwar urged police to force the
two accusers to retract their allegations. The former cabinet
minister says they had fabricated the allegations as part of a
high-level conspiracy against him.

His eyes downcast, Azizan testified in a quiet voice.
"This heinous act was committed several times in 1992 against my
will. It regularly took place in luxurious hotels...without the
knowledge of the public and his wife," he said, reading from his
1997 statement.

In another development, the judge in the trial of Anwar
canceled on Wednesday a warrant to arrest a lawyer working
closely with the defense team after receiving an apology for the
uproar caused by the release of a statement.

Justice Augustine Paul issued a warrant for the arrest of
Manjeet Singh Dillon on Monday after sentencing Anwar's defense
counsel Zainur Zakaria to three months in jail for contempt of
court.

Zainur had filed an application seeking the removal of two
prosecutors from the trial for allegedly going "out of their way"
to falsely implicate Anwar in sexual offenses with various women.

The application, filed on Anwar's behalf on Saturday,
contained a statutory declaration by Manjeet and a letter to the
attorney general alleging "blackmail and extortion of the highest
culpability" by the prosecutors.

The sensational trial of Anwar has come under the scrutiny of
the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, a senior official
said on Wednesday.

"The case of Anwar Ibrahim is before the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU) and it will be considered in due course," said Clyde
Holding, visiting head of IPU's committee on human rights.