Mahathir may face arrest if he snubs order to testify
Mahathir may face arrest if he snubs order to testify
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Defense lawyers in the Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trial said on Tuesday they may seek a warrant to arrest Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad if he fails to obey a subpoena to testify.
"By all accounts he (Mahathir) should be in court on Thursday morning," Anwar's lead counsel Christopher Fernando told reporters.
"We have already given notice to the prosecution on this and we don't have to ask the judge in open court (on whether the premier will attend)."
Asked what would happen if the premier failed to attend, Fernando said: "We have to look at the next course of action, probably ask for a warrant of arrest."
High Court Judge Arifin Jaka issued a subpoena in October for Mahathir to testify, but lengthy testimony by Anwar, a back ailment that sidelined the judge and general elections delayed Mahathir's appearance.
Mahathir said in October he would testify if required.
Anwar -- sacked by Mahathir as deputy premier in September 1998 -- says legal proceedings against him stem from a high-level political conspiracy after he threatened to expose official corruption.
Fernando, speaking during a break in the case, said prosecutors had not applied to set aside the subpoena against Mahathir. Defense sources confirmed it had been served. Prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail declined comment.
Anwar and his Indonesian adopted brother Sukma Darmawan are charged with sodomizing Anwar's official driver Azizan Abu Bakar one night between January and March 1993.
Lawyers for Sukma and not those representing Anwar issued the subpoena for Mahathir to appear.
Anwar was jailed for six years last April in a separate trial for abusing his official powers to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct. If convicted of sodomy, he could face another 20 years' jail.
Mahahtir initially rejected sexual misconduct allegations against his deputy, dismissing them as rumors similar to those he had heard about himself, a reporter testified in the Anwar Ibrahim case on Tuesday.
R. Sivabalan, a reporter for the national Bernama news agency, told the court that during an interview with Malaysian journalists on Aug. 24, 1997, Mahathir said anyone who believed the sex talk about Anwar was "stupid."
"All types of sex, this, that. There is no truth in it. There is no evidence at all and it is just the usual fitnah," Mahathir said, using the Malay word for slander.
According to Sivabalan's article, excerpts of which he read in court, Mahathir told reporters that police had investigated the allegations against Anwar and the case was considered closed.
He called the sexual allegations "totally and politically motivated" and said anyone who believed them was "stupid." Mahathir likened the allegations to those rumors spread about him.
"I was once linked with a Chinese woman in Singapore," Mahathir said.
But a year later, Mahathir himself accused Anwar of homosexuality and corruption. He sacked him and his government put him on trial for abuse of power and sodomy, sparking unprecedented anti-government demonstrations and a growing opposition movement.
Anwar denies the charges, claiming they are part of a plot to destroy his political career and punish him for challenging Mahathir. He is serving a six-year prison term for corruption and faces another 20 years on the sodomy charge.