Missing passport fogs Anwar's alibi

Missing passport fogs Anwar's alibi

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Lawyers for Malaysia's ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim ran into problems on Wednesday after his old passport was mislaid as they tried to prove he could not have sodomized his wife's former driver.

Anwar and his co-accused Sukma Darmawan are charged with sodomizing Azizan Abu Bakar at Sukma's apartment "one night at 7:45 p.m., between January and March 1993".

Prosecutors earlier in the trial had twice amended the charge to change the year of the alleged offense despite defense objections.

Lead counsel Christopher Fernando said the defense would show that Anwar had an alibi from 11 February, 1993, onwards.

Fernando submitted photocopies of his client's old passport to show his movements at that time but Arifin asked for the original document. The lawyer replied that the old passport had expired and was not in Anwar's custody.