PUTRAJAYA, Aug 14 – The Federal Court has fixed Oct 28 and 29 to hear Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s final appeal against his conviction and five-year jail sentence for sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, six years ago.
Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif set the date in chambers today, when the case came up for case management, after meeting Anwar’s lawyers Ramkarpal Singh, N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya and deputy public prosecutors Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria.
Ramkarpal Singh told reporters that on the same day the court would also hear the prosecution’s cross-appeal to enhance the jail sentence imposed on Anwar.He said the court set Oct 14 to hear the third application by the defence to disqualify Muhammad Shafee, a senior lawyer, from appearing as the lead deputy public prosecutor in the appeal hearing.
Initially, the court fixed had Sept 8 and 9 to hear Anwar’s appeal proper.Surendran had, on Aug 8, told the media that Anwar’s lawyers objected to the dates because lead counsel Datuk Sulaiman Abdullah would not be available then.
He said Sulaiman had a heart condition and underwent knee surgery and was on medical leave until Oct 13.Sulaiman, a senior lawyer, would now lead the defence team, following the death of lawyer Karpal Singh in a road accident on April 17.
On March 7 this year, the Court of Appeal, in allowing the prosecution’s appeal, convicted Anwar and sentenced him to five years’ jail after finding him guilty of having sodomised Mohd Saiful at a unit of the Desa Damansara condominiums in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, between 3.10 pm and 4.30 pm on June 26, 2008.
The three-member Court of Appeal panel, chaired by Datuk Balia Yusof Wahi,had overturned the Jan 9, 2012, High Court decision acquitting Anwar on the charge. However, the court granted Anwar a stay of the jail sentence, pending appeal to the Federal Court, with bail set at RM10,000 in one surety.
– BERNAMA
