The Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed the prosecution to hold on to their documents pertaining to Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial pending their appeal against a previous court ruling ordering them to hand over these documents to the defence team.

Justice Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah ruled in favour of the prosecution this morning to grant them the stay order.

The prosecution had sought the stay order on the grounds of:

  • The court ruling to hand over documents to the accused would have implications and an impact not only on the sodomy case, but on other criminal cases nationwide.
  • It would prevent the prosecution appeal at the Court of Appeal from becoming academic, as it involves certain questions of law.
  • The matter of giving a copy of the witness statements to Anwar involves points of law which the appellate court must decide first, before the High Court proceeds with the trial.

At the outset of the decision, the prosecution lead by Solicitor-General II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden said that the court should grant the stay pending the prosecution's appeal at the Court of Appeal to reverse the High Court's decision to grant the materials for Anwar's defence.

anwar ibrahim and saiful bukhari azlan sodomy allegations He said that if the stay was not granted and if the Court of Appeal favoured that prosecution, the appeal would then become nugatory (of no effect or invalid) and academic.

Furthermore Yusof said that the materials that were ordered by the court to the defence could cause "irreparable damage" to the prosecution's case when the trial takes place.

Are they in fear?

Defence lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad ( photo: below ) in his submission asked how could the documents and materials which would eventually surface during the trial be prejudicial to the prosecution's case.

"How can it interrupt or disrupt the ongoing trial... (or) is it the fear that (Anwar) will discover more evidence?" he quizzed.

wong chin huat second remand 060509 amer hamzah "They are merely giving us what has been completed... just to prepare for our defence... unless of course they fear that we may harass the witnesses, but that is not they are saying," he stressed.

Moreover, he reiterated that the prosecution should state reasons for the stay on "each and every item" that was granted to the defence instead of "chanting the mantra that it is nugatory".

He said that if it was necessary for the judge to grant a stay, it should only cover certain types of document, such as the witness statements.

After hearing arguments from both sides, justice Mohd Zabidin overruled the objections raised by the defence and agreed with the prosecution that "the appeal would then become meaningless" if the stay was not granted.

No appeal date yet

the charge against anwar ibrahim sodomy allegation trial 070808 On July 16, Mohd Zabidin had given the prosecution seven days to hand over exhibits including video footage and a medical report to Anwar's team following an application by them for these documents.

The prosecution was also ordered to allow Anwar's lawyers to inspect CCTV recordings of the alleged crime scene, if the copy provided is unclear.

The prosecution appealed against handing over of these documents and sought a stay order pending the appeal. No date has been set for the appeal at Court of Appeal.

Anwar, 62, is charged with sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24, at a condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26, last year.

Anwar has applied to strike out the suit. The court today fixed Sept 2 to mention both this application and the trial proper.