Defence counsel Karpal Singh has accused the judge hearing Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial of 'lying' and wants him disqualified.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah will rule on Anwar's application to recuse himself on Feb 18.

He had earlier heard submissions from the defence and prosecution teams.

karpal singh and jalan duta court house Arguing for recusal, Karpal said a judge must be impartial and honest when conducting a trial.

"If the judge showed elements of a real danger of biasness in his decision, then he has no choice but to step down for 'lying' in dismissing the application to caution Utusan Malaysia ," he said.

"How could your lordship arrive at that conclusion (to dismiss the caution)?" asked Karpal in reference to the judge's decision not to reprimand Utusan over a photo caption published on Feb 5.

The transcript read: ' ...di mana Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim duduk di hujung katil ’ (where Anwar was seated on the edge of the bed)'.

The defence had also complained to the judge for not taking action against Utusan , a day before over its front-page headline, 'tak rela diliwat lagi' (Not willing to be sodomised again) and ‘ berhenti kerana tidak mahu diliwat lagi ’ (Resigned because he did not want to be sodomised again) on page 3 on Feb 4.

Lead prosecutor Solicitor-General II Mohamed Yusof Zainal Abiden then submitted the prosecution's case before Justice Mohamad Zabidin.

'Lie' is a strong word

Disputing Karpal's submission, he argued that "lie" was a very strong word to use.

Yusof also said that any claim of "bias" would have to be examined within the real context.

"I didn't see any problem with the Utusan caption until Anwar and Karpal mentioned it," he said.

azlan He then cited notes of the proceeding to show that the complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had mentioned the bed in the master bedroom while testifying in open court.

Yusof argued that the Utusan caption only referred to the master bedroom that Saiful was taken to during the court's visit to the scene of the alleged offence last Friday.

In view of this, he submitted that the application should be dismissed.

Karpal then read out the Utusan report, and stated that the ‘bed was meant to be bed’ and not the master bedroom as claimed by Yusof.

"It refers to the alleged incident which took place. If it is a room, why would it ( Utusan ) want to state it as bed?" he said.

'Judge has no choice'

Karpal then cited a Malaysiakini report which showed that the judge had stated "such details" in an open court as opposed to his claim that it was made in camera .

"Your lordship did not tell the truth, and have lied. You have no alternative but to step down," he argued.

Karpal said a judge who fails to perform his duties fairly can be referred to the Judges Code of Conduct 2009.

After meeting Karpal and Yusof in his chambers, Justice Mohamad Zabidin fixed next Thursday to decide whether to recuse himself.

Anwar is accused of sodomising Mohd Saiful at Unit 11-5-1 Kondominium Desa Damansara, Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

Anwar, 63, is charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years jail and whipping upon conviction.

Saiful's police report

In a related development, Anwar was later quizzed by reporters on the police report lodged by Saiful over an alleged death threat made against him on the opposition leader’s Facebook fanpage.

"I receive thousands of comments everyday and I do not know (about it). According to my staff, the (offending) comment disappeared (from the page)," said the PKR leader.

"However, what is puzzling is that it (a screen capture) was emailed to Saiful. The circumstances is questionable.

"Police can investigate the sender’s email. Furthermore, Saiful is heavily guarded by police," replied Anwar, quipping that his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is his only form of protection.

Yesterday, Saiful filed the report regarding a death threat posted by one 'Anaz Zahari' who urged the public to murder him "in whatever way possible for the sake of mankind".

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