The Kuala Lumpur High Court has dismissed Anwar Ibrahim’s application to recuse the judge from hearing the sodomy trial.

NONE Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah (left) delivered his decision after reading out the transcript on what transpired in court on Nov 23.

He noted that Solicitor-General II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden had described the recusal application as unprecedented, as there have been no previous cases where an application for disqualification has been based on a ruling.

"I think that a reasonable man who reads these words in its proper context would not have the impression that there was a real danger of bias. Hence, the application is dismissed," said the judge.

Following this, lead defence counsel Karpal Singh applied for a stay of proceedings, pending the filing of an appeal against the decision.

J azlan ustice Zabidin then fixed Jan 21 for mention.

This was the second attempt by the defence to disqualify the judge - the first was after the judge failed to issue a warning to Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia for its allegedly inaccurate coverage of the trial earlier this year.

Anwar, 63, is charged with sodomising Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24, at the Desa Damansara condominium in Bukit Damansara between 3pm to 4pm on June 26, 2008.

Observers present

Although today’s matter was a short affair, a representative each from the Canadian and Australian High Commissions were present.

International Committee of Jurists and Commonwealth Lawyers Association representative Mark Trowell was also in court as an observer.

Trowell had prepared a report for the Inter Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians.

The IPU had ruled the prosecution in the case had been compromised and was choc-a-bloc with defects following Saiful's alleged affair with one of the DPPs.

Also present for the first time was Anwar’s only son Muhammad Ehsan, who has just come back from New York.

Missing from the prosecution tean was Mohd Yusof, who is recovering from a fracture of the leg after a fall.

DPP Noordin Hassan, who was in Mecca to perform the haj , returned to the team.