The Kuala Lumpur High Court has fixed Aug 8 to 26 to hear Anwar Ibrahim's defence, with the opposition leader being the first on the witness stand.

NONE The date was fixed by Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah ( left ) after meeting Anwar’s lawyers and the prosecution twice in chambers this morning.

Zabidin ruled almost two months ago that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the Opposition leader.

Anwar, 64, is charged with having sodomised a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, then 22 years old, at a Desa Damansara condominium unit on June 26, 2008.

If found guilty under section 377B of the Penal Code, Anwar could face a jail term of not less than five years and a maximum of 20 years.

azlan Setting aside assertions that Saiful’s testimony was riddled with inconsistencies, Justice Mohd Zabidin in ordering that Anwar’s defence be called, ruled the former was a “credible” and “truthful” witness whose testimony was corroborated by the evidence of expert witnesses - including doctors and chemists.

Anwar, wearing a neck brace following an injury he suffered in a fall at the Bersih 2.0 rally last Saturday, will be the first to take the stand when the trial resumes on Aug 8.

Last Wednesday, the Court of Appeal rejected Anwar's appeal to recuse Zabidin, as well as his application for a stay of proceedings.

No dates have been fixed for Anwar's appeal to recuse Zabidin from hearing the case and ordering a re-trial in the Federal Court.

Since the Court of Appeal did not grant a stay of proceedings, Zabidin moved to set the continuation of the hearing dates today, Anwar’s counsel Sankara Nair explained to reporters this morning.

Other lawyers representing Anwar, who is also Permatang Pauh MP, are Karpal Singh and Param Cumaraswamy.

Only 5 witnesses interviewed

Sankara also told reporters outside court that former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan has indicated that he does not want to be interviewed by the defence.

anwar arrest sankara nair pc 160708 01 "However, what is important is that the witnesses whom we want to be produced in court.

"This is what we had agreed upon and was done in the past, with the Sodomy I (trial) and the corruption (abuse of power) allegation (in 1998)," Sankara ( left ) said.

He said the defence would submit a formal application to Justice Zabidin for the request to be complied with.

Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor, who are among the 71 persons in the witness list, have yet to be interviewed.

So far, the defence has interviewed five witnesses, including Mumtaz Jaafar - a close associate of Rosmah - and Dr Muhamad Osman Abdul Hamid of Hospital Pusrawi, who was the first to examine Saiful.