your say 'If Anwar's defence team is not allowed to interview the PM and his wife, we can safely conclude that they both are above the law.'

Prosecution gets a week to comply with order

YellowBoxer: Judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah wants to be seen as fair in saying that it is prosecution's job to provide the witnesses, but then he shot himself in the foot by saying that attendance by the witnesses is voluntary.

What the heck of a court is this? Does it apply to all witnesses? Perhaps he is giving PM Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, the opportunity to refuse to be interviewed. The delay is now caused by the prosecution, not by the defence.

Passing Cloud: Over the past two or three years, we have not read anything good about both Najib and Rosmah in the local and foreign alternative online media except in the government-backed mainstream media like the openly fawning The Star , Utusan Malaysia , New Straits Times , and a host of other vernacular papers.

Going by the biased track record of the presiding judge, Mohd Zabidi, it's a sure bet that Najib and Rosmah will not be called as witnesses. Otherwise, his career will be "as cold as ice", as the locals say.

We dare say here, Anwar's application will be shot down in the pre-planned public charade. Anwar, let's face this: you will be nailed by this desperate bunch of conspirators who suffer from "folie a deux", or simply mass madness.

Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: "It is up to the witness if they want to be interviewed or not" says our fair and learned judge.

Will he likewise be consistent and accord every other witness in any other trial the same privilege? Perhaps we can dispense with the process of subpoena entirely then?

Bluemountains: No one can avoid being called as a witness in court if he is subpoenaed, not even the PM. Why can't the judge order that they be subpoenaed? If given a choice, many will definitely not go.

AnonymousXYZ: As is typical of Anwar-worshippers, many of their comments here are both ignorant and idiotically vicious.

The interview of potential witnesses is entirely distinct from the examination of witnesses during the trial itself. A person may refuse to be interviewed and at the same time be fully aware that he/she may be subpoenaed, i.e. compelled, by the court to appear on the witness stand.

All it means is that the person is signalling he/she will appear as a hostile witness and the belief that questions might as well be asked during the trial itself, bypassing an interview stage.

His/her refusal to be interviewed does not equate to a refusal to testify. Furthermore, the defence appears to have already decided that it is crucial to its case that some of those on the witness list testify. This makes an interview superfluous.

I have to explain all of these as the attempt to make a song and dance out of their refusal to be interviewed is truly pathetic and cheap point-scoring.

Malaysianearthquake: The architect and all his accomplice for this politically-motivated trumped-up charge and persecution of Anwar should be daring enough to attend court if they have nothing to hide.

Their reluctance says volumes. Malaysians are following this trial very closely.

Anonymous_3e4b: "Justice Zabidin in his decision said it is the prosecution's responsibility to ensure the attendance of witnesses to be interviewed by the defence team. However, Zabidin said it is up to the witness if they want to be interviewed or not."

How to ensure the attendance of witnesses if they don't want to be interviewed??

Ksn: Is the judge advising the witnesses not to say anything while granting the defence request? Is that his job or the prosecution to advise the witnesses, if that is even allowed even for the prosecution interfering with the witnesses? The judge is giving uncalled for advice to witnesses.

Danny Lazaroo: Delayed justice can be just as good as 'no justice' at times. While a rushed trial would not be in the interest of the pursuit of justice, the criminal justice process should not be unduly delayed.

In Anwar's case, I don't think the length of the proceedings is the problem though - it's the fact that everything the defence applies for, which they should be entitled to such as access to the evidence and testimonies that are being used against their client, keeps getting denied, for the oddest and weirdest reasons that are perversions of the principles of justice.

Today's and upcoming court proceedings are predictable - no matter what Anwar's team asks for, their requests will be denied. This game has been rigged from the start, as the saying goes.

The only thing Anwar can do is win the next elections - which may very well happen - as quite a few of our judges have shown that they are blindly loyal not to the pursuit of justice or fairness, but to their political masters.

Hati Panas: The court must have read every single page of the law books including the micro-prints. Unfortunately, they could not find any clause that can prevent the PM from being interviewed. Only if there were a precedence set in the past, I am 100 percent sure that the court will follow.

No one is above the law, so the court should not be hesitating at all in allowing the defence to interview the PM. I hope the judge does not feel offended and can still deliver a fair judgment at the end of the trial.

If Anwar's defence team is not allowed to interview the PM and his wife, we can safely conclude that they both are above the law.

 

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