Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor have filed an application to set aside subpoenas compelling them to appear as witnesses at PKR de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim's on-going sodomy trial.

The application was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court (criminal) registry at around 3.30pm today by four senior lawyers representing the couple.

NONE Salehuddin Saidin (left) , who is among four lawyers acting on behalf of Najib and Rosmah, confirmed that the application was filed, but declined to give any more details.

"It is enough for now to say that we have filed an application to set aside the subpoena on behalf of Datuk Seri Najib and his wife," he told reporters.

When repeatedly pressed for more information on the application, Salehuddin said they can only reveal more details once they receive the sealed copy of their application from the High Court and served it "to the other side", referring to Anwar's defence team.

Salehuddin, a former deputy public prosecutor, later told reporters that the High Court's deputy registrar has fixed tomorrow for all parties to appear in court to decide a hearing date of the application.

NONE The other senior lawyers representing Najib and Rosmah include renowned criminal lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, M Athimulan and Ghazi Ishak.

On Aug 8, High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah who presided over the trial, granted Anwar's application to interview witnesses offered by the prosecution, including Najib and Rosmah.

At the close of its case, the prosecution had offered 71 witnesses, including Najib and Rosmah to be defence witnesses.

najib razak and rosmah mansor 1 Both Najib and Rosmah's names were among the 71 witnesses offered by the prosecution.

Besides Najib and Rosmah, some of the other prominent names in the list are former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan, former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee, his younger brother Yong Teck Shing, lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and a special officer to Najib when he was deputy prime minister, Khairil Annas Jusoh.

All 71 witnesses have had their statements recorded by police under Criminal Procedure Code, and hence can be summoned to testify in court.

During the proceedings, investigating officer Supt Jude Blacious Pereira admitted he recorded Rosmah's statement, despite Anwar's accuser, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, having denied meeting the "first lady".

Saiful, the star witness had testified that he saw Rosmah when meeting Najib at the then-deputy prime minister's residence in Putrajaya, denied meeting her personally.

In the first sodomy case in 1998, then prime minister Dr Mahathir

Mohamad - who was subpoenaed - had applied to set it aside and the court granted his application.

Related stories :

That's not cool, Anwar tells Najib

Three cotton swabs have 'Male Y' DNA, admits expert

DNA expert insists lab not ISO17025-certified

Sodomy II: Perverse logic on experts' credentials

IGP: Nothing offensive about 'new Anwar video'