Associate professor Dr Azmi Sharom has denied storming through Universiti Malaya’s gates with students and supporters during a public speaking event for opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim last night.

Azmi said a New Straits Times report which claimed he had led students to crash through his university’s locked gates was a “mistake”.

In fact, Azmi ( right ) said he had attempted to stop the students when they decided to break in.

“I didn’t lead anyone to break the gate. I was the only one who tried to stop them,” he told Malaysiakini .

UM had branded the planned speech by Anwar at his alma matter as an illegal event and barred supporters from entering the campus.

However, students and supporters gathered at the university’s main entrance in Kuala Lumpur before pushing their way through the locked gates and then marching to the university’s square.

Anwar finally addressed the crowd of close to 2,000 people at Dataran Dewan Tunku Canselor, where he spoke out against his sodomy charge.

Azmi, who was among the crowd which gathered at the UM entrance last night, appeared irate when students started to push through the university gates.

He was overheard muttering “it’s bloody stupid”, while a man was seen tapping on his back to calm him.

Persatuan Mahasiswa Universiti Malaya (PMUM), which organised Anwar’s talk, had that morning  announced that Azmi and NGO Lawyers for Liberty representatives would be there as legal observers.

Anwar was on March 7 sentenced to five years in jail for allegedly sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

His final appeal against the sentence begins today at the Federal Court and the hearing is slated for two days.

Anwar, who is free on bail, maintains the charge against him is politically motivated.

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