The defence in Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial raised doubts in the prosecution case today, pointing out several inconsistencies in the evidence presented to the court.

The first doubt was on police investigating officer DSP Jude Blacious Pereira having a hand in filling in a portion of Hospital Kuala Lumpur's pro-forma document.

The second was raised on whether Malaysia's forensic examination complied with required standards and international practice.

Another doubt raised was whether HKL doctor  was biased in producing three medical reports with certain facts, but disregarding other documents.

sankara nair bukit aman teresea kok isa arrest pc 170908 02 Finally, the defence also raised doubts as to whether the medical samples taken were tamper-proof.

These matters were raised during the cross-examination of Siew by one of Anwar's lead lawyers, Sankara Nair.

Sankara ( right ) stood in for Karpal Singh, who was tied up with the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock, and asked several questions that could possibly dent the prosecution's case.

The prosecution at several times objected to Sankara's line of questioning, ruffling some feathers in the packed courtroom.

A few times when Siew maintained his ground, Anwar remarked from the dock that "this is an MCA doctor".

On the HKL pro-forma forms used to record the examination of sodomy complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, it was proven that at least three people filled it up on the night of the medical examination, on June 28, 2008.

They were Siew, Jude and one Dr Razlin, who assisted in the matter but was not called as a witness.

Siew, the third witness in the trial, testified that HKL at that time did not have a standard pro-forma form for sodomy victims.

"Hence, we had to use the form for rape victims, which I did not fill all up as some of it is not related.

Three different handwritings in medical form

"I only filled in pages 3, 5, and 6 of the report, while others were filled in by Dr Razlin, who was assisting us, and also by Jude. Jude, the police officer, also helped to fill it in," he said.

The question came from Sankara, after he noticed there were three different handwritings on the document.

NONE Sankara at one point asked why a police officer was in filling up a HKL document, and asked Siew ( right ) several times whether he had followed international standards in taking samples for testing.

Siew said he complied with international standards but was unable to answer as to what these standards were.

What should have been done after the cotton was swabbed on Saiful's anus, Sankara pointed out, was that it should have been swiped on a microscope slide to test for the presence of sperm or any other specimen.

The defence contended that if the cotton swab test failed, the doctors could rely on the slide for further examination, but this was not done.

Doctor does not know what's the best test

Sankara also pointed out that other tests could have been done to verify the presence of semen, but the authorities chose to rely only on testing for DNA.

The other tests, her said, are the Rapid Stain Identification Series (RSID), Acid Phosphatase test and PSA Antigen. However, none of these was done.

Siew explained that only the DNA test was done as the incident was said to have taken place two days earlier.

When Sankara asked about the best test that could have been done, Siew said he did not know.

This resulted in Sankara informing the court that the RSID test was the best, as the result could be obtained instantly.

NONE He also said the pathologist concerned failed to conduct a DNA touch test on Saiful's back and buttocks, which would be the normal procedure.

Holding vigil outside the courtroom were a group of Anwar supporters wearing Kami sokong Anwar T-shirts. During a break in the hearing, Beng Hock's sister, Lee, Lan, met up with Anwar.

Earlier in the morning, Siew had told the court he was informed by Pereira that the male DNA marked 'Y' by the chemist belonged to Anwar.

'All cases are treated fairly'

He had also told the court that the HKL forensic pathologist operated in an unbiased manner, without fear or favour, and that all cases were treated fairly.

During re-examination by DPP Nordin Hassan, Siew agreed that Pereira had not directed or interfered in HKL's medical examination on Saiful.

Sankara also questioned whether the evidence retrieved from Saiful was tamper-proof, since Siew did not put his signature on the plastic bag in which the bottles containing the specimen was sealed.

“There were 10 cotton bud samples taken from the victim and each was placed in separate plastic bottles that had been sterilised,” Siew said, adding he labelled them.

“I signed on the bottles and Saiful also signed on them, after each bottle was properly sealed. However, I did not sign on the plastic bag in which the samples were placed as I had only labelled them.”

Doctor unaware of Chemistry Dept procedures

When shown that the top labels of the bottles had been cut, but the rest of the paper tapes were still intact, Siew said it was possible the Chemistry Department had removed the top parts when testing the samples, but the rest of the paper tapes were not removed from the bottles.

“It could be their practice, but I do not know their standard operating procedure or guidelines,” he said.

The witness said in his experience, the Chemistry Department would sometimes make its report within three to four months, but at times it could be earlier.

He said in Saiful and Anwar's case, the specimens were sent to the department on June 30, 2008, after they had been put in a freezer at 12.25am on June 29, 2008.

“Their report was obtained on July 11, 2008,” he said.

On re-examination by DPP Nordin, Siew produced a 1982 medical literature that states the sperm can last up to 46 hours in the anal region, while it may last up to 65 hours inside the rectum.

He also said he did not do any other test as he thought the DNA test would be the best.