The hearing of a defamation suit by former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim begins tomorrow at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The four-day hearing will be heard before Judicial Commissioner Asmabi Mohamad.

Musa filed the suit following Anwar’s police report against Musa, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim and Hospital Kuala Lumpur pathologist Dr Abdul Rahman Mohd Yusof in 2008 alleging fabrication of evidence in the Sodomy I trial.

anwar ibrahim black eye small 080206 Anwar, who was arrested on Sept 20, 1998 on allegations of abuse of power and sodomy, was assaulted by former IGP Abdul Rahim Noor while being detained at the lock-up.

The police report led to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating Musa and Abdul Gani - the investigating officer on the two cases against Anwar and chief prosecutor respectively - on allegations of possible abuse of power, where a three-member panel led by former Federal Court judge Abdul Kadir Sulaiman was called in to conduct a probe.

However, the panel in a majority ruling ruled that Musa and Abdul Gani were not guilty of abuse of power. Abdul Kadir was the only one dissenting in the panel.

Despite the panel’s clearance of Abdul Gani and Musa which was announced by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz in Parliament, the allegations on the duo persist.

This follows revelations by Mat Zain, the investigating officer in the black eye incident, over the duo’s role in allegedly fabricating evidence in various open letters which he had posted to the media, with copies sent to the IGP and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

On May 31, Musa, in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini , admitted that he took Anwar’s blood sample which was supposed to be used for HIV testing, but was used by Musa who was the investigating officer in sodomy I and abuse of power cases, to conduct DNA tests.

Stigma of fabrication

Although the DNA evidence tested on the infamous mattress which was brought to court was rejected, the stigma of the fabrication is still there.

Musa will be represented by lawyers Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin and Hasnal Rezua Merican, while Anwar is expected to be represented by N Surendran and Latheefa Koya.

Prior to tomorrow’s defamation trial, Abdul Rahim had been charged and pleaded guilty to causing hurt on Anwar and was jailed two months and fined RM2,000. Anwar then filed a suit against Abdul Rahim for injuries suffered while in police custody.

However, the suit, where Anwar named the home minister, former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Abdul Rahim, had been amicably settled with an undisclosed amount of compensation and Abdul Rahim’s apology in open court.

Former police chief Musa set for cross-examination