Former minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob was fully aware of the contents of the sworn statement which he signed, ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's counsel Christopher Fernando today told malaysiakini in a telephone interview.

"He (Megat Junid) knew the contents of the statutory declaration (made on March 27). The statement was read back to him. Everything was agreed and he signed it," Fernando said.

The former domestic trade and consumer affairs minister swore before a commissioner of oaths that his friend and jailed leader Anwar is innocent of the sexual misconduct allegations framed on him.

Megat Junid, however, made some changes on Tuesday stating that he held his Anwar-was-innocent view until Sept 1, 1998, the day before Anwar was sacked from power. The following day, Anwar was expelled from the ruling party, Umno.

A local English-language newspaper The Star reported yesterday that Megat said he signed the first statement thinking it was the same as the draft he had agreed to with Anwar's lawyers.

"I (later) asked for a copy of the document but they (Anwar's lawyer) only gave it to me on March 31, which was when I spotted the difference," he was quoted as saying.

He added that he could not sleep for two nights so he returned to the same Commissioner of Oaths to make the change.

When questioned if defence lawyers had made changes to the declaration without the former minister's knowledge, Fernando said the allegation (by Megat Junid) is "utter rubbish".

A legal source, who declined to be named, said Megat Junid can be charged for making a false statutory declaration.

"Anwar's lawyers can, if they so wish, initiate a move to start impeachment proceedings against the former minister,' he said.

While declining to comment if the defence will consider impeaching Megat Junid, Fernando said they intend to call him as a witness in Anwar's sex trial after submitting legal arguments on the need to call Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to court.

Attempts to contact Megat Junid in his Kelana Jaya home were unsuccessful.

When the trial resumes on Monday, the defence team is expected to argue the motion filed by Anwar detailing the relevance of Mahathir's evidence in court before moving on to the application filed by Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin to set aside the subpoena served on him to appear in court.

Deputy Education Minister and Mahathir's former political secretary Aziz Shamsuddin has notified, through his counsel, that he will take the witness stand when called by the defence.

Anwar is serving a six-year jail term for corruption and stands trial for sodomy and sexual misconduct. He has repeatedly denied all charges and says they were trumped up to topple him from power.