Saiful in hiding, uncle has faith

The man who lodged a police report against Anwar Ibrahim - his special aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan - is already undergoing a character trial on the Internet. Further, the most talked about 23-year-old in Malaysia is nowhere to be found.
Saiful now stands accused of being part of a conspiracy plot orchestrated by politicians from the Barisan Nasional government to defame or have Anwar jailed once again.
He alleged that the PKR de facto leader sodomised him at a luxury condominium in Damansara.
And at a PKR press conference yesterday - and now all over blogs and the Internet - pictures of Saiful and various BN politicians were distributed.
Besides posing with ministers like Shahrir Abdul Samad, Azalina Othman Said and Mustapa Mohamed, Saiful has also taken pictures with Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's special officer Khairil Anas Yusof. Najib today denied any involvement with Saiful.
A visit to Saiful's home in Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya this afternoon showed no signs of people.
However, after several minutes of buzzing the house bell, a man who said he was Saiful's uncle answered the door.
A good kid
According to the uncle, who did not want to give his name, his nephew had gone into hiding and he had not contacted him since news of the report broke out on Saturday.
"But I believe in Saiful," said the twenty-something-year-old at the double-storey house. "He is a good kid and all that he has done, he has done with honesty.
"I just got back from Perak and we've not been in touch but I know why he lodged the report," he added.
Teary-eyed, the uncle said that his nephew reported the matter as he wanted to expose the PKR leader for what he was.
When asked about Saiful's alleged links to Umno politicians, the uncle brushed them off.
"We've got no help or connections with Umno. All he wanted to do is to expose the heinous crime."
Besides his safety, Saiful also stands to lose big if his allegations do not hold water. At midday today, Anwar's lawyers have filed a defamation suit against the former Uniten dropout.
In the suit which was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry in Jalan Duta, Anwar also claimed that the police report lodged by Saiful was an abuse of the process of law.
Anwar is also in hiding
Meanwhile, Anwar is also in hiding - albeit in a more public and protected enclave - at the Turkish Embassy.
Citing unidentified sources who want to harm him, the former deputy prime minister moved into the embassy at 6am yesterday.
This was after Saturday's press conference where Anwar revealed that he had evidence implicating police chief Musa Hassan and attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail of alleged misconduct during his trials in 1998-1999.
PKR officials have postponed their plans to lodge a police report against the duo, a decision probably caused by the present developments.

Family shoots down conspiracy theory

PETALING JAYA: Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s family stands by him and stresses that no one put them up to accuse Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy.
An uncle of Mohd Saiful, who did not want to be named, said the family was on its own in this matter.
“We are not getting any backing from the Government. We are on our own but as a family we fully support Saiful.
“We had asked for the Government’s help but they have chosen to back off and not dirty their hands,” he said when met at his house here yesterday.
The uncle added that they had repeatedly called the Inspector-General of Police but were told to stop calling his number.
He said his nephew had initially approached the Bukit Aman police station to lodge his report against Anwar but they turned him away upon learning who he was accusing.
Mohd Saiful eventually found a police station in Kuala Lumpur which was willing to accept his report, his uncle added.
“Saiful is no longer in the hospital but is under police protection and even our family does not know his whereabouts,” he said.
The uncle said the family would eventually hold a press conference to allow Saiful to “explain from A to Z” his accusations against Anwar.
“Our family is a small family and we do not benefit in any way from Saiful’s revelation.
“We are not getting any money and in fact our family is being cut off by other people.
“Saiful is sacrificing himself for the country even though he knows that society will scorn him and the family for his accusation,” the uncle said.
He said Mohd Saiful had also contemplated suicide as he felt that he had committed a sin.
The uncle said he had been a strong supporter of Anwar but was disillusioned now.
On why Mohd Saiful had pictures with of him posing with Cabinet Ministers and a Prime Minister’s Department aide, his uncle said it was normal for a student leader to take pictures with government officials.


tunku : i guess those unidentified sources who want to harm anwar is sukma and friends, maybe they were jealous. well this is just a perception as i can't see anyone else want to harm the moron. anyway judging by saiful's uncle statement, looks like they know who is anwar ibrahim and want to expose to the public.i have photo taken with anwar in 1996, does that means i'm his man or got something to do with him? i have taken photos with many politician too.