Sodomy II: Evidence of previous sexual encounters admissible, court hears

The evidence given by Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan pertaining to alleged previous sexual encounters with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is admissible, the prosecution told the Federal Court.

Lead prosecutor Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah argued that such evidence would reflect Mohd Saiful’s state of mind and conduct before, during and after the sodomy incident.

He added that the evidence would be further helpful to understand the issue of credibility on the part of the complainant.

“It is relevant to explain why there were no injuries or signs of physical trauma on the intimate part of the complainant (Mohd Saiful).

“How come you have KY jelly (when Mohd Saiful went to see Anwar)? All this will only make sense if the complainant says that there were previous encounters. If you are used to the situation to a number of times, you will get prepared not to be injured,” Shafee submitted, Monday.

The prosecutor added that such evidence was also relevant pursuant to Section 8 of the Evidence Act 1958 among others to explain the preferred sodomy charge.

Shafee further added that Anwar had failed to call about 10 alibi witnesses including the PKR leader’s wife, when a notice of alibi had been issued by his solicitor earlier.
The prosecution will continue with submissions on Tuesday.

Anwar is appealing to set aside a five-year jail sentence for sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful.
A five-member panel led by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria resumed Monday to hear the prosecution’s submissions.

The panel had spent last Tuesday to Thursday hearing from Anwar’s defence team led by former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram.

On Jan 9, 2012, the High Court acquitted and discharged Anwar of sodomising Mohd Saiful, 27, on grounds that the court could not be 100% certain on the integrity of samples taken for DNA testing from the alleged victim.

The court had ruled that the samples could have been compromised before they reached the chemistry department for analysis.

However, on Mar 7 this year, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s judgment and found Anwar guilty of sodomising Mohd Saiful.

The Court of Appeal held that the trial judge had erred in his findings about the samples, which were based on the evidence of two expert witnesses called by the defence.