Monday, July 22, 2013

Shafee to lead appeal against Anwar sodomy acquittal


Lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has been given the authority by the Attorney-General to lead the prosecution team in their appeal against the acquittal of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over his sodomy charge.

Muhammad Shafee said on Monday he considered his appointment as deputy public prosecutor for the appeal as public service and would carry out his duties properly.

He said it was first time that a lawyer has been engaged by the A-G to appear for the prosecution in a high-profile criminal case.

He said he was being paid a salary to ensure that his employment by contract is valid.
"It is a small amount purely to make sure that my contract is valid," said Muhammad Shafee who refused to disclose the amount to the media.

 He said there would not be any conflict of interest for him to act for the prosecution.
He said he have been appointed by the A-G by fiat (authorization) under Section 376 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) and Article 145 (3) of the Federal Constitution to handle the appeal at the Court of Appeal.

He said that he was given the permission by A-G under Section 379 of the CPC to be employed on behalf of the Government to appear on the criminal appeal.

"I received the July 2 letter signed by the A-G on July 11. The other documentation for my contract was completed on Friday," he told reporters here.

He said he could also act for his other cases as long as there was no conflict.

Anwar was acquitted by the High Court on Jan 9 last year for allegedly sodomising Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, his former aide, at Desa Damansara Condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26, 2008.

Trial judge Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah had ruled that the court could not be 100% certain, after going through the evidence, that the integrity of the DNA samples had not been compromised.

Justice Mohamad Zabidin said that as the crime was sexual, the court was reluctant to convict based entirely on Saiful’s testimony without corroboration.

The verdict ended a trial lasting over two years, with 27 prosecution and seven defence witnesses called.

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