Malaysia’s highest court on Tuesday upheld a five-year jail sentence of Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim holding him guilty of sodomising a former aide in 2008, stymieing the ex-deputy Premier’s political ambitions. Chief Justice Arfin Zakaria, who chaired a five-member bench, made the ruling after the court convicted 67-year-old Anwar of the offence, capping a long and divisive trial. Earlier, the court ruled that there was overwhelming evidence that 30-year-old Mohammed Saiful was sodomised by Anwar, a father of six children and grandfather of five. “We agree with the Court of Appeal that the case was proven beyond reasonable doubt,” Arfin said before dismissing Anwar’s final appeal.
Anwar was calm as he hugged his family members and supporters in court. Some including his daughters were crying. On January 9, 2012, the Kuala lumpur High Court acquitted Anwar of having sex with Saiful at Desa Damansara Condominium in Kuala lumpur suburb of Bukit Damansara on June 26, 2008. The court had ruled that the samples could have been compromised before they reached the Chemistry Department for analysis.
A total of 27 prosecution witnesses, including Saiful and eight defence witnesses, including Anwar, testified in the course of the nearly three-year trial. However, the Court of Appeal reversed the acquittal on March 7 last year and sentenced Anwar to five years in jail, ruling that the lower court had erred in its finding that the integrity of the DNA samples in the case was compromised. “I am alright,” Anwar said as he hugged his supporters in court and shook hands with his lead counsel Gopal Sri Ram and other counsels.