PUTRAJAYA, 6 NOV: Anwar Ibrahim’s defence team have almost wrapped up their closing submissions after a lengthy seven day appeal hearing which began on 28 October. The Opposition Leader gave a thumbs up to his 14-strong legal team, adding that he was confident that they had decimated the prosecution with their arguments.

Speaking to his supporters at around 8pm outside the Palace of Justice, Anwar said that he and those present in the courtroom saw no real evidence for the alleged sodomy charges pinned on him by his former aide Saiful Bukhari.

Anwar told his supporters who were huddled under a canopy during the heavy rain that he was sure that his team had done their best to defend him from being convicted, and told them to pray for a judgement that would free him. The crowd that numbered around 1,000 had waited unusually long today, as proceedings ended only at 7.10pm.

DNA from Saiful’s anus not pristine

The defence team’s closing submissions today focused on disputing all the claims from the prosecution, from alleged DNA evidence to the semen fragments on a carpet.

Ramkarpal Singh said that the DNA evidence, according to the chemistry department did not experience degradation. However, he said that it was important to note that according to chemist Dr Seah Lay Hong, the semen samples should have deteriorated as it was collected 56 hours after the alleged incident.

Previously, the prosecution attempted to use foreign scientific literature to prove that semen in Saiful’s anus could last longer than the said time, but the court had rejected it as it was mostly in a foreign language –Thai.

Ram told reporters that he understood that DNA could be extracted from dinosaur fossils despite being more than 65 million years old.

“But what is in question is that this sample is not found in the dinosaur’s anus,” he added.

He questioned how the sample could be in pristine condition without being stored in a freezer for the 56 hour duration. The ‘evidence’ according to the prosecution, was kept in and around the anus of Saiful during that time.

Ram also said that the court should not take into account Saiful’s allegation of alleged previous encounters between Anwar and himself as no medical evidence was adduced to substantiate this claim.

Public prosecutor Shafee had pointed out Saiful’s testimony in which he claimed that Anwar had ejaculated into him (his anus) “as always”. Ram said that the act of sodomy may not have even occurred based on the unsubstantiated claims presented by Saiful’s lawyers.

He also added that the Tandoor case cited by Shafee was different in that the suspect/politician did not consult with the Prime Minister of India, just as Saiful had met Prime Minister Najib Razak after the alleged incident. The Tandoor case is a brutal murder case tried in Indian court where a politician murdered and roasted his wife in a tandoori oven.

Male Y is not Anwar

Later, defence observer Gobind Singh Deo asked the court to reject the evidence obtained from the lock up by illegal means.

The prosecution, he said, failed to prove that the DNA of “Male Y” (so-named by the chemist’s tests) found in the lock up where Anwar had spent a night, belonged to Anwar. He explained that the finding was merely based on occupancy, where it was assumed that the DNA belonged to the appellant because he had stayed there.

Gobind presented another case, where an engineer Hanif Basree was acquitted of murder because there was the presence of another person’s DNA on on the victim. One of the five judges in this current cast, Abdul Hamid Embong, had presided over the Noritta murder case cited by Gobind. Based on the discovery of the extra male DNA in Saiful’s case, Gobind said that this meant that two people had sodomized Saiful.

Of flying carpets and Briyani

Later, lead counsel Gopal Sri Ram had asked asked how the carpet which the alleged sodomy had taken place in had been moved from one unit to another in the Desa Damansara condominium. Shafee had initially said that it was ‘ironic’ that the carpet was found in another unit.

However, Gopal said that there was no evidence that the carpet had moved as claimed by the prosecution.

“I do not believe in flying carpets,” he said.

“Without the carpet, the prosecution cannot prove (its case),” he said, as the prosecution had stated that the incident had occurred on the carpet. Gopal said that this point demolished the prosecution’s case.

He also said that the Brioni suit, claimed by the prosecution to have been a gift by Anwar to Saiful was not available as evidence.

“Surely, if he sent it to a tailor there would be a label,” he said, explaining that the pants was produced in court but without a label.

He also made fun of Shafee’s pronunciation of Brioni that sounded like “Briyani”, saying that the Brioni suit would cost more than Briyani (rice).

Gopal also said that Pusrawi Hospital’s Dr Osman, who was the first to inspect Saiful Bukhari’s anus, had noted that a plastic instrument was inserted into Saiful’s behind. He noted that Dr Osman was not Malaysian and had returned home after his period of service. Gopal told the court that Dr Osman had no motive to side with Anwar Ibrahim in the sodomy case.

After Gopal’s submission, the court adjourned and is scheduled to continue at 3pm tomorrow (Friday) with more submissions by Gopal.

During the proceedings, Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli had spoken to Anwar supporters outside the court, telling them of the possibility of an acquittal as the points put forward by the Gopal led team was very convincing.

He also said that Padang Serai MP N. Surendran, who is one of the lawyers on Anwars team, had opined that the body language of the judges seemed to suggest that they concurred with the defence’s arguments. However, Rafizi said that the Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah felt that the judges were curt when questioning the defence lawyers – providing no clues to which way the decision would swing.

“It could go either way,” Rafizi said, asking the supporters to keep the opposition leader in their prayers. -The Rocket