27 January 2000

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The sex trial of former Malaysian finance minister Anwar Ibrahim was adjourned on Thursday to give the defense time to call witnesses who could prove he did not sodomize his ex-driver because he was overseas.

High Court Judge Arifin Jaka granted a one-day leave from proceedings after Anwar's lawyers said they could not find his passport detailing his trips abroad between January and March 1993 when he allegedly committed the sodomy.

"We are applying for an adjournment until tomorrow morning because we intend to call some witnesses from the Ministry of Finance who served in 1993 and accompanied Datuk Seri Anwar abroad on certain dates," lead defense counsel Christopher Fernando told Arifin.

The judge was upset on Wednesday when the defense said it needed time to find the missing passport, delaying a trial already bogged down with numerous disruptions, including a two-month break for Arifin to rest an aching back.

But Fernando said on Thursday the defense thought it would be quicker to subpoena Anwar's colleagues who served with him in 1993 and establish his alibi instead of finding the passport.

"This application is made on the further ground that the original passport of Datuk Seri Anwar from 1993 cannot be located," the lawyer said.

NO WASTING TIME, JUDGE WARNS Arifin accepted the reasoning but reminded the defense not to waste time. "Make sure you issue subpoenas to only people who can be traced," he said before adjourning the court.

Fernando later told reporters that the defense might subpoena up to 15 witnesses.

He told the court on Tuesday that the defense intended to detail Anwar's movements from February 11, 1993 -- the day after furniture movers brought a bed into the apartment where the ex-minister allegedly forced his former driver to have sex.

"Since it was allegedly done on the bed, it's important that the alibi covers the date after the bed arrived," Fernando had said.

Anwar and his adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan, are charged with jointly sodomizing the former driver, Azizan Abu Bakar, between January and March 1993 in the Kuala Lumpur apartment.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and whipping. Anwar, serving a six-year jail sentence since April for a corruption offence related to the present trial, says he was framed with criminal offences after he opposed the leadership of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Once Mahathir's heir-apparent, Anwar was sacked in September 1998 by Mahathir, who accused him of low morals. Anwar denies the charge, saying he was toppled for trying to expose corruption in government.

Anwar's ouster has divided Mahathir's party and united the country's splintered opposition into the Barisan Alternatif (BA) alliance, which made strong gains against Mahathir's Barisan Nasional (BN) in November polls.

"Despite the limitations and having to confront the BN's money, machinery and media, the BA managed to garner almost half of the total votes," Anwar said on Wednesday in his first comment on the polls carried by malaysiakini.com, an on-line newspaper.