KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (AFP) - Lawyers for Malaysia's sacked deputy premier
Anwar Ibrahim said Tuesday that the judge who jailed him for corruption
had impeded defence attorneys and threatened them with contempt of court.
On the seventh day of Anwar's appeal against his conviction last April
and six-year jail term, lead counsel Raja Aziz Addruse continued his attack
on trial judge Augustine Paul.
Anwar, sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir in September 1998, was convicted of abusing his official powers to cover up sexual allegations against him. He says he is the victim of a high-level political conspiracy.
Raja Aziz said there had been "constant interruptions and queries" by Paul during the defence case.
"We were threatened with contempt of court several times..this is not the way to treat lawyers when presenting their client's case."
He told the appeal court that Paul had eliminated evidence which would have shown that the prosecution of Anwar was "mala fide" (in bad faith).
"It is clear the trial judge eliminated evidence in advance..the evidence would have showed that the prosecution instituted was malafide," he said.
Raja Aziz said the defence was not allowed to call lawyer Manjit Singh Dillon. According to him Dillon had been asked by deputy public prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail to influence his client to implicate Anwar in sexual misconduct.
Abdul Gani is leading the prosecution in the appeal case and in a separate sodomy trial in which Anwar and his adopted brother Sukma Darmawan are accused of sodomy -- punishable by up to 20 years.
Dillon was counsel for Anwar's tennis partner Nallakaruppan, who was detained for firearms offences shortly before the politician was sacked.
Raja Aziz said Manjit's testimony would have shown that members of the attorney-general's chambers tried to get Nallakaruppan to implicate Anwar in sexual misconduct with five women.
He also said Paul was wrong not to allow Sukma and Anwar's former speechwriter Munawar Anees to testify. Both had given sworn statements on how they were mentally tortured and abused by police into falsely confessing to a homosexual relationship with Anwar.
A lower court in September 1998 sentenced Sukma and Munawar to six months' jail after they pleaded guilty to sodomy with Anwar. They are appealing.
"If the trial judge says he was serving justice (by not allowing them to testify) then the prospect of justice is very dim for us all," Raja Aziz said.
Raja Aziz said Paul also erred in barring the defence from pursuing its claim of a political conspiracy against Anwar.
He said the judge only allowed evidence of a police conspiracy but "political conspiracy leads to police conspiracy. Police would not cook up evidence for no reason."
Abdul Gani, starting the prosecution submission, rejected defence complaints over Paul's decision to let the prosecution in the trial amend the charges at the end of its case.
This meant that the truth or falseness of the sexual allegations need not be proved -- only that Anwar had tried to cover them up.
Abdul Gani said the trial judge acted according to law in his ruling and in his order that all related evidence be expunged.
"The judge said such evidence would prejudice his mind...who am I to say it will not," he said.
He denied that the prosecution had introduced evidence of sexual misconduct to smear Anwar and had amended the charges after it could not prove the truth of the allegations.
The hearing continues Wednesday.