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Malaysian opposition leader Anwar’s sodomy trial delayed
By Julia Zappei, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tuesday, July 7, 2009

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Police check bags as people arrive at High Court in Kuala Lumpur for the trial of former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Malaysia, Wednesday, July 8, 2009. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Mark Baker)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia’s High Court on Wednesday postponed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial by at least one week after his main defence lawyer fell ill.

The long-awaited trial had been scheduled to start Wednesday, but his attorneys said their top representative was hospitalized for dizzy spells. The court will determine a new date for the trial July 15.

Anwar, 61, was charged last August with allegedly sodomizing a 23-year-old male former aide. He has denied the charge. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of sodomy, a crime in this Muslim-majority country.

It is the second time that the former deputy prime minister has been accused of sodomy. He spent six years in prison between 1998 and 2004 after being convicted of corruption and sodomizing his former family driver. Anwar insisted he had been framed and was freed when Malaysia’s top court overturned the sodomy conviction.

Anwar reiterated his claim Wednesday that the new sodomy charge was part of a government conspiracy to undermine his three-party opposition alliance, which made massive gains in general elections last year. Government officials have denied any plot against Anwar.

"These are trumped-up charges," Anwar told reporters. "I’m not optimistic as far as the so-called due process is concerned. ... It’s just a mockery of the whole process."

About 100 opposition supporters, many clad in black, rallied outside the court Wednesday amid heavy police security.

Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the man who accused Anwar of sodomizing him, did not appear in court but wrote on his blog and Twitter feed that he would remain patient in seeking justice.

"If (the trial) is constantly delayed ... how will the truth be proven?" Saiful wrote. "I want to urge the accused not to make any more excuses for delaying the trial."

Even if Anwar’s lawyer had not fallen sick, the trial was likely to be postponed because Anwar claimed he had not received prosecution documents that were crucial for the defence’s preparations.

The delay will give Anwar time to focus on problems within his alliance following weeks of public bickering among opposition officials over policy decisions.

The opposition received further bad news Wednesday when the independent Merdeka Center research firm reported that Prime Minister Najib Razak’s approval rating had surged from 42 per cent in May to 65 per cent, according to a recent telephone survey of about 1,000 registered voters nationwide. The survey had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The Merdeka Center said the results indicate that a rising number of Malaysians appreciate decisions made by Najib after he took office in April. Najib has tried particularly to tackle ethnic minorities’ complaints of discrimination, such as by cutting back affirmative action programs for the Malay Muslim majority.

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Associated Press writer Sean Yoong contributed to this report.

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