JUNE 13 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was charged in the High Court under Section 377A of the Penal Code with committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature against his then personal assistant, Mohd Saiful Bukhari bin Azlan (PW1).
After the close of the defence’s case, the High Court acquitted and discharged Anwar of the offence on the ground the DNA analysis done by one of the government chemists (PW5), could not be reconciled with the evidence of two experts called by the defence (DW2) and (DW4), thus casting a reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case.
In addition, the trial court also held that since all the body swabs taken from PW1 at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital were individually put into plastic receptacles, labelled and sealed and all the receptacles were then sealed in a common plastic bag (P27) before being handed to the investigating officer, (PW25), the latter’s action in later cutting open P27 to relabel the receptacles before sending them to the chemist had compromised the integrity of the samples.
The trial judge held that since the court could not be absolutely certain the integrity of the samples had not been compromised before they reached the chemist, it was unsafe to rely on the DNA result obtained from the chemist’s tests on the samples; hence there was no evidence to corroborate PW1’s evidence on the factum of penetration, an ingredient of the offence.
Former research assistant Muhammed Yusoff Rawther was discharged and acquitted by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on June 12, 2025, of charges involving cannabis trafficking and possession of two imitation firearms. — Bernama pic
On the prosecution’s appeal, the Court of Appeal (COA) reversed the High Court’s findings, convicted Anwar and sentenced him to five years’ jail.
Anwar appealed to the Federal Court. The prosecution cross appealed for enhancement of the sentence.
The host of issues raised by Anwar before the apex revisited matters that were raised before the courts below and included contentions that PW1 was not a credible witness; that his evidence was not corroborated; that there was a break in the chain of custody of the exhibits; that DNA evidence that the appellant’s semen/sperm were found on rectal swabs taken from PW1 was unreliable in view of the delay before the samples were tested; and that the COA had failed to consider or evaluate the Anwar’s defence of political conspiracy.
The last ground was based on the contention that PW1 had, two days before the offence, met with the then Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and on the same evening met with a high-ranking police officer at a hotel; that he then contacted the then Inspector General of Police the following day; that the day following the sodomy, and before lodging a police report, PW1 had met with four other persons which included a senator and a former national sprinter.
After lengthy deliberations, the Federal Court dismissed Anwar’s appeal and the prosecution’s cross-appeal, hence affirming the decision of the COA on conviction and sentence.
In short, Anwar was acquitted by the High Court. The acquittal was overturned by the COA. Anwar’s conviction was finally affirmed by the Federal Court.
It’s a long, drawn out process to a finality.
Expect the same in the acquittal of Anwar’s former political aide Muhammad Yusoff Rawther who on Thursday (June 12) was acquitted and discharged by the High Court of two charges involving drug trafficking and possession of a fake firearm without being called to enter his defence.
We recall that Kinabatangan MP Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin and his wife were acquitted and discharged by the High Court from three charges of corruption totalling RM2.8 million.
The prosecution appealed to the COA which found merit in the prosecution’s appeal. Hence, the couple was ordered to enter their defence.
It’s still early days but Yusoff deserves his freedom now.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
