Saturday November 7, 2009
Anwar fails in bid to get documents
By LISA GOH
KUALA LUMPUR: It’s back to square one for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court’s decision compelling the prosecution to provide him with documents he claims are crucial for his defence in a sodomy trial.
In a unanimous decision yesterday, Justices Hasan Lah, Abu Samah Nordin and Sulaiman Daud allowed the prosecution’s appeal against the High Court decision and dismissed Anwar’s cross appeal to acquire the complainant’s DNA samples.
Justice Hasan Lah, in handing down the court’s ruling, said that the bench disagreed with the High Court’s interpretation of Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which formed part of the basis for the order.
He ruled that the documents and evidence Anwar had applied for did not fall under the purview of Section 51A, and that there were limitations to the documents provided to a defendant pre-trial.
“In a criminal proceeding, the law does not allow a fishing inquiry,” he said.
Section 51 of the CPC authorises that documents or things which are necessary for the purpose of a trial may be ordered to be produced.
Section 51A pertains to the delivery of more documents to the accused pre-trial.
Among the documents and evidence Anwar is seeking are CCTV recordings, medical reports from Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Hospital Pusrawi, chemist notes, the prosecution’s witness list and statements, and DNA samples taken from the complainant in the case, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
On July 16, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah granted Anwar’s application and directed the prosecution to comply with the order within a week.
However, the court dismissed Anwar’s application for the DNA samples.
On July 24, Justice Mohamad Zabidin granted a stay on his ruling pending the prosecution’s appeal in the Court of Appeal.
Anwar also filed a cross-appeal for the DNA samples.
Anwar’s lead counsel Karpal Singh said they would file an appeal with the Federal Court on Monday.
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