Anwar out to get A-G’s team replaced

(NST) KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is to file a motion to disqualify the prosecution team from the sodomy trial on the grounds that "they are receiving instructions" from Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.

Counsel Sankara Nair said the prosecution team was served a letter of demand on Friday, asking that they disqualify themselves from the trial, but there had been no response.

"They were supposed to reply within 48 hours but have yet to do so. We will be filing the motion to disqualify them by this week," he said yesterday, adding that this was an unfair prosecution by Gani.

He said Anwar would not be satisfied with any prosecution team under the Attorney-General's Chambers with Gani as the A-G.

Anwar had alleged Gani of concealing and fabricating evidence in 1998 where he was assaulted in the black-eye incident.

"Any team, under the A-G's instructions, should be disqualified."

When asked who should then conduct the prosecution, Sankara said: "If there is a new A-G then that would be a different story… but I am not asking Gani to resign. Let the government decide."

The letter of demand which was made available to the media, states that Anwar was filing the application on the grounds that the charge against him was mala fide (bad faith) and was part of a political conspiracy.

He also said that three of the prosecutors in his current case were also involved in handling his previous sodomy case in 1998.

The prosecution team for the current sodomy trial consists of Solicitor-General (I) Datuk Idrus Harun, Solicitor-General (II) Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, deputy head of prosecution division Datuk Nordin Hassan, DPPs Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, Wong Ching Kiat, Shamsul Sulaiman and Noorin Badaruddin.

Yusof, Nordin and Shamsul were part of the prosecution team in the first sodomy trial more than a decade ago when Anwar was found guilty but was later acquitted by the Federal Court in 2004.