Anwar’s ex-research assistant to sue him in civil court

(The Mole) – A former research assistant of PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said he will sue his former boss in the civil court for allegedly molesting him.

Muhammed Yusoff Rawther said he is also requesting for an appointment with the Attorney General Chambers (AGC) in a bid to clarify some misgivings over the ‘no-further-action’ given to his sexual assault complaint on Tuesday.

“I am terribly disappointed with the AGC’s decision. I am angry that this is the decision that they have arrived at,” said Yusoff at a press conference in his lawyer’s office, here today.

Yusoff had on Dec 4 last year made a statutory declaration alleging that he was sexually assaulted and molested by Anwar two months earlier. Three days later, he lodged a police report after claiming that he had received anonymous threats.

According to his lawyer, Muhamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, a meeting with the AGC, particularly with the Solicitor-General Datuk Engku Nor Faizah Engku Atek was necessary because parts of her statement on the matter were confusing.

Yusoff’s complaint was brought to the solicitor-general after Attorney-General Tommy Thomas recused himself from the case due to his favourable opinion of Anwar in relation to previous sodomy charges.

“In the fourth paragraph (of her statement), the solicitor-general simply stated that the case cannot be prosecuted because they found contradiction of material facts. We want to know whether such contradictions are from the accuser or the accused,” said Haniff.

He said that if such contradictions were solely from Yusoff’s side then the AGC had usurped the power of the judiciary as only the court can decide the truth of Yusoff’s claim.

“The sixth paragraph was also confusing because the solicitor-general stated that the no-further-action decision was recommended by the police. This was weird because if that was true, then the police would not have submitted their investigation papers (IP) to the AGC in the first place.

“The police would have simply closed their investigation, but they did not. They sent their IP to the AGC on January 6 (2020). And to me, that showed the police had deemed that there was a case,” said Haniff.

He said he had already emailed the appointment request to the AGC yesterday and while he proposed a seven-day reply deadline, he was willing to reasonably wait beyond the said period.

Haniff added that he will file a counterclaim should he receive Anwar’s civil suit over the matter, which the latter stated he would do, on Tuesday.

“As of today, I have yet to receive the notice, concerning the civil suit, from Anwar’s lawyer despite them informing me about the notice on December 17 last year.

“I were to receive it whilst waiting for the AGC’s reply. We will have no choice but to file a counterclaim,” said Haniff.

According to Haniff, the Yusoff’s molestation civil suit against Anwar could be filed under tort laws, specifically that concerning assault and personal trespass.