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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Anwar's defence team claimed semen samples were tampered with

PUTRAJAYA - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s defence team argued today that the Court of Appeal’s conclusion on the semen samples taken from Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan was “unsubstantiated” as it did not consider the possibility of degradation.

Counsel Ramkarpal Singh pointed out today that by the time the samples had reached the government chemist lab for testing, 96 hours had elapsed since the alleged sodomy incident took place between his client and Saiful.

This, he said, brings into question the integrity and “preservation” of the samples that were tested.

“Even the government DNA expert agreed that samples ought to have been severely degraded,” he said.

“The conclusion of Court of Appeal is absolutely unsubstantiated,” the lawyer declared in court.

Ramkarpal also pointed out that experts hired by Anwar’s team had concluded at the time that it was unlikely that semen could, in the first place, be retrieved from Saiful’s anus after 36 hours of the alleged sexual act as it would have been badly degraded even at that point.

“Flaws in test and finding made... Real possibility samples tampered with,” he said.

During the two-year trial for Sodomy II, traces of Anwar’s DNA said to have been recovered from Saiful’s rectal region made up the crux of the prosecution’s case.

Of the 12 samples retrieved during a medical examination, four were taken from Saiful’s high and low rectum as well as from the perianal region.

But when arguing at the government’s appeal hearing at the appellate court earlier this year, Ramkarpal had said the pristine condition of the samples that were submitted appeared to suggest that the evidence may have been altered.

He told the Court of Appeal that the retrieved samples were poorly stored and susceptible to contamination such as bacterial and fungus growth.

But Ramkarpal pointed out that government chemist Dr Seah Lay Hong did not consider degradation of DNA in scrutinising the samples extracted from Saiful, which he said raises suspicion on whether the sample evaluated were the same as those recovered.

“I am not saying that it is different, but it could not be the same sample as in the first that was taken from PW1. (But) it is possibly not the same samples taken to study,” said Ram referring to Saiful, who was the prosecution’s first witness during the course of trial in 2010.

But despite the defence’s arguments, however, the appellate court in March this year decided to overturn the High Court’s decision to acquit Anwar of the sodomy charge, saying that the lower court’s trial judge had erred when rejecting the DNA evidence produced in the case.

The Federal Court is hearing today Anwar’s challenge of the Court of Appeal’s decision.

Anwar has repeatedly maintained his innocence, insisting that the charges were trumped up to kill his political career as he allegedly poses a threat to the Barisan Nasional coalition’s decades-long rule with the Pakatan Rakyat alliance, which he now leads.

If Anwar fails to reverse his five-year imprisonment sentence and conviction in the Federal Court, he would lose his seat as the law bars anyone fined RM2,000 or imprisoned for one year from serving as a lawmaker.

Today’s hearing is presided over by a five-member panel led by Chief Justice Tun Ariffin Zakaria. Others include Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif and Federal Court judges Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Embong, Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar and Datuk Ramly Ali, who replaced Tan Sri Ahmad Haji Maarop.

Anwar is represented by a 14-man defence team led by former federal court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram. Others include lawyers R.Sivarasa, Latheefa Koya, N. Surendran and Gobind Singh Deo.

Lawyers from the prosecution team are Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria.

The hearing is expected to extend beyond today and the judges are believed likely to reserve judgement to a later date.

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