ANWAR PLEADS INNOCENT TO SODOMY CHARGE

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim walked out of a court on RM20,000 personal bond without surety after he pleaded not guilty to a charge of sodomising his former aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan. The Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor was charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code which under ordinary circumstances, an accused will not be allowed bail. Sessions Court Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah said that it was an elementary provision in criminal justice that a man was innocent until proven guilty and that bail was given to secure a man’s attendance. Lead defence counsel Sulaiman Abdullah pleaded that the judge could use her discretion to release his client on personal bond without imposing any fixed sum. It was totally inconceivable that Anwar would not turn up in court and tamper with the witnesses, he said. Moreover, Anwar would also contest in the upcoming Permatang Pauh by-election where there was a strong possibility that he be elected Member of Parliament, he said.