Anwar files formal complaints

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ebrahim, facing a fresh sodomy charge, accused the national police chief and the attorney general yesterday of fabricating evidence against him in his previous sodomy trial in 1998.

Anwar filed formal complaints against Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan and Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail at a police station in Shah Alam, a Kuala Lumpur suburb.

The two men held lower-ranking positions in 1998 when Anwar was tried for allegedly sodomising his driver and an aide while he was deputy prime minister and finance minister.

Anwar insists he was innocent and claims he was framed because he challenged then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for power.

Accusation

Anwar was convicted and jailed, but Malaysia's highest court overturned the conviction in 2004. By then he had formed an opposition party that, in a coalition with two other parties, made spectacular gains in March 8 general elections.

The results left the ruling National Front coalition reeling with a thin 30-seat majority in the 222-member Parliament, its worst performance in history.

Anwar has claimed he can convince more than 30 National Front lawmakers to defect, which would topple Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government.

But Anwar's campaign suffered when he was hit with a fresh sodomy accusation last week. A 23-year-old male aide filed a police complaint against Anwar on Saturday, claiming the 60-year-old politician sodomised him.

There are no laws against homosexuality in Malaysia but sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Anwar has dismissed the allegation as a fabrication and an attempt to destroy his political career at a time when he is being seen as a future prime minister.

He told reporters after filing the police complaint against Musa and Abdul Gani that he wants an "immediate and transparent investigation" into their role in the 1998 case.

Because of their high ranks, he said, they were likely to be involved in investigating the latest "frivolous sodomy allegation", and indicated he does not trust them to be neutral given their alleged bias in 1998.

He did not say what evidence he has to show that the two men twisted the case against him in 1998. Musa and Abdul Gani were not immediately available for comment, and police refused to comment on Anwar's complaint.

Malaysia's government has dismissed Anwar's claim that the sodomy accusation is a political conspiracy to keep him from running for Parliament.

Shahrir Abdul Samad, the minister for domestic trade, told reporters the government was not afraid of Anwar entering Parliament.