Faced with three options as to whether he will testify under oath from the witness stand, giving a statement from the dock as the accused, and keeping quiet, Anwar Ibrahim has chosen the second option.

In his testimony to the court, the opposition leader explains his decision to speak from the dock, saying he believes the circumstances surrounding the trial obviate any chances being treated fairly if he testified from the witness stand.

"Yang Arif has created a position under which I cannot give evidence under oath," he says in his 32-page statement, which he took more than an hour to read out.

"I say, with all the force at my command, that I would have been prepared and willing to give evidence under oath but for the handicaps foisted on me, in the manner YA has conducted the trial and in the manner in which the Court of Appeal judgment dated 6th July, 2011 would have come to the notice of YA with regard to what I have stated herein before."