A defence witness in sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial told the High Court today he was threatened with the Internal Security Act if he refused to confess that Anwar had sodomised him.

Mohd Azmin Ali, who is Anwar's former private secretary and state assemblyman for Hulu Klang, said that while he was being interrogated in Bukit Aman in September, 1998, the police wrote on a whiteboard, "Awak boleh ditahan di bawah ISA selama 20 tahun" (You can be held under ISA for 20 years).

"They also told me that my wife and children came to the lock-up the day before, but I would only be allowed to see them after I confessed," he said.

Answering questions from lead prosecutor Abdul Gani Patail, Azmin said that he was asked to make the confession numerous times during the detention, but he told the police that "a Muslim cannot make such allegations without proof".

"I asked them to place the Quran on a table during the discussion, but instead they said 'Quran tak main dalam perbincangan ini' (The Quran is not important in this discussion)," he said.

Azmin also told the court that he met with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for 20 minutes in August 1997 as the premier wanted to know how he felt about the accusations hurled against his wife Shamsidar Taharin.

Later, during re-examination by lead defence counsel Christopher Fernando, Azmin said he told Mahathir that former minister Megat Junid Megat Ayob had informed him via telephone that he (Megat) gave his sister, Ummi Hafilda Ali, a "big" project.

"I also told the prime minister that Ummi complained to me that she had to pay kickbacks of RM30,000 per month to Megat's second wife, Ziela Jalil, in return for the project," he said.

Judge Arifin Jaka, at this point, exclaimed, "Wow, that's a lot of money!" followed by laughter in the court.

Anwar, dressed in a long-sleeved, light blue shirt, was seen constantly taking down notes during the proceedings. Sitting next to Sukma Dermawan Sastimaat Madja, his adopted brother who is also being charged, he was all smiles when his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail walked into the courtroom at about 2pm.

Anwar is charged with forcing sex on his wife's former driver Azizan Abu Bakar with the aid of adopted brother Sukma Dermawan Sasmitaat Madja.

The sodomy trial, meanwhile, has been adjourned to tomorrow morning. Azmin completed his testimony today and submissions on the relevance of Mahathir's testimony at the trial will resume tomorrow.

Anwar is serving a six-year jail term for corruption and stands trial on a separate charge of sodomy and sexual misconduct. He has repeatedly denied all charges and says they were fabricated to end his political career.