Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has apparently embellished the in-camera evidence provided by Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in the sodomy case involving Anwar Ibrahim with his own spicy details.
During the first stop of his roadshows on Feb 17, a week after the Federal Court upheld the opposition leader’s conviction and prison sentence, the government-appointed prosecutor said: “Anwar mencubit-cubit dia punya puting” (Anwar pinched Saiful’s nipples).
Shafee was relating the purported “foreplay” which took place before the sodomy incident to the audience at his Kelana Jaya talk, which was streamed live.
Also present at the event was Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who defended the lawyer’s right to take his case to the public.
Malaysiakini has checked the court transcript on the in-camera proceeding and there is no mention of the pinching incident.
The only part where Saiful’s nipple was mentioned in the case was when doctors from Hospital Kuala Lumpur testified using a cotton swab to extract a sample from his nipple.
During the public forum, Shafee also said Anwar had asked Saiful to bring some documents to a unit at the Desa Damansara condominium in Kuala Lumpur the day before the incident.
However, checks on the court transcript revealed that Anwar did not instruct Saiful directly nor was there any directive from anyone to Saiful the day before the sodomy incident to fetch the documents.
Transcript from the court and evidence from witnesses revealed that Anwar told his chief of staff Ibrahim Yaacob on the same day of the incident - June 26, 2008 - that he left some documents in the office and to get someone to bring them over.
Ibrahim had then directed Saiful to deliver the documents to the condo unit.
Roadshow draws flak
Shafee was not the original prosecutor of the case as the team was initially headed by then solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden.
His roadshow had drawn flak from various quarters, including law professor Gurdial Singh Nijhar, who said the senior lawyer may have committed contempt by revealing in-camera evidence.
An Umno leader, who wished to remain anonymous, had told Malaysiakini that Shafee's roadshows had backfired on the party.
Shafee was at Najib Abdul Razak's Taman Duta home when Saiful ( left ) came to meet with the then deputy prime minister on June 24 - two days before the alleged sodomy incident.
Despite being there, the senior lawyer denied he met the complainant as he was in another room.
Shafee is also being investigated after police reports were made by former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim regarding his affidavits he filed at the Court of Appeal in reply to Anwar's application to oppose his appointment as prosecutor.
Meanwhile, a senior lawyer and a former Court of Appeal judge have filed a motion for the Malaysian Bar 69th annual general meeting on March 14 to condemn the Umno-linked lawyer's behaviour and cite him for disciplinary action.
Anwar, who is serving his five-year sentence in the Sungai Buloh prison, has maintained that the charge against him was fabricated but this has been repeatedly denied by the government.
When Malaysiakini contacted Shafee regarding the in-camera evidence, he responded saying: "Read the entire record of appeal, you will find it there. So clear the evidence!"
Meanwhile in a related development, some groups have lodged reports urging various respective Islamic departments to probe Shafee for allegedly having committed qazaf by spreading unsubstantiated accusations of sodomy.
The reports have been lodged, among others, by preacher Wan Ji Wan Hussin, NGO Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (Samm), and student activist Fahmi Zainol.
"Why is Shafee being protected? Does Malaysia practice selective prosecution?," Fahmi asked in a statement yesterday.
Qazaf is the Islamic offence of accusing someone of illicit sex without substantial evidence or witnesses.
