VZCZCXRO2134
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKL #0095/01 0430906
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 120906Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3803
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000095 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KJUS MY
SUBJECT: FIRST WEEK OF ANWAR'S TRIAL -- VICTIM TESTIMONY 
AND DEFENSE MOTIONS 
 
REF: KL 0064 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The first week of opposition leader Anwar 
Ibrahim's sodomy trial, which began February 3, featured 
graphic testimony by former Anwar aide and alleged victim 
Saiful Bukhari, extensive press coverage in both the 
government-influenced media and blogosphere, and motions by 
the defense for High Court Judge Mohammed Zabidin to recuse 
himself from the case because of alleged bias in his 
treatment of the press.  Recessed for Chinese New Year, the 
trial is expected to resume on February 18. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Comment: Saiful's testimony -- including closed-door 
testimony that was quickly leaked but not published in major 
newspapers for fear of contempt -- was extremely graphic, but 
the sodomy allegations do not have the shock value they had 
in the 1998-99 case, when Anwar was convicted of sodomy and 
abuse of power.  This trial, dubbed "sodomy II," is seen by 
the opposition and much of the public as a repeat effort to 
undercut Anwar and weaken the opposition.  The government's 
counter-argument is that the trial is based on a legitimate 
violation of the law and is an example of due process where 
the presumption of innocence applies.  To date, there have 
been no large demonstrations because of the trial.  End 
Summary and Comment. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Anwar Ibrahim's trial began on February 3 with 
25-year-old former Anwar aide Saiful testifying about alleged 
sodomy on June 26, 2008.  High Court Judge Mohammed Zabidin 
agreed to lead defense attorney and opposition member of 
Parliament Karpal Singh's request to hear the most explicit 
testimony "in camera" (reftel).  Saiful's verbatim 
closed-door testimony about Anwar ordering him to submit to 
sodomy and his detailed description of the events that 
followed,  were leaked to the media on February 5, but were 
not subsequently published.  (Note: On February 4 and 5, 
Karpal made scathing but legally precise accusations that 
"Utusan," an UMNO-owned newspaper, should be cited for or 
warned of contempt, due to two questionable captions that ran 
the day before.  Although the captions are in a legal gray 
area, there is no doubt that publication of the graphic 
testimony would have been identified as contempt.  End Note.) 
 The defense was expected to begin cross-examining Saiful on 
February 8, but that was delayed by defense motions. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The defense objected to coverage of Anwar's trial in 
the Malaysian-language "Utusan" newspaper, which is owned by 
the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the main 
component of the ruling National Front (BN) coalition.  The 
defense argued that "Utusan" should be cited for contempt, or 
at least warned, for publishing the tag line (in Malaysian) 
"I didn't want to be sodomized any more" after the judge had 
ruled that the reference in Saiful's June 28, 2008 police 
report to previous instances of sodomy should be expunged 
from the testimony, because he was only accused of the June 
26 act.  In addition, the defense argued that the newspaper's 
photo caption indicating Saiful pointing to the bed in the 
condominium was factually inaccurate.  In both cases, the 
judge noted that there was no evidence that there was 
malicious intent on the part of "Utusan," though he also 
didn't warn "Utusan" that its comments were potentially in 
contempt. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The media was abuzz on the morning of February 8 
when the defense team was expected to begin its cross 
examination of Saiful.  Instead, the defense team dropped a 
bombshell: they wanted the judge to recuse himself because 
his previous two decisions on contempt showed bias in favor 
of the prosecution.  Karpal conceded that there was some gray 
area regarding whether or not "Utusan" was in contempt, but 
the judge's failure to issue a warning for their captions 
indicated bias.  Over the next two days, the prosecution and 
defense made their arguments to the judge on whether or not 
he should recuse himself; the judge has called for a recess 
until February 18, at which time he will announce his 
decision whether or not to recuse himself. 
 
¶6. (SBU) PolCouns and Pol Specialist met with a member of 
Anwar's defense team on February 10, who said that the 
defense believes it can refute the prosecution's case in 
detail.  The attorney said he had consulted extensively with 
forensic experts in the UK and India during the months 
leading up to the trial, and was prepared to refute the 
physical evidence that the prosecution was expected to 
present. For example, the experts he consulted agreed that 
sperm would not have remained intact in the alleged victim's 
anus for the two days between the act and the medical 
examination, due to bacterial attack.  Nevertheless, said 
this attorney who was also involved in Anwar's 1998-99 
defense team, the government was determined to convict Anwar. 
 
KUALA LUMP 00000095  002 OF 002 
 
 
 The judge would feel pressure to convict, so that he could 
get promoted.  The attorney forecast that Anwar would not be 
jailed after a conviction, but would instead be left 
"defamed" and allowed to pursue various appeals. 
KEITH