Malaysia's Anwar loses new bid to derail sex trial

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim lost his latest attempt to derail his sodomy trial Wednesday when the judge refused to let his lawyers view police documents that could help discredit Anwar's accuser.

High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Diah ruled in favor of the prosecution's contention that there was no basis for the defense to obtain statements that Anwar's former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, made to police in 2008.

Anwar is charged under a subsection of the law that provides for a prison sentence of up to 20 years for people who have consensual anal sex in this Muslim-majority nation. However, Saiful testified in court that Anwar sodomized him without his consent at a condominium on June 26, 2008.

Anwar's lawyers believe the police transcripts might show that Saiful initially told officials he had consensual sex with Anwar, thereby contradicting the 24-year-old accuser's evidence and showing that his story is tainted with discrepancies.

"The testimony of the witness will turn to stardust," said Anwar's chief attorney, Karpal Singh.

Judge Zabidin said the defense could not demand the police documents based on a mere hunch and that it was up to the prosecution to determine the specific charge, since both consensual and nonconsensual sodomy charges provide for the same maximum prison sentence.

Anwar, a married 62-year-old with six children, has denied sodomizing Saiful at all. He insists the charge was cooked up by Prime Minister Najib Razak's administration to cripple his opposition coalition after it made unprecedented gains in March 2008 general elections. Najib has denied any conspiracy.

A lengthy prison sentence would destroy Anwar's aspirations to become prime minister and undermine the opposition, which counts Anwar as its most charismatic figure, ahead of the next national polls scheduled to be held by 2013.

It is the second time that Anwar has been accused of sodomy. In 1998, he lost his post as deputy prime minister and spent six years in jail on convictions of sodomizing his former family driver and abusing his power. He was freed in 2004 when a court overturned the sodomy conviction. Anwar denied all the charges.