Malaysian Prime Minister and wife to skip opposition leader Anwar's trial

Malaysian PM and wife to skip opposition leader Anwar's trial

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim failed to force Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to testify at his trial after a court on Thursday quashed a subpoena issued by him.

The judge said Anwar failed to prove that the subpoena was relevant.

Anwar is accused of sodomising his former male aide at a condominium unit in Kuala Lumpur three years ago a crime that could see him whipped and jailed for 20 years.

The accuser, Mohammad Saiful Bukhari Azlan had during the trial revealed that he met Najib at his house, where Rosmah was present, before the alleged sodomy.

The couple have denied plotting against Anwar and said they couldn't offer any material evidence to the court.

This was the second time 63-year-old Anwar was charged with sodomy.

In 1998, he was dismissed as a deputy prime minister and convicted of sodomy and corruption.

He was released in September 2004 and resumed his political career as an opposition leader, leading the opposition parties to win five states in Malaysia's 2008 election.

Editor: Mo Hong'e

English.news.cn   2011-10-06 17:38:17 FeedbackPrintRSS
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 6 (Xinhua)