KUALA LUMPUR – Lawyers for Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday said the young man accusing him of sodomy was a “passive homosexual” after multiple DNA profiles were found in medical tests. The sodomy trial, which resumed last week after a three-month hiatus, has heard evidence from a government chemist that there were multiple unidentified DNA profiles found in Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s anus and trousers.
“That’s half a football team (of DNA profiles) around Saiful’s anus,” Anwar’s counsel Sankara Nair told AFP on the sidelines of the trial. “We are arguing that there were multiple DNA profiles in his anus and rectal areas so it is logical for us to suggest he is a passive homosexual but the witness could not confirm nor deny to the court,” he added.
Chemist Seah Lay Hong reportedly listed three DNA profiles in her report – that of Saiful and two other unknown individuals – and said she did not report two additional DNA profiles as they were insignificant. She said the multiple DNA profiles could be due to the contamination of samples taken from Saiful three days after the alleged sex act took place. Saiful has accused Anwar – a 63-year-old father of six – of sodomising him at an upmarket Kuala Lumpur condominium in 2008. If convicted, Anwar could face up to 20 years in prison.
The prosecution said at the opening of the trial in February last year that traces of Anwar’s semen were found in medical tests on Saiful but has yet to present its evidence to the court. Sodomy, even among consenting adults, is illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia. Anwar has said he is the victim of a plot to prevent him from taking power after the opposition made huge strides in 2008 elections, stunning the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which has been in power for half a century.
The former deputy premier was sacked and jailed a decade ago on separate sodomy and corruption charges widely seen as politically motivated.
