Overnight detention a case of ‘vendetta’
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said today he was the victim of a “vendetta”, after being held overnight on sodomy accusations levelled by a young male aide.
Anwar, who was released on bail, said he was treated like a “major criminal” and needed medical treatment after a night in a bare cell at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters which aggravated a back injury.
“Dumped in a cell to sleep on a cold cement floor with nothing… that has exacerbated the pain,” Anwar, who was arrested yesterday by a team of police commandos, told AFP.
“I don’t deserve this - no Malaysian deserves this. Why treat me like a major criminal?” he told a press conference, adding that he was subjected to an examination which included the measuring of his genitals.
“They have seen all my private parts. Of course I refused to be photographed, it could be on YouTube very soon! You mean I can trust the system?”
Anwar rejected the allegations levelled by 23-year-old aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan as another conspiracy, following the events of 1998 when he was sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption counts.
“It appears that the events of the last few days, the nature of my unwarranted arrest, my overnight incarceration which was actually absolutely unnecessary, were an act of personal vengeance against me,” he said.
“They should not use this as a personal vendetta against me.”
Anwar said he was being targeted because of allegations he has made against the attorney-general and chief of police over his treatment during his original trial.
He has lodged a police report accusing them of manipulating evidence in an investigation into the severe beating he received when he was in police custody at the time.
The 60-year-old opposition leader defended his decision not to give a DNA sample during yesterday’s examination, saying he had no faith in the system after fabricated DNA evidence was used against him in his trial a decade ago.
“My decision to refuse a DNA test is taken through advice of my lawyers and DNA experts,” he said.
And he criticised the decision to arrest him, when he had agreed to face police interrogation at a meeting scheduled just an hour after he was picked up by police.
“I am disappointed with the way the police have handled this whole situation,” he said.
The 60-year-old opposition leader defended his decision not to give a DNA sample during yesterday’s examination, saying he had no faith in the system after fabricated DNA evidence was used against him in his trial a decade ago.
If DNA evidence was used against Anwar 10 years ago, then obviously Anwar’s DNA must be on file with the police already. So why is it necessary to take sample again? DNA evidence is like finger print. It is mostly a picture showing a lot of lines. So it is like the picture of a finger. It does not degrade over time like a piece of flesh. Even a piece of meat can be tested for DNA unless it is totally rotted and disappeared.
Anyway, I don’t see why the police want DNA sample again. Unless they had somehow lost the file of his DNA. That would be typical of the shoddy way Malays do things.
Comment by Liang1a — Thursday, 17-07-2008 @ 20: 14.02
Anwar, who was released on bail …
Why does he need to post bail if he wasn’t charged with any crime? Furthermore, they had to charge him with a crime first before they can arrest him. The police might detain someone for questioning but you don’t ask a “person of interest” to post bail unless you have charged him with a crime. In which case the “person of interest” becomes a criminal and no longer a “perosn of interest.”
Can the police ask a “person of interest” to post bail?
Comment by Liang1a — Thursday, 17-07-2008 @ 20: 20.39
Anybody who remembers the wellknown case involving OJ Simpson will remember that the police had used his blood sample to plant evidence at the scene of the crime. Therefore, since the police would have his DNA on file and should not need blood sample again, Anwar must not give them any. Otherwise, the police can take the blood and put it on Saiful’s underpant and use that as evidence to convict Anwar.
Comment by Liang1a — Thursday, 17-07-2008 @ 20: 34.42
The problem now is that Anwar had been in the hands of the police who had stripped him and examined him. In the process they could have collected his hair or pulled off a few hair or might even scraped off a piece of his skin. Then they could say that these hair and skin were found on Saiful and use that as DNA evidence against Anwar. So, don’t be too surprised if the police suddenly announce that they now have DNA evidence against Anwar.
Comment by Liang1a — Thursday, 17-07-2008 @ 20: 40.55
It is also suggestive that the police had measured his private parts. Sounds to me like they were trying to collect a few pubic hair as evidence against him. If the police suddenly announce that they have found pubic hair on Saiful that match the DNA of Anwar, you know how the police got those pubic hair.
Comment by Liang1a — Thursday, 17-07-2008 @ 20: 45.33
Another reason why the police are so interested to measure Anwar’s private is so that they can tell Saiful what it looks like. This will allow Saiful to give a good description of Anwar’s private parts which will then be used to prove that he (Saiful) actually saw Anwar’s private part during the sodomy.
I was 90% certain that this is nothing more than a frame-up before, now I’m 99% sure.
Comment by Liang1a — Friday, 18-07-2008 @ 09: 51.38