Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Sodomy II prosecutor now in Anwar’s legal team for illegal assembly charge














UPDATED @ 11:12:12 AM 22-05-2012
May 22, 2012
Anwar arriving at the courthouse in Kuala Lumpur on May 22, 2012 where he was charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act with taking part in the April 28 Bersih 3.0 rally. — Picture by Choo Choy May
KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Former Solicitor-General II Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden has joined Datuk Anwar Ibrahim’s legal team as the opposition leader is charged with taking part in an illegal street demonstration today.
It was a startling turn of events as Yusof had led the Sodomy II prosecution against Anwar, which saw the latter being acquitted earlier this year.
He has since retired from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
“I got a call from Anwar last night. I did not hesitate. Nothing personal against the A-G’s Chambers,” Yusof told The Malaysian Insider when approached.
The Malaysian Insider understands that Yusof’s ties with Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Patail have been cool for some time and he had disagreed with the way some of the high-profile cases had been handled.
Yusof was the Solicitor-General II in the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
He was earlier spotted mingling with Anwar’s other defence lawyers.
PKR leader and lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah confirmed with The Malaysian Insider in a text message when asked if the former government lawyer was on the PKR de facto head’s legal team.
Sivarasa said Yusof was assisting Anwar’s lead counsel Karpal Singh. The other lawyers on Team Anwar are Karpal’s son Ram Karpal Singh Deo and Sankara Nair.
Anwar, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and Rembau PKR chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin were today charged with taking part in the April 28 Bersih 3.0 under section 4(2)(c) of the Peaceful Assembly Act, less than a month after the new law aimed at allowing public gatherings “in accordance with international norms” was enforced.
The offence under the Peaceful Assembly Act carries a maximum fine of RM10,000.
All three claimed trial.
Sessions Court judge Mahmud Abdullah set July 2 as the next mention date for the trial.

No comments:

Post a Comment