Anwar fails to recuse judge from sodomy trial

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has failed to recuse the judge Judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah from presiding over the sodomy trial involving him and the alleged victim Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan where the judge ruled that he did not see any reason to recuse himself. Anwar had last week applied to disqualify Zabidin on grounds that his 2 decisions pertaining to the news reports on Utusan Malaysia raised an element of bias. Zabidin said “If I recuse myself in such circumstances, it will mean that I am running away from my responsibility as a judge. A judge who has taken an oath of office should not avoid carrying out the duty which has been entrusted to him. There must be facts to show that a rational person would think that there was a possibility that the judge will make his decision over the tried issues not based on the evidence adduced in court, but on other considerations,”

The trial would have continued as Karpal Singh, Anwar’s lead counsel said that he was prepared to cross-examine Saiful but would appeal over the recusal ruling. He said “We do not want to be accused of delaying tactics. It has to be taken out from the mind of the judge, the prosecutors and everyone. We do not want Pemuda Umno to go wild. There is a black hand behind the whole prosecution,”

The judge then granted a stay pending disposal of the appeal on the recusal ruling and set March 25 for mention. He said “It is important for a higher court to decide on this matter to avoid any violation of principles. If the Court of Appeal decides that my ruling on the recusal application is erroneous, then as stated by the case law, it will only make the proceedings nugatory,”



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NAJIS for sure will suck DSAI into jail very soon, the Australia, US and others are start giving pressure to NAJIS and his team