Anwar8217;s marathon sex-trial ends, verdict on August 4

Anwar, who sidelined his lawyers and dramatically took over the defence on Monday, urged Arifin to be 8220;guided by the law and the dictates of conscience8221;. The judge told him: 8220;I am not easily swayed. You can rest assured that I will be guided by my conscience and judge the case based on evidence.8221;

Anwar told reporters before being taken back to jail: 8220;My team, the counsels, did their best. Based on the evidence, the alibi, they prosecution have no case.8221;

His lead counsel, Christopher Fernando, said the defence expected an acquittal as the prosecution case was 8220;like a sieve, riddled with holes8221;.

8220;The whole nation, the whole world will be shocked if he is convicted based on this kind and quality of evidence. It will go against all entrenched fundamental principles,8221; Fernando told reporters.

Anwar 52 and his adopted brother Sukma Darmawan 39 deny sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar, then a driver for Anwar8217;s family, on one night between January and March 1993 in Sukma8217;s apartment in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. The offence is punishable by upto 20 years8217; jail plus a caning for men aged under 50.

Anwar, sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad in September 1998, is already serving a six-year jail term, imposed in April 1999, for abusing his powers to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct. He says he was framed because he intended to expose corruption and was seen as a political threat to Mahathir. The Government denies any plot.

Winding up the defence earlier, Anwar repeated allegations that Mahathir organised a conspiracy that led to his sacking and jailing. 8220;Top police personnel and the attorney-general were acting under the instructions of the Prime Minister,8221; he said.

Anwar said the then-police chief Rahim Noor was given top-level official approval to beat him in custody on September 20, 1998 8212; the night he was detained after leading mass anti-government protests. 8220;He would not have done so without getting some tacit approval to teach that man a lesson, if possible to finish him8217;,8221; he added.

In March, Rahim was jailed for two months for assaulting a blindfolded and handcuffed Anwar in a police cell. A medical expert had told a commission of inquiry the injuries could have been fatal. Prosecutors are appealing for a tougher sentence on Rahim, who says he acted alone.

8220;The defence contention has consistently been that of a conspiracy involving the chief himself, the Prime Minister, who was the maestro behind the orchestrating,8221; Anwar said. 8220;The instrument of government was unfortunately used and abused. There were political and economic issues involved.8221;

Anwar said the prosecution case relied solely on the testimony of Azizan, who has 8220;changed his position umpteen times8221;. He said he had given alibi evidence that he could not have been at the apartment at the time of the alleged offence, even though an official diary had vanished from his office.

8220;The 1993 diary was conveniently found missing and that coincided with the charge against me,8221; he added. Gobind Singh Deo, lawyer for Sukma, told Arifin that prosecutors were themselves uncertain of the facts and provided weak submissions after more than 100 days of hearings.

The sodomy trial, which began June 7 last year, has lasted for 118 days of hearings amid numerous adjournments. The prosecution closed its case on August 20 last year after calling nine witnesses, while the defence called 31 witnesses.