Malaysia police admit rewriting Anwar sex charge

KUALA LUMPUR, AUG 18: Malaysian police said on Wednesday that they rewrote a sodomy charge against former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim ...

KUALA LUMPUR, AUG 18: Malaysian police said on Wednesday that they rewrote a sodomy charge against former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim after discovering the building where the crime allegedly took place was not up at the time.

Senior Assistant Police Commissioner Musa Hassan told the High Court that the year of the alleged sodomy was changed to 1993 from 1992 after police learnt that the Tivoli Villa Apartment Complex had not been finished in 1992.

Musa’s testimony on the 46th day of the trial appeared to corroborate the defence’s contention that the sodomy charge against Anwar was rewritten after Anwar’s lawyers had pointed out the inconsistency.

Government prosecutors have twice changed the date of the alleged sodomy in the charge-sheet since the indictment of Anwar in September which sparked unprecedented anti-government protests.

The defence has argued that the changes support their contention that the prosecution brought trumped-up charges against Anwar and his adopted brother, jointly accusedof having sodomised former driver of Anwar family.

The sodomy charge against Anwar carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and whipping. Sacked and arrested in September, Anwar was sentenced in April to six years in jail on four corruption counts.

He faces another corruption count and four other sodomy charges. The police is currently investigating whether Anwar broke the official Secrets Act by taking government documents outside the country.