Experts question Anwar's wrongful accusation charge

Experts question Anwar's wrongful accusation charge
11 July, 2008

(NST) - The charge of wrongful accusation filed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim against his aide at the Federal Territories Islamic Affairs Department (Jawi) has been questioned by syariah experts.

The de facto Pakatan Rakyat leader's claim that Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had committed qazaf by falsely accusing him of sodomy could contradict provisions in the Federal Territories Syariah Penal Code 1997.

Anwar's complaint, said syariah lawyer Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, could be interpreted as contradicting two elements in section 41 of the code which deals with qazaf.

Zainul Rijal, who is Syariah Lawyers Association president, said section 41 states that a person has committed qazaf when he accuses someone else of committing zina.

Under section 2 of the code, zina is defined as sex between a man and a woman who are not bonded by wedlock, Zainul Rijal said.

"The code does not state that zina is equivalent to liwat, which is sex between a man and another man," he said.

An individual would be committing qazaf only when he claims that "someone else" had committed zina.

"This means that Mohd Saiful would have had to accuse Anwar and someone else, not Anwar and himself, of zina," Zainul Rijal said.

Mohd Saiful lodged a police report on June 28 alleging Anwar had sodomised him in an apartment in Bukit Daman- sara. The case is being investigated by police.

Anwar has denied the allegation and on Wednesday lodged a complaint against Mohd Saiful at Jawi claiming that his former assistant had committed qazaf.

Anwar claimed that Mohd Saiful had not brought four witnesses to support his accusation and so had committed qazaf.

According to Syariah expert Dr Siti Zubaidah Ismail, assuming the case goes to trial at the Syariah Court and Mohd Saiful is called to enter his defence, he need not have four witnesses.

"In Malaysian syariah, you only need four witnesses if you accuse someone of zina but not of liwat.

"Mohd Saiful can bring whatever evidence he has as long as it fulfils the rules of evidence.

"It is not necessary for him to bring four witnesses," said Siti Zubaidah, who heads Universiti Malaya's Syariah and Law Department.

She said whether the case goes to trial depended on the Syariah Court's interpretation of qazaf as relevant to accusations of liwat.

"The burden of proof would be on Anwar as he has to prove that Mohd Saiful's accusations are false.

"But before any of that occurs, it would be interesting to see whether or not the Syariah Court interprets what constitutes zina and liwat when it comes to qazaf," she said.