15 July, 2008
Police say it's one of the options. Anwar accuses them of harassing family
By Hazlin Hassan, The Straits Times
OPPOSITION leader Anwar Ibrahim could face arrest after refusing to be questioned over allegations of sexual assault, police said yesterday.
Datuk Seri Anwar, who accused police of harassing his staff and family, challenged the authorities to serve a legal order on him.
Police said they had served a police order on Mr Anwar to appear at a local police station at 2pm yesterday.
'We have given him the chance and space to turn up,' said Criminal Investigation Department director Bakri Zinin after Mr Anwar failed to show up yesterday.
'We have other options to compel him to turn up.'
Asked whether Mr Anwar could be arrested to force him to submit to questioning, he said: 'Yes, it is one of the options.'
Mr Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair said earlier yesterday that his client had, over the weekend, voluntarily agreed to present himself to police yesterday.
But he said Mr Anwar changed his mind after police 'went about harassing and intimidating his staff and family members in attempting to serve an order'.
'There is no need to issue an order to come because my client voluntarily agreed to give a statement. If they want to play it by the law, then we will play it by the law and wait for them to issue a court order,' Mr Nair told The Straits Times.
A police order requires a person to give a statement as a witness in police investigations. If a person fails to comply, police can obtain a court order to compel him to do so.
Mr Anwar defied the order because it was not served properly, Mr Nair said.
'A service in law must be served on the person. The police left it in the guardhouse. My client did not disobey any order because they did not serve it on him.'
Mr Nair said there was 'no fear' of arrest and that when the order was issued properly, Mr Anwar would cooperate fully.
Mr Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) said he was also angry over being barred from Parliament yesterday where the opposition was attempting to mount an anti-government debate.
'He is upset with the action of the police to secure a court order to ban him from going to Parliament today,' PKR's information chief Tian Chua told AFP.
Police rolled out a massive security lockdown around Parliament and banned Mr Anwar from stepping within a 5km radius of the building, saying the opposition was planning a rally in support of the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.
The opposition has denied that it was planning any protests.
Mr Anwar has vowed to fight the sodomy accusations filed against him by former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan. This is the second sodomy claim Mr Anwar is facing in 10 years, and comes at a time when he is publicly staging his political comeback.
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