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A Malaysian high court acquitted Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy crime, capping almost two-year-long trial proceedings.
Delivering the verdict, Kuala Lumpur high court judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah said the evidence was compromised and the container supposedly holding Anwar's DNA was disputable.
He said the court could not convict Anwar based on uncorroborated evidence in a criminal offense.
Sodomy, consensual or not, is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia.
The 64-year-old former Deputy Prime Minister was charged with sodomizing his 26-year-old former assistant, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at a condominium unit in Kuala Lumpur in June 2008.
The trial started on February 3 in 2010.
"I am grateful of the verdict," Anwar told reporters.
"However it is too early to celebrate because the prosecution may appeal the decision. Nonetheless I will fight on against the injustice and the system that suppresses the people," he said.
Anwar has repeatedly said that the charge was set up to destroy his political career.
Prime Minister Najib Razak denied the claims.
This was the second time Anwar was charged with sodomy. In 1998, he was dismissed as a deputy prime minister and sent to prison a year later over sodomy and corruption.
He was released in September 2004 and resumed his political career as an opposition chief, leading the opposition parties in winning five states in Malaysia's 2008 election.
"The Malaysia judiciary has spoken. It has been heard and we must respect the decision. The verdict of a case such as the one we encountered is a testy decision," Malaysia's Information Minister Rais Yatim said.
He said the verdict dispelled accusations that the government controls the judiciary.
"We are glad that we have come to finality and determination by the court despite the record-breaking delay. We can now look forward to Malaysia's promising days ahead and create another positive chapter," he added.
Deputy public prosecutor Noreen Badaruddin said her team would consult the attorney general. |
