'Which sane man would knowingly enter a trap?'

"Which man in his sane and right mind would deliberately
walk into a trap if he has prior knowledge of it?" said Anwar Ibrahim's lawyer today.

"It is a totally illogical and completely nonsensical notion. At this point, it is material to note that at that time, (Anwar) was riding high on the back of an unprecedented electoral gain," said Sankara Nair (left).

Sankara was responding to a WikiLeaks claim that events leading to Anwar's sodomy allegation were set-up by the opposition leader's enemies.

Singapore Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has been quoted in the expose saying that Anwar probably knew, "but walked into it anyway".

In his statement, Sankara said that "Anwar was already aware of something sinister (being hatched), when he alluded to it in a Malaysiakini interview he gave on July 3, 2008".

During that interview, Anwar had said: "Weeks before that, I was alerted that the IGP (inspector-general of police Musa Hassan) was concocting something, and that was five days or six days before someone came to convey to me that this was serious."

"Well, this was conveyed to me and I thought how they would allow the issues of 1998 to resurface," he had added.

Anwar meanwhile has refuted the allegations, posting on his Twitter today: "Who is the source? Malaysian police special branch. There's no proof."

Sankara singled out the New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia for practising ‘irresponsible journalism’ in selectively highlighting the reports.

Sankara said the local media has chosen to rely on hearsay to publish matters that are unsubstantiated.

"It is based on hearsay and conjecture. Up to this moment, our checks with our counterparts and various sources have indicated that no such references were made by WikiLeaks based on the specific allegations as reportedly published in the Sydney Morning Herald," he said.

"This has further enhanced our view that the press, in particular the New Straits Times, on page 4, and Utusan Malaysia (in its) front-page report have deliberately skewed the reporting on Anwar and focused on him alone, and conveniently left out all the serious allegations against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and others."

Clearly, said Sankara, the two newspapers have “explicit sinister motives and have practised irresponsible journalism”.

Sankara also described the reporting of the claim as “clearly subjudice” and that it may constitute contempt of court, as the trial is still in progress.

He said the publication of statements that relate to alleged guilt is strictly prohibited.

"It impinges on the integrity of the trial and the judge is duty-bound to protect the sanctity of the trial especially from non-participants in the criminal justice system, in this case, the media.

"We as lawyers would not take issue with political exposures, but in this instance the media reports have hit at the heart of the trial and hence we are most concerned. Judges are human,” he said.