The sodomy trial of sacked deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim will resume on Jan 25, said defence lawyer Christopher Fernando. Lawyers representing the case met with High Court Judge Arifin Jaka in his chambers for about one hour this morning to discuss the continuation of the trial.

The controversial trial was adjourned on Nov 10, the day Parliament was dissolved, after judge Arifin complained of back pains. The court's deputy registrar later fixed the hearing date on Nov 16 but it was adjourned "indefinitely" without any reason given.

Anwar, 52, and Sukma, 38, have been accused of having sodomised Azizan Abu Bakar, the family driver of the former deputy prime minister, in Sukma's apartment in Tivolli Villa, Bangsar. Sukma is also charged with abetting Anwar in sodomising Azizan.

Fernando reiterated that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad would be called to testify when the defence proceed with its case next month. He added that the defence would need another four to five weeks for all its witnesses to complete their testimonies.

Pawancheek Merican, one of Anwar's counsels, told malaysiakini on Monday that Attorney-General Mohtar Abdullah had expressed his intention to challenge the subpoena issued by the defence counsel for Mahathir to appear in court.

He added that if the subpoena was accepted, Mahathir would be called in to testify once Anwar and Sukma had both completed their testimonies.