Not puzzling former IGP Musa Hassan not called

That Anwar Ibrahim's defence made the decision to not call former Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan and former Malacca police chief Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof to the stand when the Sodomy II trial resumes again tomorrow, is surprising but not puzzling.

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair (left) said the opposition leader had commented he was extremely upset over the ruling by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah that did not allow the premier and his wife to testify.

"DSAI (Anwar) was upset because he was fully aware that the prime minister and his wife's evidence are closely interconnected with that of Musa and Rodwan. That decision therefore had a clear bearing on (the decision not to call) Musa and Rodwan," he told Malaysiakini.

"The appeal over the decision on Najib and Rosmah will take months and we have been accused of delaying the trial. If we ask to wait, then we will surely be accused of delaying it. If we don't, we will be accused of being inconsistent, " he said.

To a question that some saw the move to call Najib and Rosmah as puzzling, without calling the premier's former aide Khairil Annas Jusoh and former national athlete Mumtaz Begum Jaafar, a close friend of Rosmah ,to lay a foundation to justify their calling, Sankara said unlike the premier and his wife, the two had talked to the lawyers in the interview.

"Annas and Mumtaz came forward and talked to us as compared to these four (Najib, Rosmah, Musa and Rodwan) It is only possible to decide on a witness if they speak to us and not remain silent.

"There is nothing to be puzzled as the four came muzzled," he emphasised.

Najib, Rosmah, Musa and Rodwan (right) did not respond to questions when they were called in for an interview with Anwar's lawyers in the presence of the Permatang Pauh MP.

On Oct 6, Justice Zabidin had struck out the subpoena issued on Najib and Rosmah, in ruling they are ["not relevant and material witnesses"] in the sodomy trial.

This comes after Najib and Rosmah had applied to set aside the subpoena and appointed four lawyers to represent them.

The couple had denied they were involved in a conspiracy to frame Anwar on the sodomy charge although Najib had met the complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan two days before the alleged incident.

Uncalled for comment

Sankara also responded to Yusof's comments on the about-turn by the defence in deciding not to call Musa and Rodwan, and described such comments as totally uncalled for.

"We beg to differ as it is the prosecution which has been grossly inconsistent on many occasions. The prosecution had indicated that it will remain neutral regarding the application by the PM and his wife and did not file an affidavit in reply.

"However, in a volte face, on the day of the submissions, they supported the application by the PM. This is just one example of their inconsistencies," he exclaimed.

The lawyer said Yusof himself was fully aware of the interconnection of Najib, Rosmah, Musa and Rodwan's evidence.

Rodwan was Najib's aide de camp when he was the deputy prime minister. Saiful (left) had testified that he met Rodwan at the Concorde Hotel, a day after he met Najib at his Taman Duta home. Saiful  also testified he had called Musa the same day.

Sankara explained further the defence did not want to be accused of delaying the trial.

Yusof had commented recently that the defence has been inconsistent on whether to call Musa and Rodwan as they initially wanted them, but then decided against it.

Tomorrow's trial will first see the submission by the prosecution to produce three or four rebuttal witnesses to reply to Anwar's expert witnesses.

Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Thomas Hoogland had testified that it was unlikely for Anwar to be engaged in the alleged sex act due to back surgery performed on the politician in 2004 and owing to his age.