Umno should be held responsible for lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's increasing attacks on Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim on his sodomy conviction, one of Anwar's lawyers said today.

N Surendran (right) told Malaysiakini that it was now "beyond doubt" that Shafee  speaks on behalf of Umno, more so as he was introduced by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin at a forum last night, at which Shafee revealed explicit details of Anwar's alleged sodomy tryst to the attendees.

"We hold Umno and its chief Najib Abdul Razak responsible for these attacks against Anwar," Surendran said, describing the attacks as "cowardly". Since Anwar is in jail and unable to defend himself.

"They (Umno) will pay dearly for this," Surendran added.

Shafee of 'no significance'

Surendran said that Shafee is now 'ranting' against Anwar adding that the whole country is disgusted by the manner in which the attacks against Anwar were carried out.

Shafee was lead prosecutor in the Sodomy II trial just over a week ago which saw Anwar being convicted of sodomy and sentenced to five years in jail. Ever since then, Shafee had made various public statements attacking Anwar's character.

"For us, Shafee is a man of no significance who is speaking on behalf of Umno," Surendran said.

Yesterday, Shafee appeared as a defence counsel for Foreign Minister Anifah Aman in Anwar's defamation suit against Anifah.

He is also among Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's lawyers.

Judiciary to be 'downgraded'

Meanwhile, PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said Khairy's proposed roadshow in relation to the sodomy conviction was a 'desperate move' by Umno to obtain the people's trust.

In a statement, Nik Nazmi also noted that Shafee’s readiness to be involved in the programme will see a 'downgrade' ofthe judiciary as well as of the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

He said it would seem that Umno needed to resort to a roadshow as the sodomy judgment was so weak that it had to be defended in such a way.

Slamming Shafee for being 'unprofessional', Nik Nazmi (left) pointed out that a prosecutor from the Attorney-General's Chambers had never before made various statements against the convicted nor going on a roadshow to explain a judgement.

“His readiness to join Umno Youth in the roadshow is a childish move on his part in facing criticisms relating to his involvement in the case.

“I would like to once again challenge Shafee to debate openly and not hide behind shallow religious arguments or his political master," he said.