KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has lost a second lawsuit this week, after the Shah Alam Shariah Court dismissed his qazaf (false witness) suit against Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Shariah judge Mohamed Fouzi Mokhtar said in his decision that his court was the wrong venue to determine the matter as sodomy did not come under the purview of laws relating to zina (illicit sexual relations).

Fouzi acknowledged that there were some religious scholars who considered sodomy to be zina, but said this was not the case with local Islamic laws.

"As the jurisdiction of the court is limited, it is up to the state legislature or the federal legislature to extend it,” he was quoted as saying by the Malaysiakini news portal.

Anwar's family had filed the qazaf suit against Shafee in June last year, following remarks the latter made in the wake of his successful prosecution of the PKR de facto leader.

On Monday, Anwar also had his defamation suit against Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman dismissed and ordered to pay costs of RM100,000.

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