PUTRAJAYA, Feb 10 — Despite declaring himself “satisfied” by the five-year jail sentence handed down to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, lead prosecutor Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the decision brings little relief as Sodomy II has destroyed the life of Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Speaking to reporters after the Federal Court’s decision here, Muhammad Shafee pointed out that the case had dragged on for seven years and involved nine judges and scores of lawyers.
Thousands of hours were spent by those involved as they exhaustively pored over every detail and evidence in the case from start to finish, he said.
“I know that justice has finally been done, so I am professionally satisfied.
“But it gives me no pleasure — a young man’s life has been wrecked, changed forever,” he said.
“Worse still, without anonymity, the victim was put through seven days of courtroom cross-examination and all that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s team could throw at him.
“So even the process of justice added to his (Saiful’s) suffering,” the lawyer added.
Anwar, who is Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) de facto leader, was earlier today sentenced to five years’ jail after the Federal Court upheld an earlier Court of Appeal ruling that reversed his acquittal of sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
The verdict effectively ends Anwar’s legal options to challenge the conviction. He now stands to lose his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat as the law bars anyone fined over RM2,000 or imprisoned more than one year from serving as a lawmaker.
The decision also leaves the PR opposition pact without a leader.
On his blog after the conviction, Saiful said he felt vindicated by the decision, as the Federal Court had found him to be a “credible witness”.
The former aide to Anwar also expressed his gratitude to those who continued to back him over the nearly seven years since he first claimed he was sodomised by Anwar in 2008.
“Thanks to prayers, perseverance and patience for the past seven years, the Federal Court today unanimously decided that my allegations are true, and that I am a ‘credible’ witness,” he wrote.
