KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 12 — DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today dismantled the defence launched by the Prime Minister’s Office against accusations that it pre-empted Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy conviction with a statement issued before the Federal Court concluded its proceedings.

According to DAP MP Lim Kit Siang, the statement prepared in advance did not correspond with the case brought by the prosecution against Anwar for consensual anal sex, and instead accused the opposition leader of “serious sexual assault”.

“Why is the PMO upping the attack against Anwar by claiming that Anwar was guilty of brutal rape against Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan when Anwar was charged under a section of the law that deals with consensual sodomy?” Lim asked in a statement.

“Is the PMO statement pre-empting criticisms against Anwar’s conviction for sodomy because of the many ‘glaring anomalies, which feed suspicions that Anwar’s case was one of political persecution rather than criminal prosecution?”

The Federal Court that upheld Anwar’s conviction under Section 377A on Tuesday had said that consent was not an ingredient of the offence. Mohd Saiful alleged that he was forced into the act by Anwar in 2008.

Today, Lim noted that among the “glaring anomalies” of the case was the fact that Mohd Saiful was not prosecuted similarly for consensual sodomy despite Anwar’s charge.

“Is it true that the PMO statement is the product of Najib’s ‘PR guru’, former APCO Malaysia boss Paul Stadlen, who is paid several millions of ringgit a year by the government to mastermind the Prime Minister’s communications operations?” Lim added, referring to an article carried yesterday by online portal Sarawak Report.

The DAP Parliamentary Leader also demanded to know the person responsible for the PMO statement, whether it was the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail or the Public Prosecutor-under-fiat Datuk Shafee Abdullah.

Shortly after Anwar was delivered the guilty verdict on Tuesday, a statement from PMO was released, hailing the “independence” of the judiciary and pointing out that there have been many rulings against senior government figures.

Critics later questioned the PMO’s quick release of its response to the conviction, claiming that it suggests the possibility of collusion between the government and the judiciary.

Anwar himself, who was still in the dock when the statement was issued, touched on the matter when he interjected to address the panel of judges at the apex court.

Yesterday, the PMO explained that it had prepared press statements for both guilty and not guilty verdicts, insisting that this was normal procedure in any case involving public interest.

The Federal Court had on Tuesday upheld the Court of Appeal’s conviction of Anwar for sodomising his former political aide Saiful, also keeping a five-year jail sentence.