'Qazaf' suit postponed to March 10

The Federal Territory (FT) Syariah High Court has fixed March 10 for further submissions, after lawyers representing Anwar Ibrahim asked for more time to file an affidavit-in-reply to three respondents.

Syariah High Court judge Mohd Shukor Sabudin made the decision after hearing submissions from both sides this morning.

Anwar had filed a qazaf application on July 9, 2008 with the Federal Territories Islamic Affairs Department against Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan for making "false allegations" against him in relation to alleged sodomy.

Anwar, 62, is facing a criminal trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court for allegedly sodomising Saiful, 24, at a condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26, 2008.

Last month, Anwar filed an affidavit at the FT Syariah High Court to seek an order to compel FT Syariah public prosecutor Shamsuddin Hussain to charge Saiful with qazaf (false accusation).

He also named FT religious department head Che Mat Che Ali and Minister in charge of religious affairs Jamil Khir Baharom, as respondents.

In his suit, Anwar urged the court to instruct Che Mat and Jamil not "to stop or influence" the chief public prosecutor from carrying out his duties in prosecuting Saiful.

He also argued that the qazaf application and the sodomy trial are two different matters.

Last October, Jamil had told Parliament that the prosecution is waiting for the civil court to complete hearing thesodomy trial against Anwar.

news courtesy of Malaysiakini