|
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s opposition insisted Friday
that their leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is under investigation on
sodomy charges, would not give a DNA sample for fear it could be
manipulated.
Anwar, a former deputy premier
who has mounted a comeback after being sacked and jailed on sodomy
and corruption charges in 1998, spent a night in police custody this
week after being arrested on the new allegations.
He submitted to a medical
examination but refused a request to give a DNA sample, drawing fire
from the government, which said he should have nothing to hide.
Syed Husin Ali, deputy president
of Anwar’s Keadilan party, said police could not force him to give
a blood sample and ruled out the government’s suggestion of
involving foreign medical experts.
“There is no problem with him
giving his sample. The problem is what happens to the sample after
it has been given. It is completely in the hands of the Malaysian
police,” Syed Husin told Agence France-Presse.
“The law does not allow the
police to take a DNA sample, or anything private from a person,
without his consent.”
Anwar was freed Thursday on
police bail and rushed home for medical treatment for an old back
injury that he said had flared up during a night on a concrete floor
in a bare cell at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.
Syed Husin said there was “no
guarantee” the sample would be used legitimately to investigate
allegations by 23-year-old Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a former
aide to Anwar who accused him of sexual assault at a luxury condo
last month.
“The police are capable of
doing all kinds of things with the sample, especially since they
have the person who is accusing Anwar in their custody,” he said.
“We have reached a stage where
we can’t trust the police or the attorney-general’s office.”
Deputy police chief Ismail Omar
said all legal avenues were being studied to see how they could
obtain Anwar’s DNA.
Anwar has rejected the
allegations as a conspiracy designed to stop him from ousting the
government, which was badly weakened in March elections that handed
the opposition one-third of parliamentary seats.
--AFP
|
