I AM not denying that in 1997 I had, as an opposition member of parliament, urged the government, both inside and outside Parliament, to investigate Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was then deputy prime minister and minister of finance, for allegations of sodomy after the complainant, Azizan Abu Bakar, had met me together with others, complaining that he had been sodomised by Anwar.
That call for an investigation was made in the public interest and in view of what Azizan revealed to me.
Following this call, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the then prime minister, immediately came out publicly in support of Anwar saying, on Aug 23, 1997, that Azizan's allegations were ridiculous and that the case had been closed after police investigations.
In fact, Dr Mahathir alluded to the allegations against Anwar as being slanderous and with a political motive and that there was an attempt to sabotage Anwar's image through the allegations.
This was included in a press report prepared by reporter E. Sivabalan with Bernama at the material time. The report dated Aug 24, 1997 entitled "Mahathir -- No truth in letter alleging Anwar's involvement in sex scandal".
The then inspector-general of police Tan Sri Rahim Noor, in a press statement dated Sept 3, 1997 in the New Straits Times was quoted to have said that police investigations into two letters alleging sexual scandal involving Anwar found the charges to be untrue.
In a press statement, Dr Mahathir in the Mingguan Malaysia dated Aug 31, 1997 expressed his opinion that "penyebar khabar angin, termasuk mengenai perletakan jawatan Menteri Kewangan 'sebenarnya patut ditembak'."
A press statement by Dr Mahathir entitled "Fitnah Anwar bermotif politik -- PM" appeared in Utusan Malaysia dated Aug 25, 1997. In this statement, Dr Mahathir said that the allegations against Anwar were slanderous with a political motive (merupakan fitnah yang bermotifkan politik).
Subsequently, to top it all, the then attorney-general Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah publicly stated that the allegations were baseless and that no action was intended to be taken in the matter.
It can be clearly seen from the statements of Dr Mahathir, Rahim and Mohtar that Anwar had been exculpated by these personalities of no mean rank of the allegations made against him.
However, after Anwar's dismissal as deputy prime minister and minister of finance on Sept 2, 1998, he was arrested and charged for the offence of sodomy against Azizan, the very charge which had been publicly said to have been baseless!
Anwar was charged jointly with Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja for an offence of sodomy against Azizan. I was, in fact, subpoenaed as a prosecution witness in that trial in which I initially defended Sukma.
It was in the course of the trial that I was invited by Anwar to join his defence team, which I did.
Sukma was, thereafter, represented by Jagdeep Singh Deo and Gobind Singh Deo.
It is a matter of record that there was no objection by Mohtar, who led the prosecution team, to my joining Anwar's defence team.
In fact, Mohtar indicated to me that he would not be calling me as a witness in the trial.
Anwar was freed by the Federal Court of the charge against him involving Azizan on Sept 2, 2004 after his sentence of six years imprisonment and two strokes of the rotan by the High Court, Kuala Lumpur, and confirmed by the Court of Appeal, was set aside.
So, what it comes to is this -- Anwar had not only been cleared of the charge by Dr Mahathir, Rahim and Mohtar but also by the highest court in the land -- the Federal Court.
I cannot see how in my professional capacity I have contravened any rule of etiquette. The question of conflict of interest in having defended Anwar in the trial does not, and cannot, arise having regard to the sequence of events I have set out above. Those who malign me, under the circumstances, are guilty of a grave wrong.
I challenge anyone who still has doubts about my honour, integrity, credibility and morality, including Shamsul Akmar, the author of The Taming of the Tiger of Jelutong to report me to the Legal Profession Disciplinary Board instead of making unfounded and baseless allegations.
I wish to remind Shamsul that far from being toothless, I still have more than bite. There is a lot of lion still left in the Tiger of Jelutong. It is not that easy to tame the Tiger of Jelutong. So, beware!
The Tiger of Jelutong will be on the prowl, for a long time to come, protecting the public from marauders and plunderers of national interest.
KARPAL SINGH, Kuala Lumpur
Read more: 'Report me if you doubt my honour' http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/24jelu/Article#ixzz1CPA4t5QD
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