Absolutely shocking" and "highly unusual" were the response from PKR over the appointment of UMNO lawyer Shafee Abdullah as chief prosecutor in today's appeal against the acquittal of the party's de-facto leader Anwar Ibrahim of the sodomy charge involving Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
"The appointment is absolutely shocking, highly unusual and against ethical and legal principles governing the appointment and role of prosecuting counsel," said PKR vice president N Surendran, adding that Shafee's appointment violated Anwar's right to a fair trial.
"More seriously, last year it was revealed that Shafee had written a letter to court stating that he was on a special assignment overseas on behalf of PM Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor," Surendran added.
As such, he questioned how attorney general Abdul Gani Patail's choice of Shafee.
"Ethical rules state that the prosecuting counsel must ' regard themselves as ministers of justice, and not to struggle for a conviction' and conduct the case 'moderately'," stressed Surendran.
He called on Najib to explain why his personal lawyer had been appointed to prosecute against Anwar.
"We also call upon Najib, the government and A-G Gani Patail to withdraw and discontinue the politically motivated Sodomy 2 appeal. UMNO-BN must stop using the criminal justice system to silence and undermine Malaysia's political opposition," said Surendran.
Shafee is UMNO's counsel in several civil cases which also involved Anwar. He replaces former solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden who led the prosecution team in the trial stage.
- Harakahdaily
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