ANWAR HAS NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO CHOOSE THE PROSECUTORS

KUALA LUMPUR: PKR (Opposition Party) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has no constitutional right to choose the prosecutors for his trial, the High Court heard.
Senior Federal Counsel See Mee Chun submitted that Article 5(3) of the Federal Constitution only grants an accused person the right to be defended by a defence counsel of his choice.

• SFC See submitted that Article 145(3) of the Federal Constitution gave the Attorney-General (A-G) the discretion to decide on any aspect of a criminal prosecution.
• She said if the AG has decided that the criminal (sodomy) trial against Anwar shall be conducted by seven deputy public prosecutors, such a decision was not reviewable by the court.
• “This application to disqualify the respondents from prosecuting the criminal charge against Anwar in the criminal court is an outright attack on the powers of the A-G,” she argued in the leave application by Anwar to disqualify the entire prosecution team in his sodomy trial.
• Anwar had filed the leave application for judicial review on Aug 11.
• In the application, he named Solicitor-General I Datuk Idrus Harun; Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, DPP Datuk Nordin Hassan, DPP Mohamad Hanafiah zakaria, DPP Wong Chiang Kiat, DPP Shamsul Sulaiman, DPP Noorin Badaruddin, the Public Prosecutor and the Government as respondents.
• Among others, the Permatang Pauh Law Maker (MP) is seeking for a declaration that the current prosecution team was not qualified to represent the Public Prosecutor and/ or conduct any proceedings or appeal against him.
• Anwar, 62, pleaded not guilty on March 10 to sodomising his former personal aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 24, at a condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26 last year.
• SFC See said Anwar was only attempting to derail and/ or sabotage the criminal prosecution against him.
• “The applicant is using this court, a civil court exercising its administrative law function, to undermine the criminal trial now pending in the High Court,” she said.
• SFC See said Anwar’s application alleging bias, prosecutorial misconduct and conflict of interest had been dealt with in the previous cases by the higher courts and Royal Commissions of Inquiry.
• She said Anwar also had not accounted for the delay in filing the application.
• Anwar’s lawyer R. Sivarasa however contended there was a prima facie case to be inquired into merits in a full inter-partes (both sides) hearing.
• Sivarasa submitted the application was not meant to stop the trial, and that the A-G could appoint other prosecutors to replace the current team to conduct the case.
• High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin fixed Sept 15 to deliver her decision on leave application for a judicial review over the disqualification matter.

Courtesy: mStar