Jed Yoong, Asia Sentinel
28 July 2008
A medical report (see posting below on this blog) surfaces saying the male aide who filed charges against the opposition leader wasn’t molested.
The doctor who examined a 23-year-old male aide allegedly sodomized by Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim found no evidence of tearing or scarring that would indicate penetration, according to a medical report leaked to local journalists.
If the document is genuine, it can be expected to raise further suspicions of complicity on the part of top government leaders in attempting to destroy Anwar politically. The charges against Anwar, filed by the youth on June 28, could end the opposition politician’s political career and put him back behind bars, where he had spent six years from 1999 on similar charges, which human rights organizations across the world condemned as trumped up. Sodomy is a crime punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment and caning
Anwar was arrested two weeks after the youth filed the complaint and was jailed overnight on July 15 after police, some wearing balaclava masks, descended on his home, a move that sent Anwar’s supporters into the streets around the police station where he was being held. He refused at that time to give a DNA specimen, charging that it could be misused.
According the medical report, which allegedly was filed at Hospital Pusrawi Sdn Bhd on Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur, the aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, was examined by Dr Mohamed Osman on June 28 at 2 pm. After he had gone to the hospital to complain about pain he said he was suffering in his anus, he allegedly told hospital personnel that he had been assaulted by a “very important person.”
After Dr Mohamad refused to write a report that Saiful had been sodomized, according to Malaysia Today, the doctor suggested that the youth obtain another diagnosis at a government hospital. Doctors at that hospital also refused to confirm a diagnosis of sodomy, according to the publication, although it did not name the doctors.
Nonetheless, Malaysia Today reported, Saiful filed the report of assault at a nearby police kiosk four hours later.
After Mohamad Osman made the report indicating no sexual assault had taken place, police picked up the doctor and detained him for three days to attempt to persuade him to change his diagnosis, according to Malaysia Today. The doctor, the publication said, has since gone into hiding with his family.
In a telephone interview with Asia Sentinel, Deputy Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar confirmed that Dr Mohamad had been questioned, but said he had never been detained.
Attempts to reach hospital officials were unsuccessful. They were said to be in a meeting. However, although the medical report could not be independently verified, a senior Pusrawi Hospital official told the Internet publication Malaysiakini this morning that the hospital had launched an internal investigation on how Saiful’s medical report was leaked, which is widely considered as a major infringement of patient privacy.
When Malaysiakini showed the official a copy of the report, he refused to return it but he didn’t describe it as fake, saying, “It’s our document.” [more]
Please click here to read the whole article from Asia Sentinel.
Free Anwar Ibrahim 