Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should not be worried about giving his DNA sample if he wanted to uphold the truth.

“The simple thing is to give the DNA and let the expert read the sample because DNA don’t lie, why should you be worried? Let them investigate,” he told a news conference at his office at the parliament building here today.

Syed Hamid was commenting on Anwar’s refusal to voluntarily let the Kuala Lumpur Hospital take his DNA sample.

He said he had also told some of Anwar’s friends, who believed that the former deputy prime minister was innocent, to get to the truth of the matter and let the police conduct their investigation.

“...there are various ways of obtaining that truth and that (giving DNA sample) is one of the ways of doing so. You can get your own doctor to be present with you,” he said.



Syed Hamid said under the law however, a person cannot be forced to give his or her DNA sample.

“If you want to take any intimate sample from a person, you require the person’s consent; we don’t have his (Anwar) consent so we don’t proceed with it,” he added.

Anwar was brought to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital last night but turned down a police request for him to voluntarily allow a DNA sample to be taken in connection with an investigation into a report that he had sodomised a former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Syed Hamid also said that his ministry was fine-tuning the DNA Act, which among others would make it compulsory for a person to give DNA samples.

The Act was expected to be tabled in parliament in the next sitting, he said.

When asked whether foreign experts were needed to help in the sodomy investigation, Syed Hamid said it was up to the police but the experts must not interfere with the conduct of investigation.

He also said he had not given any directive to the police on how to handle the investigation, saying, “My only instruction is that they must act professionally.” “I don’t think anyone should be instructing the police on what needed to be done as they must act in accordance with the law that governs them,” he said.

Syed Hamid added that Anwar had given his cooperation and the police were satisfied with his statement.

“The police have now taken statements from the complainant as well as several witnesses. They are now investigating the matter and Anwar has been released on police bail,” he said.


Meanwhile, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang supported Anwar’s refusal to voluntarily give his DNA sample.

In a statement read out by PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa, he said PAS rejected accusations that were based on speculation.

“DNA samples can be manipulated anytime to deny justice to a person,” he said, adding that all must uphold the basic principle of law that a person is innocent until proven guilty.

Abdul Hadi also welcomed Anwar’s release today but said that he viewed seriously the manner the police conducted the arrest yesterday.
“It was conducted in haste and in a rough manner,” he said.

Meanwhile in Nibong Tebal, Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said DNA tests were a normal procedure in sodomy or rape investigations.

“We should abide by whatever that is needed by the police to help in their investigation,” he told reporters after accompanying Penang Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas in his visit to Sungai Bakap Hospital today.