PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court heard that opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sexually harassed his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in the four months leading up to the sodomy.
Lead prosecutor Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the Federal Court today that Anwar had asked Saiful on July 26, 2008, "Can I **** you today?
Shafee, submitting for the first time today, said the way Anwar conveyed the request to Saiful indicated that this may have happened before between them.
"The appellant (Anwar) is dominant in character and he exercised the dominance on a young boy (then-23-year-old Saiful)," Shafee said.
Shafee said Saiful seemed subservient to Anwar during his tenure as an aide, adding that the victim exhibited signs of Stockholm Syndrome.
Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological condition where a captive person emphasises and sympathise with his captor after a period of time.
Shafee said Saiful's testimony is a strong one because the High Court, in finding at the end of the prosecution's case that there was a prima facie case against Anwar, had described Saiful as a truthful witness.
"PW1(Saiful) was not shaken in giving his testimony," Shafee said.
"This young man could not have fabricated evidence while testifying in court. There is a ring of truth in his testimony," he said.
Shafee said this is proven by Saiful's testimony that he was advised by Anwar on religion, prayers and sins right after Anwar had sodomised him.
"You cannot make this up. It is crazy to make up stories that run contrary to religion," Shafee said.
Shafee said Saiful was quite detailed in his oral evidence, remembering details like asking for "karipap daging"(beef curry puff) on the day of the incident.
Shafee said Saiful had also testified that he was given by Anwar among others, Anwar's own expensive Brioni suit and paid expenses for overseas trips that involved among others USD1,000 (RM3,290) and HKD10,000 (RM4,246.70).
"This is indicative of the relationship the appellant (Anwar) was building with PW1(Saiful)," Shafee told Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria who chaired the five-man panel.
"He (Saiful) communicated with MPs (Members of Parliament), handled confidential bank accounts, and handled his (Anwar's) handphone," Shafee said.
Shafee said despite the things given to Saiful by Anwar, he said the victim testified that he felt uncomfortable with what had transpired and resigned a short while following the sodomy incident.
The bench also heard that investigating officer then Assistant Superintendent Jude Blacious Pereira's was straightforward about his handling of the samples and would not gain anything from sample-tampering.
"He made the cut (to the plastic transparent bag containing the DNA samples) and left it dangling. There is no agenda," Shafee said.
Shafee also attacked Anwar's contention that Jude had planted DNA traces collected from his police lock-up because those samples were only taken and sent to chemists on July 17, 2008, while Saiful's rectal samples were only sent to the chemists on June 30 the same year.
Shafee is expected to continue submitting this Monday before the same bench, comprised Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, Tan Sri Abdull Hamid Embong, Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar and Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop.
The bench had also fixed for proceedings to continue to Tuesday next week to give an opportunity to Anwar's legal team to submit reply to the prosecution's submission.
Anwar was convicted and sentenced to five years jail on March 7 by the Court of Appeal for sodomising Saiful, 29, at a condominium at Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.
The 67-year-old Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader was previously acquitted by the High Court on Jan 9, 2012.