KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has struck out a suit by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to set aside his conviction and sentence for a sodomy charge.
Judge Datuk Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad allowed an application by the government, which was named as defendant, to dismiss the suit.
She came to the decision after determining that there was no reasonable cause for the suit, that it was trivial and that it was an abuse of the court process.
In her judgment, Nik Hasmat said Anwar’s claim that there was fraud and perjury during the trial was inaccurate.
She said Anwar had to prove that fraud and perjury existed as he had made the claim in the suit he filed.
“ The issue of fraud has to be specific. I do not see the plaintiff specifying which prosecution witness committed the perjury. This should have been specified. You cannot pluck the word 'fraud' from the air and throw it to the court,” she said.
Nik Hasmat noted that the lawsuit was filed three years after judgment was passed, calling it a “veiled attempt” to derail the processes of the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
“It is clear that the defendant (the government) has proven this from the standpoint of the law. I am allowing the application (of the defendant) to strike out this suit,” she said.
The court then ordered Anwar to pay costs of RM5,000 to the government.
Anwar’s counsel, N. Surendran, told the court his client would file an appeal.
Senior Federal Counsel Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud appeared for the government.
Anwar had filed the lawsuit on April 17, 2017, to set aside a Court of Appeal decision on March 7, 2014, which ordered him to be jailed five years on a sodomy charge, a decision that was upheld by the Federal Court on Feb 10, 2015.