The wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said she was not involved in framing sex charges against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, which he says is an attempt to kill his political career.
Anwar, a former deputy premier who is battling charges of sodomizing an aide, claimed on Thursday the sex charges were masterminded by Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor to destroy him and undermine a resurgent opposition.
Rosmah told state news agency Bernama over the weekend that she was not a “hidden hand” influencing her husband’s political career.
“It is not something that I am sensitive of, as it is not true,” she told Bernama. “I am the type who will voice out my dissatisfaction, but once said, it is done,” she said. “It does not mean … I am making the decisions.”
Najib has also previously denied involvement in Anwar’s sodomy case.
The sodomy trial, which Anwar says is a political conspiracy engineered by the prime minister and his wife, has been suspended until March 25 while his lawyers appeal the judge’s decision not to stand down amid allegations of bias.
“These are trumped-up charges involving two black hands — Najib and Rosmah,” the 62-year-old opposition leader told reporters on Thursday.
Anwar, who faces 20 years in prison if convicted of illicit sexual relations with former aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, was sacked in 1998 as deputy prime minister and convicted on similar sodomy and corruption charges.
He was released in 2004 after the sexual misconduct count was overturned, allowing him to make a comeback to politics as the leader of a reinvigorated opposition.
Anwar’s trial opened earlier this month after months of delays caused by defense applications to strike out the case and obtain access to evidence including medical reports and CCTV footage.
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