Malaysia’s opposition insisted yesterday that their leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is under investigation on sodomy charges, will not give a DNA sample for fear it could be manipulated.
Anwar, a former deputy premier who has mounted a comeback after being sacked and jailed on sodomy and corruption charges in 1998, spent a night in police custody this week after being arrested on the new allegations.
He submitted to a medical examination but refused a request to give a DNA sample, drawing fire from the government, which said he should have nothing to hide.
Syed Husin Ali, deputy president of Anwar’s Keadilan party, said police could not force him to give a blood sample and ruled out the government’s suggestion of involving foreign medical experts.
“There is no problem with him giving his sample. The problem is what happens to the sample after it has been given. It is completely in the hands of the Malaysian police,” Syed Husin said. “The law does not allow the police to take a DNA sample, or anything private from a person, without his consent.”
Anwar was freed on Thursday on police bail and rushed home for medical treatment for an old back injury that he said had flared up during a night on a concrete floor in a bare cell at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.
Syed Husin there was “no guarantee” the sample would be used legitimately to investigate allegations by 23-year-old Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a former aide to Anwar who accused him of sexual assault at a luxury condo last month.
“The police are capable of doing all kinds of things with the sample, especially since they have the person who is accusing Anwar in their custody,” he said. “We have reached a stage where we can’t trust the police or the attorney-general’s office.”
Deputy police chief Ismail Omar said all legal avenues were being studied to see how they could obtain Anwar’s DNA.
Anwar has rejected the allegations as a conspiracy designed to stop him from ousting the government, which was badly weakened in March elections that handed the opposition one-third of parliamentary seats.
MONEY GRAB: People were rushing to collect bills scattered on the ground after the plane transporting money crashed, which an official said hindered rescue efforts A cargo plane carrying money on Friday crashed near Bolivia’s capital, damaging about a dozen vehicles on highway, scattering bills on the ground and leaving at least 15 people dead and others injured, an official said. Bolivian Minister of Defense Marcelo Salinas said the Hercules C-130 plane was transporting newly printed Bolivian currency when it “landed and veered off the runway” at an airport in El Alto, a city adjacent to La Paz, before ending up in a nearby field. Firefighters managed to put out the flames that engulfed the aircraft. Fire chief Pavel Tovar said at least 15 people died, but
LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER: By showing Ju-ae’s ability to handle a weapon, the photos ‘suggest she is indeed receiving training as a successor,’ an academic said North Korea on Saturday released a rare image of leader Kim Jong-un’s teenage daughter firing a rifle at a shooting range, adding to speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. Kim’s daughter, Ju-ae, has long been seen as the next in line to rule the secretive, nuclear-armed state, and took part in a string of recent high-profile outings, including last week’s military parade marking the closing stages of North Korea’s key party congress. Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released a photo of Ju-ae shooting a rifle at an outdoor shooting range, peering through a rifle scope
India and Canada yesterday reached a string of agreements, including on critical mineral cooperation and a “landmark” uranium supply deal for nuclear power, the countries’ leaders said in New Delhi. The pacts, which also covered technology and promoting the use of renewable energy, were announced after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed a fresh start in the relationship between their nations. “Our ties have seen a new energy, mutual trust and positivity,” Modi said. Carney’s visit is a key step forward in ties that effectively collapsed in 2023 after Ottawa accused New Delhi
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
RSS