KUALA LUMPUR - SAIFUL Bukhari Azlan, the key witness in the second Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trial, startled the High Court here when he said the opposition leader used a four-letter slang word to ask him to have sex with him in 2008.
The former personal aide of Anwar told a hushed courtroom that he had gone to meet the PKR leader at a unit of the Desa Damansara Condominium at 2.45pm on June 26, 2008, when the latter asked him in English: 'Can I f*** you today?'
Those present in the packed courtroom were stunned with the profanity used although there was some sniggering.
Mr Saiful, 25, who said he was 'angry and scared' when he heard Anwar's question, added: 'I rejected his request. I told him that I did not want to do it.' Anwar then asked him in an angry tone: 'What?'
'I repeated my words. I was not willing to do it. He was angry. At that time, I was afraid,' he said on the first day of the high-profile trial. After he said no to Anwar, he was told to go into the master bedroom.
'I went to the room first. Shortly later, Anwar entered and closed the curtains,' said Mr Saiful, who was questioned by Solicitor-General (II) Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, He said he stood still while Anwar went about switching off the lights. However, there was still light from the bathroom and from outside filtering in between the curtains.
Anwar, Mr Saiful said, asked him to 'clean up' in the bathroom. 'I removed my clothes and washed up. I took a towel from the washroom and donned it,' he said. When he returned to the room, Anwar was standing at the edge of the bed, clad in a towel.
'He directed me to go to him and then hugged me while we were standing,' he said. At this point, lead counsel Karpal Singh asked the court to allow the proceedings to be held in camera (closed proceedings).
High Court judge Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, who then adjourned the trial, ordered the proceedings at 9.30am on Thursday to be held in camera. -- THE STAR/ANN
