THE Kuala Lumpur Court of Appeal (COA) has allowed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s application to temporarily pause a sexual assault suit brought against him by former aide, Yusoff Rawther, who accused him of sexual assault in 2018.
Following this, the trial, which was to begin on June 16, and all proceedings in relation to it, have been put on hold until the disposal of the full stay.
The hearing for the application has been set for July 21.
According to reports, Justice Supang Lian, who chaired the panel, said the decision was unanimous.
Other judges on the bench were Justices Faizah Jamaludin and Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin.
"We are of the considered view that under Section 44 of the Courts of Judicature Act, we are empowered to make an ad interim order to preserve the integrity of the appellant's (Anwar) stay application pending the disposal of the appeal.
"Accordingly, we hereby make an ad interim order to stay all proceedings, including full trial at the High Court pending the disposal of the appellant's stay application," she said in her decision today.
Anwar's application to stay trial proceedings came after Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Roz Mawar Rozain rejected his bid to refer eight constitutional questions to the Federal Court on the immunity of a prime minister from a civil suit.
Roz Mawar had also dismissed Anwar's lawyer, Datuk Seri Rajasegaran Krishnan's oral application to stay trial proceedings.
Sept 2 was set for case management for the appeal against Roz Mawar's decision that rejected Anwar's referral application to the Federal Court.
Earlier, the panel heard from Anwar's counsel, Alan Wong, that if the full trial proceeds, the effects would be "irreversible".
“It is not an ordinary suit but one laced with political motive,” he said.
He said if the trial went on, Anwar, as the sitting prime minister, would be required to divert attention and resources to the proceedings, which would disrupt the business of the government for seven days.
Wong argued that there would be no prejudice and irreversible harm to Yusoff if the trial were deferred, as his claims for monetary damages could still be compensated.
Yusoff's lawyer, Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali argued that the trial dates were fixed a year ago and that Anwar knew very well he was due in court from then.
"The prime minister had more than enough time to prepare for this trial, knowing very well that everyone has to submit to the court system,” he added. – June 10, 2025
