KUALA LUMPUR - A veteran lawyer has chided the police over what he says is an unprofessional and unbecoming manner in which Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was summoned and questioned for alleged sodomy without proper due notice.
Datuk Sankara Nair said such notice is necessary to ensure the person being investigated is able to be in the right frame of mind to provide his statement.
By not informing in advance, he said, the move is in breach of section 111(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
The section states that the police making an investigation may in writing require the attendance of any person “who from the information given or otherwise appears to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case”.
“The words ‘appears to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case’ mean that if there is more than one case being investigated, the police must distinctly detail the cases and sections of the (legal) act.
“After all, the whole purpose of this section is, among other things, to give due notice to the person investigated, based on the principle of natural justice.
“So I’m rather astonished that the police would resort to such an act in not notifying the witness in advance as to the alleged offences that he is about to be questioned,” Sankara told The Vibes.
Anwar had yesterday revealed that he is being probed for sodomy, among six different investigations, after he was called in to give his statement at Bukit Aman.
The Vibes was later able to confirm that an investigation paper on sodomy has been initiated by the police against the PKR president under section 377(b) of the Penal Code for carnal intercourse against the order of nature.
He is also being probed under section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 for his statement claiming that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s government has collapsed after the prime minister lost majority support of Parliament.
This is despite the police saying in a statement on Thursday that Anwar would only be questioned under section 505(b) of the Penal Code (for circulating statement with the intent to cause fear or alarm) and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (for improper use of network facilities or network service).
This is after 113 police reports were lodged over a viral list of 121 MPs purportedly supporting the Port Dickson lawmaker as prime minister
Sankara, who had represented Anwar as counsel in his previous two sodomy cases, accused the police of being “stealthy”.
“They asked him to come for one thing, but later also investigated him for another. It only makes the police look bad.
“Later, if at all there is a criminal trial in the future (against Anwar), his counsel can use this to discredit the police, and question them on their professionalism,” he said.
Anwar was questioned for two hours in Bukit Aman yesterday in the wake of his audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Oct 13 over the purported majority support he enjoys from among MPs to take over the government. - The Vibes, October 17, 2020
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