Malaysian Govt Self-Shaming Continues...

KUALA LUMPUR : A doctor who examined the young man accusing Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy testified Thursday there was evidence of sexual penetration even though he found no injuries.

Anwar, a former deputy premier who was sacked and jailed on separate sex and corruption counts a decade ago, has insisted the charges have been concocted in a conspiracy to end his political career.

On Thursday prosecutors at his trial took aim at the defence's argument that medical reports showed no evidence of anal sex -- an illegal act in conservative Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Mohamad Razali Ibrahim, a doctor at Kuala Lumpur Hospital who examined 25-year-old Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan after he complained he had been sodomised in 2008, said semen was detected on swabs he took from his body.

"With all the reports before me now, I would say there is evidence of penetration even without clinical injuries. With the presence of semen I would say there is anal penetration," he told the court.

The hearing adjourned for the day but defence counsel Sankara Nair said outside the court that the semen could have been introduced artificially.

"The semen could be anybody's, they have not established whose semen it is," he told reporters.

Nair said that Anwar had an alibi and would argue that during the time of the alleged incident, at an upmarket Kuala Lumpur condominium, he was in fact at a meeting at another apartment in the building.

"The alibi is our defence. He (Anwar) was at the opposite condo with several people including the owner," he said.

Anwar has said he is the victim of a plot to prevent him from taking power, after the opposition made huge strides in 2008 elections, stunning the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition which has been in power for half a century.

The trial began in February but has been punctuated by lengthy delays. At the end of the week it will go into a hiatus until mid-July.