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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Anwar sodomy trial finally starts | Anwar sodomy trial finally starts |
| (29 minutes later) | |
| Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has pleaded not guilty at the start of his long-delayed sodomy trial. | Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has pleaded not guilty at the start of his long-delayed sodomy trial. |
| Prosecutors say he sodomised a male aide, and they claim that traces of Mr Anwar's DNA were found in medical tests on the man making the allegations. | Prosecutors say he sodomised a male aide, and they claim that traces of Mr Anwar's DNA were found in medical tests on the man making the allegations. |
| Mr Anwar has consistently denied the charges, calling them a conspiracy aimed at breaking his increasingly strong political movement. | Mr Anwar has consistently denied the charges, calling them a conspiracy aimed at breaking his increasingly strong political movement. |
| Homosexual acts are illegal in Malaysia and he faces up to 20 years in prison. | Homosexual acts are illegal in Malaysia and he faces up to 20 years in prison. |
| This is not the first time the charismatic opposition leader - who was once the deputy prime minister until his sudden sacking in 1998 - has faced a sodomy claim. | This is not the first time the charismatic opposition leader - who was once the deputy prime minister until his sudden sacking in 1998 - has faced a sodomy claim. |
| Many of Mr Anwar's supporters turned up at court to cheer him on | |
| He served six years after an earlier conviction, which was subsequently overturned on appeal. After his release he led the opposition to election gains in 2008. | He served six years after an earlier conviction, which was subsequently overturned on appeal. After his release he led the opposition to election gains in 2008. |
| Mr Anwar represents a major challenge to Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose coalition has held power for more than 50 years. | Mr Anwar represents a major challenge to Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose coalition has held power for more than 50 years. |
| 'Malicious and frivolous' | |
| Mr Anwar's much anticipated trial has already been delayed many times, and could easily have been put back yet again. | |
| His lawyers tried a last-ditch effort to ask for advanced access to medical evidence, DNA and CCTV tapes, which they say are key in providing a proper defence. | |
| But a judge decided there was no reason to delay proceedings any further, and Mr Anwar finally faced his 24-year old male accuser, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in the High Court. | |
| ANALYSIS Roger Hardy, BBC Islamic affairs analyst | |
| Anwar Ibrahim's political journey has taken him from charismatic student leader to deputy prime minister and now his country's most prominent opposition politician. | |
| He is a formidable political campaigner because of his popular appeal and because he has succeeded in putting together a coalition that straddles Malaysia's ethnic divisions. | |
| This could be a make-or-break moment in Mr Anwar's tempestuous career. But for the current prime minister, Najib Razzak, putting him on trial is a politically risky strategy. | |
| Mr Saiful said Mr Anwar had demanded sex in a Kuala Lumpur apartment. | |
| "I was angry and afraid," Mr Saiful told the court, according to Reuters news agency. "I rejected his offer. I said I didn't want to do it." | |
| The prosecution say that Mr Anwar's semen was found in medical tests on Mr Saiful, and say they plan to bring evidence of this to the trial. | |
| But Mr Anwar maintains his innocence, and has called the sodomy allegation "malicious" and "frivolous". | |
| "It is trumped up by political masters using the prosecution for that purpose," Mr Anwar told the High Court. | |
| He believes he is only on trial for political reasons, and in an interview with the BBC before the trial, he referred to the claims against him as a "nasty conspiracy". | |
| "We are committed to democratic ideals and some of us may have to pay the price," he said. | |
| Rights groups have also criticised the trial. Amnesty International accused the government of using "the same old dirty tricks in an attempt to remove the opposition leader from politics". | |
| There were huge protests after Mr Anwar's first conviction for sodomy a decade ago. He was freed on appeal in 2004. |