07 July 1999

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- The Sri Lanka Daily News reports another series of inflammatory allegations were leveled against the leadership of the Malaysian government on Friday as Sukma Dermawan, jailed on allegations of consensual sodomy with his brother, former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, testified a second day before the Malaysian High Court.

Legitimacy of Malaysia's court system is also being tried.

Sukma said Malaysian Police forced him to first fabricate then commit to memory stories that the pair engaged in regular sexual relations. "They (the police) forced me to invent stories of my (alleged) homosexual relationship (with Anwar)," Sukma told the court. "I invented the stories. They asked me to read it repeatedly until I memorized it. I was promised one day of jail and a fine."

Sukma said a letter held by the government in evidence against him is a coerced statement he was forced to sign. "The contents are untrue. It (the letter) was prepared by Musa Hassan (the police officer in charge of Anwar's case) but I signed it," he said.

Sukma told the court he was forced to consent to a medical examination that was unnecessarily, and he thinks intentionally, painful. "I felt three fingers at the entrance of my anus. The number of the fingers going in, I do not know. It was painful," he said.

The court is hearing testimony to decide if Sukma's confession last year that he committed sodomy with Anwar can be admitted as evidence. Anwar is currently serving a six year sentence on corruption charges, stemming from his alleged attempts to cover up his as yet unproven same-sex affairs.

Sukma is jointly charged with Anwar, who is also accused of engaging in sodomy with his former driver, Azizan Abu Bakar. The driver has also recanted his court affidavit, saying it was coerced by police and government prosecutors.

Human rights and political observers believe the Malaysian judiciary has been compelled to rule against Anwar and his supporters on instruction from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who saw Anwar as a threat to his power.

Sodomy is a criminal offense in Malaysia, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Source : Obtained from Datalounge.com