Saiful to answer charges of "qazaf" (reprise)

At 11AM today (27 November 2008) Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who lodged a police report 28 June 2008 that he had been anally raped by Anwar Ibrahim, presented himself at the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (JAWI) for further questioning with regard to Anwar's formal complaint on 9 July 2008 that Saiful Bukhari had committed qazaf (wrongfully accusing a chaste man or woman of adultery or homosexuality without four reliable witnesses).

The punishment for those who accuse others of committing adultery and sodomy without substantiation is, according to various Islamic scholars, similar to those who commit such offences.

HERE'S A POINT-BY-POINT SUMMARY OF SALIENT FACTS SURROUNDING THIS PERPLEXING AND SORDID AFFAIR THAT HAS MADE MALAYSIA THE BUTT OF ENDLESS ANUS JOKES:

1. Saiful Bukhari Azlan is reportedly Mumtaz Jaafar's "Godson."

2. Mumtaz Jaafar is reportedly Rosmah Mansor's business associate and "bag lady."

Mumtaz Jaafar (MJ) & Rosmah Mansor (RM) with a Wanita Umno group (from The Dandelions)

3. Najib Razak finally admitted (under pressure) that Saiful Bukhari had visited him and his wife at their residence "a few days" before Saiful lodged his infamous police report against Anwar Ibrahim. Najib had earlier stated that Saiful only visited his office and discussed getting a "scholarship" with Khairil Anas Yusof, "special aide" to DPM Najib. Initially, Najib insisted he had "never met" Saiful personally. Then MT published part of a video interview with a friend of Saiful Bukhari who attested he had accompanied Saiful on his visit to Najib & Rosmah's residence...

Saiful posing with Khairil Anas Yusof (special aide to Najib) at the Deputy Prime Minister's office in February 2008.

4. Malaysia Today also published a story stating that Saiful Bukhari had met Senior Assistant Commissioner (II) Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof in Room 619 of the Concorde Hotel at 2:30 PM on 25 June 2008 (3 days before the police report was lodged). The MT report also alleged that Saiful had been in phone contact with Rodwan Mohd Yusof and other police officers for several days prior to that rendezvous at the Concorde. Rodwan Mohd Yusof happens to be IGP Musa Hassan's "dirty tricks" agent and was involved in Anwar's 1998 sodomy trial (he demanded Anwar's DNA sample from the Hospital Besar KL which was later used on the infamous Tivoli mattress). To date there has been no official denial or investigation of these allegations. Rodwan Mohd Yusof had "no comment" when questioned by reporters.

5. Saiful Bukhari Azlan's biological father, Azlan Mohd Lazim, had abandoned Saiful's mother when Saiful was still a toddler. Recently, Azlan Mohd Lazim (seated beside Saiful, above) reappeared in Saiful's life when he accompanied his estranged son to the swearing ritual at the Federal Territory Mosque officiated by a newly appointed imam, Ramlang Porigi, on 15 July 2008 (one day before Nomination Day for the Permatang Pauh by-election). Azlan Mohd Lazim was also present at a press conference afterwards. It was subsequently revealed by MT that Azlan Mohd Lazim earns his living mainly as an Umno go-between, fixing deals and negotiating clandestine transactions, and was instrumental in coordinating the secret PAS-Umno meetings soon after 8 March 2008. Azlan Mohd Lazim is on a special committee of Umno entrepreneurs, headed by Romeli Musa (of Sapura Holdings) determined to stop Anwar Ibrahim from becoming PM and Pakatan Rakyat from taking over the federal government.

Click here for behind-the-scenes report on how PKR pulled off this remarkable coup.

6. During the Permatang Pauh by-election campaign, looped video footage of Saiful Bukhari swearing on the Koran that Anwar Ibrahim had forcibly sodomized him was repeatedly and almost continuously projected on giant outdoor screens at all BN operations centers. However, Ramlang Porigi, the imam who had officiated at Saiful's swearing ritual, showed up at PKR ceramahs & publicly stated that he was unwittingly and unwillingly dragged into the whole affair - in fact, Ramlang revealed that Khairil Anas Yusof ("special aide" to the DPM) had arranged the swearing ritual and that Ramlang himself had no say in the matter. He was bombarded with angry messages from friends and strangers afterwards and realized he had to come out in the open & officially disassociate himself from Saiful's swearing ritual.

7. Saiful Bukhari showed up at Hospital Pusrawi after lunch on 28 June 2008 complaining of acute pain in his own arse ("someone shoved some plastic object up my rectum..."). He was rectally examined by Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid who found no signs that Saiful Bukhari had been forcibly sodomized and said as much in his medical report. Subsequently, the Hospital Pusrawi report was leaked to the media (it first appeared in Malaysia Today, of course), and that made the entire case go limp. On 7 August 2008 Anwar Ibrahim was charged with "consensual" sodomy under Section 377B of the Penal Code, contradicting Saiful Bukhari's insistence under Koranic oath that he had not consented and was, in fact, raped by Anwar (believe it or not, Ripley!)

From Malaysiakini.tv, 4 Sept 2008

8. Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid subsequently read a statement at a press conference endorsing the authenticity of the leaked Hospital Pusrawi medical report and maintaining that he stood by the results of his rectal examination. Dr Osman also revealed that he had been repeatedly visited by police officers who made him sign statements in Malay which he did not fully understand (being a Burmese national) & which contained extraneous details added by the police.

As far as I'm concerned this case is closed, QED.

For Saiful Bukhari's protection (from possible attack by morally inflamed Anwaristas and ardent connoisseurs of plump young rumps) I recommend that the good Burmese doctor be assigned to bung up Saiful's pert little ass. However, if Dr Osman has already left the country - and who can blame him, after all the stress he's been subject to? - then we'll just have to hand Saiful over to that Honorable MP from Kenabatangan, Bung Mokhtar Radin (who's reputed to be quite an expert on bunging up leaky holes).

Kenny Gan (Letters to Malaysiakini): When Anwar’s trial begins, Saiful should be asked one question: ‘Does he agree to the charge under Section 377B of consensual sodomy?’ If he still insists as per his public stance that the act was non-consensual, the charge should be amended to Section 377C covering non-consensual sodomy or be thrown out.

This is more than a technical definition. Section 377C involves an element of force which must be proven and hence it is much more difficult to obtain a conviction given the facts of the case. There are no two ways about it. The prosecution cannot give themselves an easier job to convict Anwar for consensual sodomy while the witness denies it. For Anwar’s case to proceed under the present charge, Saiful must be willing to repudiate his public stance of forced sodomy and take the adverse repercussions given his swearing on the Quran. Otherwise, it must be amended to Section 377C. Anything else is a gross miscarriage of justice.

Check out this BONUS FEATURE on BEAUTIFUL ANUSES!

[First posted 27 November 2008]

CLOAK & DAGGER POLITICS (from Corridors of Power)

"The Special Branch stood by helplessly as Ramlang spoke at ceramah after ceramah to set the record straight on what happened in the Federal Territory mosque the day Saiful swore on the Quran that Anwar had sodomized him."

ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG

The Pink Panther reports:

Arif Shah anticipated he would win the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election by at least 5,000 votes. Anwar Ibrahim’s camp, in turn, was confident they would win, but probably by 10,000 votes or so. This would mean Anwar’s win would be lower than Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s 13,000-vote majority in the 8 March 2008 general election.

This would be a disaster. Anwar must win by a majority higher than Wan Azizah’s. And a plan was required to achieve this. They needed to pull a rabbit out of the hat. And the plan was like a plot from a spy story and executed with military precision to boot.

An operations centre was set up in a hotel about half an hour from the heart of the Permatang Pauh election campaign. The purpose was to poll the voters’ sentiments, in particular the Malay voters who made up the majority of the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency. What were the issues troubling the voters? What was foremost in their minds?

The thing needling the Malay voters in Permatang Pauh was as to why Anwar did not also swear on the Quran in a mosque that he did not sodomise Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Saiful had done the so and swore than Anwar did sodomise him. Why won’t Anwar do the same and swear that he did not?

The simple-minded Malay voters did not seem to realise that such a ritual is not part of Islamic teachings. One does not use the Quran and God to gain political mileage. Furthermore, if Anwar were to do so smack in the middle of an election campaign, it would be interpreted even more that Anwar is doing so merely to gain more votes. That move could backfire badly and could in fact result in some lost voters rather than help gain more.

Instead of aping Saiful, Anwar had to discredit what the young man had done and prove to the voters that the oath was all a farce and of no substance. And to do that they needed the very imam who had taken Saiful’s oath to confirm so.


Contact was made with the imam, Ramlang Porigi, who was in Kuala Lumpur. The imam was suffering bouts of guilt conscience and he was troubled by the whole episode. He was an unwitting participant in what he considered a character assassination exercise. He did not know at the time they summoned him to the mosque what it was all about. He was appalled when he discovered what they were up to but he was trapped and could not get out of it. How now to rectify the injustice done to Anwar?

The imam was pleased when contact was finally made. Yes he would be very happy to spill the beans and inform the public how they set up the so-called oath-taking ceremony and the flaws in the whole exercise. And he was prepared to take centre-stage and reveal the truth.

Imam Ramlang was scheduled to make an appearance two days before polling day, the most crucial period in the by-election campaign when Umno would go all out in the dash to the finishing line. His family was spirited to safety and Ramlang went underground. Two days before the election they brought him up to Penang in a convoy of cars and superbikes that would spring into action and whisk him away in the event they set up roadblocks and attempt to detain the imam.

The convoy arrived in Penang at 5.00pm without incident. Ramlang was scheduled to make his first appearance at 7.00pm to address a mosque congregation. And when he did, the women in the congregation were reduced to tears and the men surged forward to hug him and shake his hand.

The exercise was a success.

Ramlang was to make his next appearance at a massive rally later that night. All the top opposition leaders plus Anwar himself would be addressing a crowd of 30,000. That would be when Anwar would garner an additional 5,000 votes and secure a majority exceeding his wife’s in the 8 March 2008 general election.

Two imams dressed in robes and turbans were brought to the rally escorted by a full complement of security personnel. They were merely decoys. The crowd surged forward, Special Branch officers amongst them. They strained their necks in trying to get a look at the imams who coolly took their time to stroll through the crowd. Everyone was trying to figure out which of the two imams was Ramlang. Ramlang, meanwhile, was smuggled in through the back, dressed in a tracksuit. Before they realised it Ramlang was on stage addressing the crowd.

As soon as he finished they whisked him away and sent him into hiding. Around midnight word got out that the order from Kuala Lumpur had been given to detain Ramlang. The security boys bundled him into a car and smuggled him out of Penang. The Special Branch scoured the whole of Penang looking for the imam to no avail. Ramlang was safely housed in the neighbouring state far from the long arms of the men in blue from Bukit Aman. His family too had by then disappeared and the Special Branch did not know where to find them.

Security was beefed up when Ramlang made his next appearance on the eve of the by-election. They badly wanted to get their hands on him but not even a fly could penetrate the wall of security men. The Special Branch stood by helplessly as Ramlang spoke at ceramah after ceramah to set the record straight on what happened in the Federal Territory mosque the day Saiful swore on the Quran that Anwar had sodomised him.

(From Malaysiakini, 25 August 2008. Click on image to enlarge)

Anwar won the Permatang Pauh by-election with a majority higher than the general election just months before that. Ramlang went back to Kuala Lumpur to lead his normal life again, if that was now possible in the aftermath of Anwar’s impressive win that to a large extent could be credited to what the imam revealed to the Permatang Pauh voters.

The government did not dare sack Ramlang. But they did put him in cold storage. A few days ago, when they thought that all had by now calmed down and people had forgotten the whole episode, they sent the imam a show cause letter with a view to terminate his services.

Ramlang has been given two week to justify why he should not be sacked from his government job. He had cost Umno the Permatang Pauh by-election. Anwar won with a higher majority than expected because the imam had revealed the truth. Revealing the truth is not something that a God-fearing imam should do. A good imam is supposed to serve the government, not serve God.

Ramlang does not want to resign even though he is being pressured to do so. If they want him out then they can sack him. He will accept that fate if that is what God has in store for him. All he did was to tell the truth. All he did was to reveal what really happened, which is opposite to what the government-controlled TV stations are saying. He fears God more than he fears man, as what all God-fearing imams should be like.

The government’s move to sack Imam Ramlang Porigi will just make matters worse for Umno. Instead of redeeming itself Umno will just incur the wrath of the people. God-fearing men who tell the truth are punished. Scoundrels are rewarded. That is the message Umno will send to the people.