Malaysia: Anwar sodomy judge mulls stepping down

Asian Defense News: KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial was suspended for a week Wednesday, pending a decision whether the judge should step down because of defense claims that he is biased.
The ruling on High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Diah's alleged bias will be made by the judge himself. He said he will announce on Feb. 18 whether he would exit the case if he feels he is biased against Anwar in the politically explosive case.
Anwar could be jailed for up to 20 years if he is convicted of sodomizing a 24-year-old male former aide, effectively ending his career and his aspirations to become prime minister.
Opposition leaders have decried the charge as a government conspiracy to hobble their three-party alliance, which harbors hopes of winning power in the next national elections due in 2013. Prime Minister Najib Razak and other officials have denied plotting against Anwar.
The trial began last week with testimony from Anwar's accuser, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, who claimed Anwar had anal sex with him at a condominium on June 26, 2008. Key details of the alleged incident were not made public because explicit portions of Saiful's testimony were recorded in court without public observers.
Anwar's lawyer, Karpal Singh, on Wednesday criticized the judge's refusal to penalize a newspaper owned by Najib's ruling party that published a photograph and headline last week that Anwar's lawyers believe were misleading and tantamount to contempt of court.
"The judge must not only be beyond suspicion and (be) honest but also not fear (showing his impartiality)," Singh said.
Government lawyers said there was no need for the judge to step down because they believed the newspaper had not done anything wrong.
The judge previously defended his decision, saying Anwar should file a police complaint against the newspaper if he believed its coverage was malicious.
Anwar claims Malaysia's mainstream media, which are generally pro-government because of their close links to parties in the governing National Front coalition, are trying to make him appear guilty of sodomy, a crime in this Muslim-majority country even if consensual.
A sentence of at least a year would bar Anwar, 62, from politics for five years from the date of his release. He claims the charge was concocted by Najib and his allies to undermine Anwar's People's Alliance, which severely dented the National Front's parliamentary majority in March 2008 elections.
Anwar, who is married with six children, was previously tried for sodomy in 1998 when he was deputy prime minister under then-leader Mahathir Mohamad. He spent six years in prison for alleged corruption and sodomy before the sodomy conviction was quashed. Anwar insists he was framed by Mahathir, who has denied it.

(By EILEEN NG,Associated Press Writer - Wednesday, February 12)