'We were sodomised'

Sunday, September 20, 1998

By Satwant Singh and Sujatani Poosparajah

KUALA LUMPUR, Sat. - Two men were sentenced to six months' jail each by the Sessions Court today after pleading guilty to a charge of committing an act of gross indecency by allowing Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to sodomise them.

Dr Munawar Ahmad Anees, 51, a consultant with Realmild Sdn Bhd, and Anwar's adopted brother, Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja, 37, who were separately charged, admitted to allowing Anwar to sodomise them.

The charge against Munawar read: "That you in the month of March 1993, at night, at No 8, Jalan Setia Murni 1, Bukit Damansara, in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, committed an act of gross indecency with one Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by allowing him to introduce his penis into your anus and you had thereby committed an offence punishable under section 377D of the Penal Code".

The charge against Sukma Darmawan read: "That you in the month of April 1998, at night, at the official residence of the Deputy Prime Minister at No. 47, Jalan Damansara in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur committed an act of gross indecency with one Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by allowing the said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to introduce his penis into your anus and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under section 377D of the Penal Code".

Section 377D states that "Any person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any person of, any act of gross indecency with another person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years".

Munawar was charged before judge Lim Yee Lan while Sukma Darmawan was charged before judge Hasnah Mohd Hashim.

Senior Deputy Public Prosecutor Azahar Mohamad, prosecuting before Lim, said when presenting the facts, that in 1989 Munawar, then a visiting lecturer at Institut Teknologi Mara, befriended Anwar, who was then Education Minister.

He said the friendship between them was not confined as a lecturer and a Minister but they were friends and intellectual companions. Azahar said from time to time Anwar would invite Munawar to his residence at Bukit Damansara to discuss or show articles and latest books that the former had acquired.

He said one night, in March 1993, Anwar invited Munawar to his house where the latter allowed Anwar to insert his penis into Munawar's anus. Azahar said this act took place in a small room near a library at the top floor of the house.

Munawar, a Pakistani national, was born in Karachi and holds a permanent resident status in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Senior Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Abdul Gani Patail, prosecuting before Hasnah said when presenting the facts that Sukma Darmawan was given a special room in Anwar's official residence although he had his own house at Tivoli Villa, Bangsar.

Abdul Gani said one day in April 1998, Sukma Darmawan, a businessman, went to the official residence to spend the night there. Abdul Gani said that night, while Anwar's family was asleep, Anwar entered Sukma Darmawan's room and invited the latter to engage in unnatural sex.

Lim ordered Munawar to serve sentence from his date of arrest yesterday while Hasnah ordered Sukma Darmawan to begin sentence from the date of arrest on Sept 6.

Earlier, before the court sat to hear Munawar's case, lawyer Zainur Zakaria walked in and told the accused, who was in the dock, that he (Zainur) had been appointed to represent the former. However, Munawar, raising his voice, asked: "Who the hell do you think you are?... Who the hell are you?" Zainur then left the courtroom. At that time, Mohd Yacob Karim was already in the court to represent Munawar.

Over in the other Sessions Court, just as Mohamed Noor Don, representing Sukma Darmawan, began to mitigate, lawyer Zulkifli Nordin interrupted proceedings, claiming that he was appearing for the accused's next-of-kin. He then sought the court's "kindness" to allow Sukma Darmawan's family to see him. However, Hasnah rejected Zulkifli's application, on grounds that he was not counsel for the accused, nor was he a friend of the court or holding a watching brief for any interested party.

Sukma Darmawan, born in Indonesia, obtained his Malaysian citizenship last year. Anwar's father, Datuk Ibrahim Abdul Rahman, was in the packed gallery. Munawar and Sukma Darmawan shielded their faces with their jackets from photographers as they were brought to the court by the police at 10.30am to face the charge.

Source: The New Straits Times.

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