Malaysian opposition leader held over sex claims
Wednesday, 16 Jul 2008 12:07
Anwar Ibrahim arrested at gunpoint over claims he sexually assaulted male aide. File licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License
The main opposition figurehead in Malaysia has been arrested at gunpoint over claims he sexually assaulted a male office volunteer.
Anwar Ibrahim was arrested on Wednesday before a deadline for him to appear at a police station to begin questioning expired.
Mr Ibrahim was deputy premier a decade ago when he was convicted and jailed for six years over sodomy charges.
He said the latest allegations were a "repeat of the 1998 script" to derail his political comeback.
"There's no basis for this whole fabrication and malicious attacks. I will challenge them on every ground," Mr Ibrahim claimed.
Sodomy is a criminal offence in mainly-Muslim Malaysia even between consenting adults and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.
Mr Ibrahim's wife – politician Wan Azizah Wan Ismail – said she was concerned over her husband's safety after he was beaten up before his time in jail.
"I feel apprehensive because my husband is ten years down the road, he is not that well, he has a bad back, he's had surgery and from a brief conversation, he said [police] were not gentle," she told reporters.
The charges have been levelled by Mohamad Saiful Bukjari Azlan, a volunteer in the opposition leader's office.
But deputy police chief Ismail Omar said no charges had yet been levelled.
The arrest is a massive blow to the political opposition in Malaysia who made inroads against the ruling party in elections held in March.