PUTRA JAYA, 17 SEPT: A Court of Appeal Judge, Datuk Tengku Maimun Tengku Mat today recused herself from the panel of three judges for the sodomy 2 appeal case which involves Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The move was decided voluntarily after her position as a judge in the panel for the case received opposition from the PKR De Facto leader’s line-up of lawyers.
Tengku Maimun’s successor will be decided in the trial which will continue tomorrow morning.
According to the Team Leader of the Counsel representing Anwar, Karpal Singh, the objection was made because Tengku Maimun was the judicial commissioner involved in Anwar’s defamation suit against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad regarding allegations of being homosexual in 2007.
“The application was made to withdraw Tengku Maimun and the appeal was successful. She recused herself as a judge in this case,” said Karpal.
Apart from Tengku Maimun, the two other judges in the panel who heard the case were Datuk Ramli Ali (leader) and Mohd Zawawi Salleh.
Earlier, on 9 January 2012, the Kuala Lumpur High Court rules that Anwar was not guilty of sodomising his former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Three days later, the prosecution filed an appeal to overturn the decision.
