'Bertaubatlah!

THOSE present at Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trial were stunned when one of his daughters shouted 'Bertaubatlah! (repent!)' as key witness Saiful Bukhari Azlan walked into the courtroom.

Mr Saiful, 25, who was clad in dark blue jacket and pants, calmly walked to the witness stand without turning to look at the woman, who was seated in the first row of the packed courtroom.

Anwar's wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, touched her daughter's shoulder urging her to remain silent in court. Earlier, Anwar pleaded not guilty to the sodomy charge, saying that it was frivolous. 'It is a malicious charge and slanderous,' he said when a court interpreter read the charge to him on the first day of the high-profile trial.

Lead prosecutor Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden then proceeded to read out a three-page opening statement. Many in the public gallery shook their heads when he read out the statement. He then called Mr Saiful, the first witness, to testify.

Earlier, Anwar's lead counsel Karpal Singh applied to stay the trial pending the parties' meeting with Court of Appeal president Justice Alauddin Mohd Sheriff to get an early date for the hearing of appeal by Anwar over his failure to strike out his sodomy charge.

'This trial should not be rushed. It will be in accordance with law to exhaust all legal remedy which are open to us,' he said. DPP Mohd Yusof however argued that the trial should proceed as a stay had been denied by the High Court on Tuesday. Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah then ordered for the sodomy trial to proceed, saying that he did not see any reason to postpone it