The trial of the sacked Malaysian cabinet minister Mr Anwar Ibrahim was thrown into turmoil yesterday when a key prosecution witness appeared to contradict earlier testimony - crucial to the prosecution case - that he had been sodomised by the former deputy prime minister in 1992.
Mr Anwar's lawyers said Mr Azizan Abu Bakar, who worked as a family driver before that year, had retracted his accusation when he said "Yes" to the suggestion that he had continued to visit Mr Anwar's house from 1992 to 1997 "because he did not sodomise you".
The prosecution said Mr Azizan, who had earlier testified to having sex with Mr Anwar in luxury hotels, was confused by the question put by the defence and thought it related to events after the alleged sodomy took place in 1992.
In his evidence the former driver, speaking in Malay, had told the defence lawyer, Mr Christopher Fernando, that he had made the accusations "because I was sodomised" and did not want Mr Anwar to become prime minister.
Mr Fernando, cross-examining in English, said to Mr Azizan: "I put it to you that it was because Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did not do anything to you that you continued to visit him between 1992 and 1997, otherwise you would have stayed far, far away."
Mr Azizan, speaking in Malay, replied: "Yes", drawing loud gasps from the court.
Again the defence counsel said to Mr Azizan: "I put it to you that he did not sodomise you, that's why you continued to visit him between '92 and '97."
"I agree," Mr Azizan said in Malay.
Mr Anwar turned to his wife, Dr Wan Azizah, behind him in the courtroom and smiled broadly. The court interpreter gave a longer version of Mr Azizan's reply, saying in Malay: "I agree that Datuk Seri Anwar did not sodomise me and that was why I continued to visit him between '92 and '97."
A reporter in the courtroom said that it was actually unclear whether the former driver was saying Mr Anwar had never sodomised him or that Mr Anwar had not done so between 1992 and 1997.
Earlier in the trial, which began four weeks ago, Mr Anwar's adopted brother, Mr Sukma Dermawan, also changed his story. First he confessed to police that he too had been sodomised by the former cabinet minister, then in a letter to Mr Anwar alleged that he had been forced to do so after being stripped naked, mocked, insulted, beaten and threatened with detention under the Internal Security Act.
Yesterday's events ensure that if Mr Anwar is convicted, many Malaysians will be convinced that he is the victim of a political conspiracy. This could rebound on the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who sacked Mr Anwar on September 2nd, calling him morally unfit to rule.
If he is acquitted however, there will be enormous pressure on Dr Mahathir to step down. As the news was reported on the afternoon bulletins yesterday, several ecstatic Anwar supporters gathered outside the courthouse shouting "Long Live Anwar".
The fiasco is likely to boost the pro-Anwar reform movement, which had lost steam as the trial dragged on. After the hearing Mr Fernando said the witness had retracted his allegation and was not confused.
Mr Anwar faces five counts each of corruption and sodomy and the trial is scheduled to last for several months.
In a related case, the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur adjourned until April 19th the trial of the writer Khalid Jeffri, who wrote a book of sexual allegations concerning Mr Anwar, including that he was the father of an illegitimate child with Ms Shamsidar Taharin, the wife of his former private secretary. Mr Anwar says that DNA tests prove the child was the couple's.