PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had sexually harassed his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the Federal Court heard.

Lead prosecutor Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said Mohd Saiful had been subjected to sexual harassment by an influential, charismatic and dominant person.

Mohd Saiful, he said, was a truthful witness and did not fabricate lies over the sodomy incident to implicate his former employer.

He said the university dropout suffered from the Stockholm syndrome and did not know what to do about the sexual abuse.

“We are dealing with a person who is influential, charismatic and dominant against a dropout,” he submitted before a five-man panel chaired by the Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria.

He asked the court to consider the conduct of Mohd Saiful who had idolised Anwar but had to resign after his four months of employment due to the incident.

He said Anwar had given Mohd Saiful a basic salary of RM1,000 but had taken him for trips abroad and paid him generous allowances.

For instance, Muhammad Shafee said, Mohd Saiful had testified that Anwar paid him US$1,000 (RM3,293) for a Singapore trip.

“Anwar gave Mohd Saiful (Italian high-end fashion) Brioni suit, which even I do not have. We know how expensive it is,” he said.

Muhammad Shafee said the court should consider Mohd Saiful’s evidence that Anwar had asked him if he could have sex on that day.

“You cannot ask that kind of question unless you are familiar (to the person),” he submitted.

He said Mohd Saiful had explained truthfully that Anwar had advised him on the need to pray after the act which shows they had a cordial talk and that his evidence was consistent.

Mohd Saiful’s testimony over the sodomy incident, Muhammad Shafee said, had also implied it had occurred more than once.

He submitted that Mohd Saiful was not an accomplice and that there are case laws which stated that sexual victims should not be treated as accomplices.

– The Star