Finance

Azlan reads out his statement at the press conference on March 8, 2013. � Picture by Md IzwanKUALA LUMPUR, March 8 � The father of Saiful Bukhari Azlan publicly admitted today that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim�s second sodomy charge was an �evil political conspiracy� involving his son.

In a heavily-guarded press conference here, the 60-year-old Azlan Mohd Lazim alleged that the conspiracy was planned by a special officer in the Prime Minister�s Department and was engineered to tarnish Anwar�s image with another sodomy charge, the opposition leader�s second since he lost his post in government in 1998.

Azlan, who was not with his son at the press conference called by PKR�s Johari Abdul, apologised to Anwar and his family over the incident, admitting the episode had put them through much pain and suffering.

�It was a political conspiracy to charge Anwar for the second time. I apologise to Anwar and his family,� he said.

On January 9 last year, the High Court acquitted and discharged Anwar of sodomising Mohd Saiful, 27, at a Desa Damansara condominium unit in Bukit Damansara here between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

Anwar, 65, was charged under section 377B of the Penal Code, which carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.