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Court: Anwar sodomy charge to stand

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Sodomy charges against Malaysian politician Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will not be thrown out, a Kuala Lumpur court ruled Tuesday.

The High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) instead set a hearing to be held between Jan. 25 and Feb. 25 for Anwar, Malaysia's former deputy prime minister and now leader of the country's parliamentary opposition, The Malay Mail reported.

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Anwar's attorneys had argued the sodomy charge should be dismissed because there were no conclusive findings that sexual penetration occurred in accusations brought by an Anwar aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

But Judge Datuk Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah ruled the court needed to hear the witnesses' statements first, the newspaper said.

"In my opinion, only because the medical exhibits showed that there were no conclusive findings suggesting penetration, (this) cannot be the basis for this court to use its inherent power to dismiss the charge at this stage without hearing the witnesses' statements which will be called upon by the prosecution," the judge wrote.

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