Now, Anwar wants public, media barred from court as he seeks rulings on ex-aide's sexual assault suit

Anwar Ibrahim has again applied for a postponement of the sexual assault suit by Yusoff Rawther, just a month after the Court of Appeal ordered the prime minister to pay RM50,000 in costs to his former aide over multiple delays of the trial, which was supposed to have started in July last year.

In court filings seen by MalaysiaNow, Anwar is seeking the Kuala Lumpur High Court to rule on three questions concerning claims Yusoff made in his suit against the PKR leader.

But Anwar requested that deliberations on these questions should not be conducted in a physical court, as any appearance by him as the sitting prime minister "will inevitably attract intense public and media attention".

"The preliminary issues and/or questions raised should be heard and disposed of by way of affidavits or in the alternative, in camera and/or by remote communication, to the exclusion of members of the media, members of the public, journalists and/or any persons not directly involved in the proceedings," said a notice filed by law firm Christopher & Lee Ong.

It added that the application should be heard through "remote communication technology", citing Section 15A of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.

Questions on visit to Bukit Segambut home

The questions raised include a claim by Yusoff that Anwar's private secretary, Shukri Saad, had instructed Yusoff to personally deliver the text of a speech to the PKR president at his residence in Bukit Segambut Dalam on Oct 2, 2018, when the sexual assault allegedly took place.

Anwar also disputed the claim that his bodyguard, Norafee Ahmad @ Dekdi, had accompanied Yusoff to the house, as well as whether a meeting between Yusoff and Anwar actually took place.

Anwar said Shukri did not instruct Yusoff to deliver the speech to him, and that Norafee also did not accompany him.

He stated that one of his bodyguards, Saiful Anwar Rusli, could corroborate his claim that Yusoff did not come to his house, adding that his daughter, Nurul Nuha Anwar, was with him "at all material times from 2pm to 4pm when the alleged assault purportedly took place".

Stating that the questions he has raised "are not complex" and require "straightforward and simple confirmation of facts", Anwar said a ruling that Yusoff's claims were false would save substantial "time and expenditure" as a trial would not be needed.

He said this was because the alleged assault "did not and/or could not have taken place because the plaintiff did not even meet the defendant at all on Oct 2, 2018."

The latest application by Anwar comes ahead of a 30-day deadline given to him by the appeals court last month to pay RM50,000 in costs to Yusoff, after the prime minister abruptly withdrew an application for immunity from the sexual assault suit.

Yusoff's lawyer, Rafique Rashid, had told the court that frequent changes of lawyers by Anwar – four times since the suit was filed in 2021—as well as the immunity bid, had burdened the defence with documents and written submissions, resulting in the long delay of the trial. It is understood that Anwar has settled the payment.

A case management to fix a new date for the suit's hearing was scheduled for April 8 at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

The suit filed by Yusoff, who was a research assistant at Anwar's bungalow office in Petaling Jaya, alleges that the PKR leader sexually assaulted him on Oct 2 2018, just days before he won the Port Dickson by-election.

He is seeking a court declaration that Anwar committed the sexual assault, as well as general, exemplary and aggravated damages for suffering trauma and physical, psychological and sociological disturbances as a result of the alleged incident.

Anwar has denied the allegations.

Just three weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin on June 16 last year, Anwar made an unprecedented move to seek immunity as well as a postponement of the case.

That controversial application was filed while Yusoff was still remanded at Sungai Buloh Prison pending the outcome of his trial on charges of drug trafficking and firearms.

On June 12, Yusoff was acquitted of the charges, following a trial that saw prosecution witnesses bumbling during cross-examination, lending credence to widespread speculation that he was a victim of a conspiracy by politically connected individuals.

Three days earlier, Anwar managed to obtain a temporary stay of the sexual assault suit trial.

Yusoff, who is the grandson of the late Penang consumer advocate SM Mohamed Idris, has said that the drugs and firearms charges were the work of people in power who framed him due to his ongoing civil suit for sexual assault against Anwar.

In a police report, Yusoff also named Anwar's former political secretary turned millionaire businessman, Farhash Wafa Salvador, as among those who harboured a grudge against him.

Yusoff first made the allegation against Anwar in a statutory declaration in November 2019, followed by a police report.

A subsequent police investigation saw Yusoff agreeing to take a lie detector test, while Anwar opted to refuse the test, citing the allegations against him as baseless.