Anwar trial adjourned as he stays in hospital

The trial of Mr Anwar Ibrahim was adjourned yesterday after the hospital testing him for arsenic poisoning said the former Malaysian…

The trial of Mr Anwar Ibrahim was adjourned yesterday after the hospital testing him for arsenic poisoning said the former Malaysian finance minister needed several days' rest to overcome severe headaches.

The National University Hospital said Mr Anwar was being treated for "tension headaches" after vomiting at the High Court building on Monday. He was taken to the hospital on September 10th after alleging the government had poisoned him with arsenic.

A defence lawyer, Mr Christopher Fernando, told the court that Mr Anwar's blood pressure had risen to alarming levels on Monday. Judge Arifin Jaka postponed proceedings.

The man who accused Mr Anwar of sodomy was sentenced yesterday to three months in jail after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct.

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The national Bernama news agency said Azizan Abu Bakar (39) pleaded guilty in a Sharia, or Islamic, court in the central state of Malacca to committing "close proximity" and attempting to have illicit sex with a 22-year-old woman.

The woman, who married Azizan two days after they were indicted earlier this month, was also sentenced to three months in jail, the news agency said.

Azizan, the Anwar family's former driver, wrote to the Prime Minister, Mr Mahathir Mohamad, in 1997 accusing Mr Anwar of sodomy. He was a crucial prosecution witness in both Mr Anwar's corruption trial, which ended in April with a six-year jail sentence for the former minister, and the sodomy trial.

It was not immediately clear what impact, if any, Azizan Abu Bakar's imprisonment would have on Mr Anwar's sex trial.