MALACCA, 19 Aug 2008: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today urged all parties not to politicise the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Identification Bill 2008, which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on 18 Aug.
Dismissing speculation that the tabling of the bill was connected to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy charge, he said the government had wanted for a long time to take the matter of DNA and the Act to Parliament.
“This Act is good for us and for the future because it will be an important approach in efforts by the authorities to be more effective in combating crime,” Abdullah said after the launch of the state-level Green Earth Programme by his wife, Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, at Taman Merdeka in Batu Berendam.
If DNA were to become an issue in the Anwar case, it would be a coincidence, he said.
Abdullah was asked to comment on claims by certain parties that the Act, which requires crime suspects to give their DNA samples, is politically motivated.
Anwar pleaded not guilty in the Sessions Court on 7 Aug to sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur on 26 June, and was released on personal bond of RM20,000 without security.
When detained by police earlier, the former deputy prime minister refused to give his DNA sample on the grounds that it could be manipulated. – Bernama
