Brother-in-law says Saiful's testimony misleading

 A 27-year-old man today refuted a testimony by Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in court earlier this week that he had run away with Saiful's sister.Faez Khairi (right, in photo) said Saiful's sister, Saidati Adha, willingly followed him to southern Thailand and married him."I understand that Saiful had given testimony in court on Monday, where he said Saidati had run away with me and (that) my marriage is illegal."


"I would like to state that I married Saidati on March 2, 2009, legally. I never took her away. In fact, she wanted to follow me," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.At the Sodomy II trial on Monday, Anwar Ibrahim's defence lawyer Karpal Singh had asked Saiful about his parents and sister. Saiful had then said that he was not sure whether his sister and Faez had gotten married in Thailand.At the press conference today in which he was accompanied by lawyer N Surendran, Faez said he had wanted to get married to Saidati in Malaysia.Saidati did not agree, however, saying her father was not close to her following her parents' divorce all which resulted in them getting married in Thailand.

'Still married'

Upon their return, Faez added, his father-in-law had thrown away their marriage certificate. This forced him to obtain another copy from Thailand, which he showed to the press.Faez also claimed that his father-in-law subsequently tried to force him to divorce Saidati. "However, I disagreed, and did not sign any (divorce) documents," he said.Faez, who is now in Ipoh, insisted they are still legally married, although she does not stay with him. Saidati is now studying at UiTM. Faez said they are in the process of registering their marriage here.Expressing regret that the sanctity of his marriage had been publicly brought to question by Saiful, Faez said Saiful must have known that Saidati was still married to him as he and Saiful had met on two occasions since the marriage.

Stating that he wanted to set the record straight, Faez said he also wanted to clear his name and reputation in asserting that his marriage is legal. “Saiful's testimony in court has embarrassed me,” said Faez, who was formerly a chef but is now unemployed. Surendran said today's press conference was held in order to clarify the issue.

Informing the public


While the integrity of his marriage had been brought to question, his client was unable to set the record straight in court as he was not a witness in the sodomy trial."He may not have an opportunity to clear what has happened. It (Saiful's testimony) was personal and serious in nature in a highly reported trial.
"Hence, it is vital he inform the public to clarify the matter," said Surendran.He said further that he did not fault Anwar's defence team for raising the question as it was their right to do so.What was important, said Surendran, was that the witness testify truthfully.

Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/133465