Yusoff vows to fight on as he walks out of jail, ready for sexual assault suit against Anwar

Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, the former research assistant to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, has remained defiant and has vowed to seek justice following his release from prison after spending more than nine months in remand over charges that the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed as not credible.

"I will continue to fight. I was persecuted and treated in all kinds of ways," the 32-year-old said shortly after the court ruled that the prosecution could not establish a prima facie case for the charges under the Dangerous Drugs Act and Firearms Act.

Speaking to reporters, his lawyer Rafique Rashid said Yusoff had proven that he was not afraid of those in power despite the threat to his personal safety.

"If he was worried about his safety, he would not have taken any action against those in power. But before you is a young man who dared to stand up and declare that he will fight against injustice," Rafique said.

Today's spectacular courtroom drama comes as Anwar averted an appearance in a potentially explosive trial next week to face a civil suit filed by Yusoff, who accused the PKR leader of sexually assaulting him seven years ago.

On Tuesday, the appeals court issued a temporary stay on all proceedings scheduled for June 16 after granting Anwar's application to put the civil suit on hold pending his bid to get a full stay next month.

The move was to facilitate Anwar's controversial application to the Federal Court to determine whether he would enjoy immunity from legal proceedings as prime minister while in office.

Yusoff, the grandson of the late Penang consumer advocate SM Mohamed Idris, worked as Anwar's research assistant at the politician's bungalow office in Bukit Gasing, Petaling Jaya in 2018.

In 2021, he filed a lawsuit alleging that the PKR leader sexually assaulted him in October 2018, just days before he won the Port Dickson by-election. Anwar has denied the allegations.

A subsequent police investigation saw Yusoff agreeing to take a lie detector test, while Anwar took the option of refusing to undergo the test citing the allegations against him as baseless.

The civil suit was also raised by the defence in the drug and firearms case, including questions about the way police ambushed Yusoff's car on Sept 6 last year, just a week after he submitted the list of witnesses for the suit.

The defence further sought to show that the investigation was incomplete because police had failed to interview Anwar and his former political secretary Farhash Wafa Salvador, two individuals Yusoff had named in his police reports as being involved in framing him.

Throughout the investigation and trial, Yusoff maintained that he was framed by people in power who harbour a grudge against him due to the suit against Anwar.

Yusoff said today that his release was a victory for all Malaysians, adding that he was pressing ahead with the civil suit.