KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan is not being charged with sodomy because he is the complainant, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said.

However, it was up to the courts to decide on the case, he said after a meeting with visiting Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Evans here yesterday.

"When a person is the reporter of an alleged offence, if you charge the person, he will feel he is not protected," Syed Hamid said.

He stressed that Anwar was innocent until proven guilty.