Malaysians are asking why they have been subjected in the media to a barrage of sexual allegations against Anwar Ibrahim in explicit language that has previously been banned from publication, only to be told that it is no longer relevant to his High Court trial. On Wednesday, the prosecution changed the wording of the charges against Anwar to replace references to the commission of sexual misconduct and sodomy with 'allegations' of these acts. This put the focus more clearly on the substance of the charges that he corruptly used his position to have police obtain retractions of the allegations. It also meant the prosecution did not have to prove that the acts had been committed. Mr Justice Augustine Paul ruled on Thursday that all evidence relating to the sexual allegations was irrelevant. For the past two months, disclosures about alleged intimacies involving the former deputy prime minister and various partners have startled a community which takes its lead in publicly espoused morality from the conservative core of Malay Muslims, whose opposition to open discussion of sex is matched by many traditionalists among Chinese and Indian Malaysians. The trial's progress, as the prosecution sought to prove the commission of various sexual acts by the accused, was recorded in such banner headlines as: 'I was a sex slave,' referring to the alleged relationship between Anwar and Azizan Abu Bakar, his driver; 'Sukma too', concerning homosexual acts allegedly involving Anwar, Sukma Darmawan, his adopted brother, and Azizan; 'Stains on mattress', the prime exhibit seized from an alleged love nest where Anwar supposedly met the wife of his secretary; and 'DNA match' over a report on a chemist's findings allegedly linking the two to the mattress. A Malay woman who works in a government office said she was embarrassed by detailed reports on the trial on national television but believed the sexual material was important evidence which the public needed to know to follow the case. 'But now they say it's irrelevant,' she said. 'What was the reason for shocking people?' The question now is what it all means with regard to the five charges of sodomy pending against Anwar. Some lawyers believe the prosecution may now be re-thinking the advisability of going ahead. Munawar Ahmad Anees, the Pakistani man jailed for having sex with Anwar, will be released next week, two months before the end of his six-month jail sentence, because of good behaviour, his lawyers said.