The star witness in Anwar Ibrahim's trial denied defence suggestions yesterday that she had been in love with the former deputy prime minister or that she had sold her soul by making allegations against him for money.
She said it was not true she was jealous of her sister-in-law, whom she had alleged was a party to an adulterous affair with Anwar.
Ummi Hafilda Ali, 31, whose accusations that Anwar was an adulterer and a homosexual led to his sacking from cabinet and appearance in court on charges of corrupt practices and sodomy, also denied that she confessed to people that she was 'crazy' about him.
'I did say that I looked up to him as a leader before I knew the real person,' she said.
She acknowledged that she had written a letter to the former deputy prime minister on September 20, which the defence said was 'filled with hatred and venom', praying that the 'dog Anwar' would be 'destroyed by AIDS soon'.
Hammered by questions under intense cross-examination by a defence lawyer over her relations with Anwar and her family, her advertising company's alleged debts and a contract she was negotiating with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Ms Ummi proved a feisty witness.
Dressed in a fashionable outfit in various shades of brown, similar in style to what she wore on Monday, Ms Ummi responded fiercely to a defence submission that she had written love letters to Anwar, saying she should sue the lawyer for making a false accusation.