Defence lawyers at the trial of the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, have complained of harassment after police raided one of their offices.

The raid on Wednesday at the offices of Pawencheek Merican followed a report by the prosecution that a document in the case had gone missing -- although they say they made no accusation against the defence.

In court today, the chief defence counsel Raja Aziz called for action to protect the defence team from such tactics.

But the judge said he had no power to halt police investigations.

Earlier this week, two defence lawyers accused state prosecutors of trying to fabricate evidence against Mr Anwar, who has denied charges of illegal sex and corruption.

One of the defence team escaped punishment by apologising; the other is appealing against a three-month jail term imposed by the judge.