Jail holds no fear for me, says Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim after sodomy ruling

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim says he is disgusted by the control the government exerts over the country's courts but has overcome his fear of returning to jail.

Earlier this month, the 66-year-old was given a five-year jail sentence after a Malaysian court overturned his 2012 acquittal on a sodomy charge.

"None of us anticipated an immediate judgment, particularly when you want to overturn a high court ruling. Normally it would take time," he told the South China Morning Post.

"I was not disappointed but disgusted by the extent they were prepared to go to fast-track the process to bar me from the by-election later this month."

Anwar was poised to run in a by-election in the country's richest state of Selangor. A victory there would have allowed him to become chief minister, and project power nationally as the country's key opposition figure.

But a Court of Appeals panel upheld a government challenge to his acquittal in 2012 on charges that he sodomised a male former aide, saying a lower court had misjudged evidence.

Anwar is free on bail pending the hearing of his appeal, which given the usual backlog in Malaysia's courts would normally take up to a year to be heard.