bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

Jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim lost his final bid for freedom on Wednesday when the federal court rejected his appeal to set aside his sodomy conviction and five-year jail term.
A five-member panel of judges ruled unanimously that there was no merit in Anwar’s application for a review of his 2014 conviction, his final legal option for an acquittal. He will now have to serve out the remaining 16 months of his prison term.
“This is not a fit or proper case for this court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to initiate a review,” Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, the Chief Judge of Malaya, said as he read excerpts from a 60-page ruling.
Anwar, once a rising star in the ruling party, is the greatest threat to Prime Minister Najib Razak and his coalition, after leading a three-party opposition alliance to stunning electoral gains in 2013.
He was convicted and jailed for sodomising a former aide, a charge that Anwar and his supporters say was a politically motivated attempt to end his career.
What a handshake between Mahathir and Anwar really means for Malaysia
“This is not the end of the road ... I have pleaded and reiterated my innocence but the judiciary has ignored my pleas,” Anwar told reporters in the court after the verdict.
“This is a long walk to freedom,” he said.
His wife, children and grandchildren were in court. Crowds of supporters gathered outside in a show of support for their 69-year-old leader.
A former ruling party deputy prime minister, Anwar’s legal troubles began soon after he fell out with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad in the late 1990s and was sacked.
He then campaigned against corruption and nepotism and led a nationwide “reformasi”, or reform, protest movement. He was later jailed for the first time on charges of sodomy and graft.


Anwar vows to keep fighting after Malaysia court rejects final appeal against sodomy conviction

Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim last year began serving a five-year jail term for sodomising a male aide, charges that his supporters say were trumped up to sideline the former deputy prime minister, who reinvented himself as an opposition firebrand. File photo: Reuters

News

Asia

Southeast Asia