Court Upholds Malaysia’s Anwar Sodomy Conviction

Malaysia’s Apex court has rejected an appeal by opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, against a 2014 sodomy conviction.

The Federal court on Tuesday, upheld a five-year prison term that will likely end a political career marked by controversy.

Anwar, the ruling party’s rising star in the mid-1990s before he fell out with then Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, denied the charge that led to his second conviction for sodomy.

The former Deputy Prime Minister accused the panel of justices for taking part in a “political conspiracy” by Malaysia’s ruling regime.

“In bowing to the dictates of your political masters, you have become partners to the crime.

“You have chosen to be on the dark side,” he said, according to news agency.

“I will not be silenced! I will never surrender!.

“I will walk again for the third time into prison but rest assured that I will walk in with my head held high,” Anwar said in a statement he read out in court.

“I maintain my innocence. This to me is a complete fabrication coming from a political conspiracy to stop my political career,” he added.

The charismatic Anwar, who heads a three-party opposition alliance, has for years been the greatest threat to Malaysia’s political establishment.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government has rejected any suggestion of interference in the case.

After the ruling, the Malaysian government said in a statement that “the judges will have reached their verdict only after considering all the evidence in a balanced and objective manner.

“Malaysia has an independent judiciary, and there have been many rulings against senior government figures”.

A court found the 67-year old former deputy prime minister guilty in March last year of sodomizing a former political aide.

The conviction disqualifies him from political office and contesting the next election that must be held by 2018.

Hundreds of Anwar supporters, surrounded by dozens of police, earlier gathered outside the court in Kuala Lumpur, waving party flags and shouting “Down with Barisan Nasional”, referring to the coalition that has ruled since 1957.