KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 10: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim today filed an appeal against his conviction and five-year sentence over sodomy charges, a controversial case in which he was acquitted in 2012.
In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal last week found 66-year-old former deputy prime minister guilty of sodomising his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan in June, 2008.
Overturning Anwar’s 2012 acquittal in the case, the three-man bench led by Justice Balia Yusof Wahi granted him a stay of execution of the sentence with a bail of RM 10,000 (Rs 2 lakh) in one surety.
Anwar’s co-counsel Ramkarpal Singh filed a notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal registry.
Anwar’s aide Ibrahim Yaacob appeared as his bailor when he came this morning for the administrative process at the court.
Sodomy is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia and is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.
Anwar was acquitted by the High Court in 2012. The government had appealed that decision.
Justice Balia last week held that the trial judge who acquitted Anwar in 2012 had erred in his finding that the integrity of the samples had been compromised.
Anwar’s re-entry into politics as the leader of the opposition alliance had resulted in a popularity sway away from the ruling coalition Barsan Nasional which has been in power since the country gained independence in 1957.
Though the opposition did not win the last two general elections, it made a huge and noticeable dent in the ruling party’s vote bank. (AGENCIES)
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