Malaysia's Anwar in court for appeal against sodomy conviction
By Trinna Leong KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian court began hearing an appeal on Tuesday by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim against a sodomy conviction and five-year prison term which many people regard as politically motivated. A ruling against Anwar, 67, could end his political career and inflame tension after opposition gains in a general election last year raised the possibility of a genuine challenge for the ruling party that has held power in multi-ethnic Malaysia since 1957. A court convicted Anwar in March of sodomising a former political aide and sentenced him to five years in prison. Sodomy is illegal in Malaysia. Scores of Anwar's supporters thronged at security barriers outside the court in Kuala Lumpur and police struggled to hold them back as Anwar and his legal team arrived. One of Anwar's lawyers told the court the defence argument that Anwar was a victim of a "political conspiracy" had not been seriously considered in previous hearings. His lead lawyer, Gopal Sri Ram, said the March verdict was handed down without "the strictest of scrutiny". "There has been a miscarriage of justice," Sri Ram told the court. Anwar looked relaxed and chatted to party colleagues during breaks in the hearing. He and his lawyers declined to comment as they left after the hearing was adjourned for the day. Judges said the hearing would last until Thursday. In the mid-1990s, Anwar was the ruling UMNO party's rising star before he fell out with then premier Mahathir Mohamad. He was sacked in 1998 and then campaigned against corruption and nepotism and led a nationwide "reformasi" (reform) protest movement before he was jailed in 1999 for corruption. In 2000, he was convicted of sodomy for the first time. But the conviction was overturned in 2004 and Anwar was released from prison and returned to politics as head of a revitalised opposition whose showing in a 2008 election deprived the ruling coalition of its traditional two-thirds majority in parliament. The majority of Prime Minister Najib Razak's UMNO-led alliance was cut further in the 2013 election when the coalition recorded its worst-ever election performance. 'TOUGH CHOICE' If Anwar loses the appeal he faces a return to jail and would be barred from contesting the next general election that must be held by 2018. He told reporters on Monday he had decided he would not go abroad to avoid the possibility of jail. "This is my country and I cannot imagine leaving," he said. "It's a tough choice. Imagine at my age having to go back to prison." Human Rights Watch called last week on the government to end the "politically motivated prosecution" of Anwar. But the government has rejected the notion of political interference in Anwar's conviction saying Malaysia had an independent judiciary and the case, brought by the male former political aide, was a matter for the courts. A ruling against Anwar would anger his supporters who could take to the streets. His departure from politics would also be a setback for an uneasy three-party opposition alliance he leads. The Pakatan Rakyat, or People's Alliance, groups Anwar's party, an ethnic Chinese party and an Islamist party. Anwar's daughter, Nurul Izzah, said earlier her father's jailing would pose a real test for the alliance. "You're talking about the man who is a unifying factor no longer being there. He drove the coalition together," Nurul Izzah told Reuters. Opposition politician Muhammad Sabu, of the PAS Islamist party, said the opposition parties had to stick together in the face of the ruling party political juggernaut. "We have to unite otherwise we are finished in the next election," Sabu said. (Editing by Robert Birsel and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
