Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim yesterday said that he was hoping for a just decision when the nation’s top court rules on his final appeal against a sodomy conviction, but that he was ready to be jailed for the second time in just over a decade.
The Federal Court of Malaysia is to announce tomorrow whether it will uphold Anwar’s five-year sentence, levied after he was convicted of sodomizing a male aide. It is his last avenue for appeal, and if the sentence is upheld, he will be immediately sent to prison.
Anwar’s case has reinforced accusations at home and abroad that the Malaysian government is using it as a weapon to vanquish a threat to its 58-year rule.
The US and international human rights groups say that the legal moves against Anwar are politically motivated.
Anwar, 67, said that he should be acquitted based on the facts and evidence presented in court.
“I hope for a quick, just decision,” Anwar said in a telephone interview. “I am cautiously optimistic, but I’m also realistic. I know I have to fight.”
“It is a small price I have to pay. If I have to go back to jail nearing my 70s, then it is que sera sera,” he added.
Anwar was accused of sodomizing a male aide in 2008, but was acquitted by the Malaysian High Court in 2012. However, the Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal in March last year and sentenced him to five years in jail. He has said the charges were trumped up to kill his political career.
He is the most potent threat to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, whose party has ruled the nation since it gained independence from Britain in 1957, but faces declining support.
Anwar previously was imprisoned for six years after being ousted as deputy prime minister in 1998 on earlier charges of abusing his power and sodomizing his former family driver. He was freed in 2004 after Malaysia’s top court quashed that sodomy conviction.
Anwar said his jailing for a second time would be toughest on his family, but that they were all very supportive.
Instead of breaking up his three-party alliance, he told Najib that jailing him could backfire and galvanize more support for the opposition.
“They will continue with or without Anwar. No one is indispensable,” Anwar said.
“Authoritarian leaders always believe the best way to deal with dissidents is to jail them, but throughout history, it has always backfired,” he said. “If Najib chooses to take this line — I hope not — then he is inviting problems for this country.”
Prosecutors are seeking a heavier jail sentence for Anwar.
Sodomy, even consensual, is a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
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