| Home > South-East Asia >> Malaysia | |
Sodomy trial of Malaysia's Anwar set for July
Associated Press - March 10, 2009
Kuala Lumpur – Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will go on trial for sodomy in July, Malaysia's high court said Tuesday, overruling the politician's fears of not getting a fair hearing.
High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohamad Diah scheduled hearings for July 1-24, nearly a year after Anwar pleaded innocent in August 2008 to a charge of sodomizing a 23-year-old male former aide.
Anwar insists the charge was concocted to stem the opposition's momentum after it achieved its best electoral results ever in national polls one year ago. The government has dismissed Anwar's claims of a political conspiracy.
Anwar said his immediate focus is not the trial but the opposition's campaign for three special elections next month to fill legislative vacancies.
The High Court last week rejected his bid to have the case heard in a lower court. Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, claims there is a greater risk of bias in the High Court.
Malaysia's judiciary has been hit by a string of scandals in recent years, including allegations of government interference in the promotion of judges. The attorney general is also being investigated by the anti-corruption agency over allegations that he fabricated evidence in Anwar's first sodomy case in 1998.
Anwar was then fired from the Cabinet by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad following a power struggle, and convicted of corruption and sodomizing his former family driver. He spent six years in jail through 2004, when the sodomy conviction was overturned.
After his release, Anwar stitched together a three-party opposition alliance that won an unprecedented five of 13 states and 82 of 222 seats in Parliament last March.
See also:
 |