Malaysia’s highest court on Tuesday upheld a sodomy conviction against Anwar Ibrahim, rejecting his appeal in a case that the opposition leader calls a conspiracy and casting fresh doubt over his turbulent political career.
Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria said the Federal Court had dismissed Anwar’s challenge against the conviction handed down last March, which found him guilty of sodomising a young former male aide, Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Last year’s conviction brought a five-year jail term, but it was not immediately clear whether Anwar would be imprisoned or how long for.
The prosecution is seeking a longer sentence, and the session was to resume in the afternoon after a brief adjournment.
Tuesday’s decision exhausts all legal paths in Anwar’s bid to overturn the conviction.
Sodomy is punishable by up to 20 years in prison in Muslim-majority Malaysia.
