KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday lost his final bid to strike out sodomy charges against him, as a court rejected an appeal and paved the way for his trial to resume next week.
The Federal Court decision was the latest blow for Anwar, a former deputy premier who was sacked and jailed on similar charges a decade ago. He has lost a series of legal bids to fend off the new allegations.
Anwar, who has reinvented himself as the leader of an invigorated opposition, has denied allegations of unlawful sexual relations with a young male aide, and said he is the victim of a political conspiracy.
"We are utterly disappointed with the court decision," Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair told AFP after the three-member panel rejected Anwar's appeal and upheld a lower court decision made in December last year.
Sankara insisted that medical reports on his accuser, 24-year-old Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, showed no sodomy had taken place.
"The judges, however, said a certain element of the medical report is best heard at a full trial," he said.
The lawyer said the defence team would now prepare to continue cross-examining Saiful when the trial resumes next Monday.
The trial opened briefly earlier this year but has been put on hold due to the defence team's series of legal manoeuvres, including bids to obtain access to key prosecution evidence such as video footage and medical reports.
Anwar, a married father of six, was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 during a power struggle with then-premier Mahathir Mohamad and convicted on sodomy and corruption charges.
He was released in 2004 after the sexual misconduct count was overturned, allowing him to make a comeback to politics.
AFP
