Malaysia’s top court on Tuesday upheld opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy conviction and sentenced him to five years in prison, a verdict he slammed — while standing in the dock — as the “murder of judicial independence” and the result of a political conspiracy.
The case has widely been seen at home and abroad as politically motivated to eliminate any threats to the ruling coalition whose popularity has slowly been eroding since 2008 after more than five decades of unquestioned dominance. Anwar is the most popular, vocal and visible symbol of the opposition’s resurgence that has become a potent threat to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
This was Anwar’s final appeal, which means he will go to prison immediately.
In an apparently pre-written statement released minutes after the verdict, Najib’s office urged the people to respect the judicial process, calling it independent.
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Instead of breaking up his three-party alliance, he warned 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.”
Anwar led his alliance to unprecedented gains in 2008 elections and made further inroads in 2013 polls. Najib’s National Front coalition won with a slimmer majority and lost the popular vote to the opposition.
Associated Press journalists Paul Joshua and Vincent Thian in Putrajaya contributed to this report.
