Malaysia's top court has upheld the sodomy conviction of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, a decision rights groups say is politically motivated. The Federal Court on Tuesday rejected the final appeal of the 67-year-old Anwar, who was accused of sodomizing a young male aide in 2008. The ex-deputy prime minister is the head of a three-party Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance that has provided an unprecedented threat to the Barisan Nasional party that has ruled the country since 1957. A conviction means Anwar will be banned from holding political office. Anwar was acquitted of the sodomy charges in 2012. But last year, an appeals court controversially overturned the decision, sentencing him to five years in jail. Phil Robertson with Human Rights Watch's Asia division said via Twitter that the government's prosecution of Anwar was "politically motivated from the start," adding that "nothing said in court today changes that fact." The United States and other foreign governments have also expressed concern that the case is meant to ruin Anwar's political career. Anwar was previously sentenced to six years in prison on separate sodomy charges, though that conviction was later thrown out. Sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by up to 20 years in prison under a colonial-era law in Malaysia.
from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1CbYuuE
from Voice of America http://ift.tt/1CbYuuE
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