Anwar appeals against sodomy conviction

Anwar has been refused treatment in Germany

The jailed former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, has launched an appeal against his conviction for sodomy.

Anwar says the charges against him were politically motivated, an allegation strongly denied by the Malaysian authorities.

He was convicted of sodomy in August last year, after a controversial trial, and jailed for nine years on top of a six-year sentence he was already serving for corruption.

Mahathir denies framing his former deputy

A previous appeal against his conviction for corruption failed.

If the sodomy appeal fails he could be in prison until 2014 without remission.

The appeal petition, delivered to the appeal court by Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair, says the charge against Anwar "amounts to nothing more than trumped up allegations designed to remove him from the political arena".

Bad back

Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister three years ago. He says he was framed on orders from his former political ally Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to eliminate a potential political threat.

Anwar still symbolises political discontent

Anwar's lawyers said High Court Judge Arifin Jaka had delayed their client's appeal of the sodomy conviction by withholding written judgement until June this year, when normal practice would have seen it delivered much earlier.

Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, head of the opposition National Justice Party, said the appeal also asked for an early hearing since her husband was suffering from back pain and could not "undergo longer periods of waiting".

Earlier this year the government refused to let Anwar travel to Munich for a spinal operation for his slipped disc. The government did offer treatment in Malaysia, but Anwar's family has appealed to let him have "less risky" specialist treatment.

Mahathir has said his decision to refuse Anwar an overseas operation is final.