Anwar hopes seeks bail for treatment

Anwar hopes seeks bail for treatment

MALAYSIA: Malaysia's jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's hopes to be bailed on Monday to seek medical treatment abroad, his lawyer said.

Sankara Nair, Anwar's lawyer told AFP on Sunday that the once heir apparent, would attend the Court of Appeal hearing despite severe back pain.

"He is not well but his spirits are high. He is expecting a fair hearing," Nair told AFP. "We hope our client can go home and not remain in jail," he said.

Anwar is being held at the Sungai Buloh prison north of the capital Kuala Lumpur where he is serving the first year of a nine-year jail term for sodomy after completing four years for corruption. Anwar is appealing against his sodomy conviction and the sentence.

Once seen as heir to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar claims he was sacked and charged to prevent a political challenge to Mahathir.

The United States and human rights group Amnesty International list him as a political prisoner. -- AFP