Anwar's bail application pending

Anwar's bail application pending

MALAYSIA: A Malaysian court said on Wednesday it would decide
soon whether jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim would
be freed pending his sodomy conviction appeal to the Federal
Court.

After two days of hearing arguments in a bail application,
Judge Pajan Singh Gill, who heads a panel of three judges, said
the Court of Appeals would not make an immediate decision.

Anwar's lead counsel Christopher Fernando said later that the
court could make a decision within a week. "I do not want to
speculate on the outcome."

Anwar, who wants to go abroad for treatment for a back injury
allegedly sustained when he was beaten by guards when he was
first detained in 1998, was brought into the courtroom in a
wheelchair and neck brace.

Anwar's adopted Indonesian brother, Sukma Darmawan, who was
jointly convicted on the sodomy charge and sentenced to six years
and four strokes of the cane, is also seeking bail at the same
court. --AFP