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