Prosecutors drop outstanding charges against Malaysia's Anwar

Prosecutors drop outstanding charges against Malaysia's Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Prosecutors dropped five criminal charges against Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim Saturday, but the jailed politician said he would rather have been tried so he could expose a conspiracy against him.

Wearing braces around his neck and waist because of a back injury, Anwar was brought in a wheelchair from his prison cell to a makeshift courtroom in an office at the Sungai Buloh prison near Kuala Lumpur for Saturday's hearing.

Plans to bring him to a regular court in the city was canceled because he too ill to travel.

The hearing lasted less than five minutes. Prosecutor Azhar Abdul Hamid told Judge Augustine Paul that "the prosecution at this time is withdrawing all five remaining charges against the accused."

Paul then formally acquitted Anwar of the charges and released him back to prison authorities.

Anwar's politician wife and children, who were present in the cramped courtroom, looked relieved at the verdict and embraced him before entering another room for a private meeting.

Anwar was defiant, saying he wanted to face trial to prove his innocence.

"It was a pleasant surprise, but I would have rather faced them in court as I believe all these charges are trumped up," Anwar said.

Outside the prison, two trucks mounted with water cannons and four trucks loaded with riot police protected the entrance. About 10 Anwar supporters gathered, but there was not violence.

The five charges date back to 1998, when Anwar was arrested shortly after being fired from Cabinet by his former mentor, Malaysia's longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and charged with multiple counts of corruption and sodomy. At two trials, he was tried for only four counts of corruption and one count of sodomy.

The court last month set a date for prosecutors to say whether they would pursue the outstanding charges against Anwar, or drop them. The charges were four counts of sodomy and one of corruption. Each sodomy conviction carries a maximum 15-year prison term; the heaviest sentence for corruption is 14 years.

Anwar claims the charges against him were concocted to prevent him from challenging Mahathir, who denies a conspiracy.

Anwar has become a figurehead for the opposition in its campaign to bring an end to Mahathir's almost 20-year rule. His trials were marked by sometimes violent street protests, which were unprecedented in normally placid Malaysia.

Azizah Ismail, Anwar's wife who formed the opposition National Justice Party after his arrest, said the government wanted the outstanding charges dropped because a public trial would have stirred anti-government sentiment.