Federal court to decide on Dec 14 on Anwar's application to set aside sodomy conviction

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pix) will know on Dec 14 whether the Federal Court will allow or dismiss his application for a review of its decision upholding his conviction and sentence by the Appeal Court for sodomy.
Anwar is seeking to set aside his conviction, after having been found guilty of sodomising Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 31, and the five-year sentence imposed by the Appeal Court on March 7, 2014.
The Federal Court is set to deliver its decision on that day on Anwar's application to review the decision of a previous panel of the Federal Court.
One of Anwar's lawyers, Latheefa Koya, informed the media that the Federal Court deputy registrar, in a letter to Tetuan Daim & Gamany dated Dec 5, informed that the Federal Court would give its decision on Dec 14, at 9am.
Anwar wants the Federal Court to invoke Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995 and review the decision of the five-member panel led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria.
Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995 allows the losing party to seek a review of a Federal Court decision.
Although the Federal Court has the jurisdiction to review its own decision to prevent injustice and abuse of the court process, generally this will only be exercised in very exceptional circumstances.
Anwar, 69, is serving a five-year jail term in the Sungai Buloh Prison after the Federal Court on Feb 10, 2015, upheld his conviction and sentence imposed by the Appeal Court.
He has been in jail for almost one year and 10 months. If Anwar's review application is successful, he will be released from prison as there will be no conviction and he will be able to contest in the 14th General Election due in June 2018. — Bernama