Malaysia's Anwar denied bail
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Anwar completed his corruption sentence last April.
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PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (Reuters) -- A Malaysian court has rejected jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's bid to be freed on bail, provoking Anwar to hurl abuse at the judges, saying they were "spineless."
"What's new? They can't find any cogent ground to grant bail," Anwar told the court after the ruling.
"If judges don't respect the law, the constitution and human dignity, and if you are under the thumb of the executive, spineless, why should I respect you?" he told the judges.
New Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over in October from Mahathir, who sacked and jailed Anwar in 1998, sparking the worst political crisis in his long rule.
"Abdullah should stop this sheer hypocrisy," Anwar told the court after the ruling. "You talk about separation of power and yet you keep ministers who are corrupt," he said, scolding the new premier, who has set out an agenda to raise ethical standards and tackle corruption.
After rallying opposition in a challenge to Mahathir that culminated in street protests, Anwar was arrested and later sentenced to 15 years on convictions of sodomy and abuse of power.
Western governments labelled Anwar's trials as politically tainted. Mahathir said they were fair.
All of Anwar's earlier pleas for bail were turned down and on Wednesday a panel of three judges at the Court of Appeal took 15 minutes to decide that Anwar's case did not fall into the "special or exceptional circumstances" category to warrant granting bail pending his appeal against the sodomy conviction.
Wearing a neck brace and dressed in a blazer, Anwar, whose lawyers say is in need of urgent medical treatment abroad for a back ailment, appeared agitated but defiant in front of the bench.
"I'm okay. I've taken enough painkillers for today. Look at the local media, how muzzled they are, except for foreign media," he said.
"My sympathies and love for Azizah," he added, referring to his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who attended the hearing. "Don't worry, the struggle will go on."
Abdullah is expected to call an election in the coming months and Anwar's release would have given the opposition a boost, so there was little surprise in the Anwar camp at the court's decision.
Up to 200 Anwar supporters gathered outside the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, the new administrative capital built in Mahathir's last years.
They shouted "Reformasi," the opposition rallying cry, and unfurled banners and posters.
Police earlier this week barred hundreds of Anwar supporters from holding a rally at the nearby port of Klang, but there are plans for a mass rally in Penang next month.
Last April, Anwar completed two-thirds of a six-year sentence for abuse of power, making him eligible for release from that conviction, but he has a nine-year sentence for sodomising his wife's former driver still to serve.
Once feted by the West and regarded by Washington as a political prisoner, Anwar became less of an issue after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, as his ties to the conservative Islamist opposition weighed against him.
Copyright 2004
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
