XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
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   From: barry@m.com   
      
   KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The opposition leader in Malaysia,   
   Anwar Ibrahim, was Friday found guilty of sodomy in a court   
   verdict that may disqualify him from contesting parliament   
   elections, officials said.   
      
   The court overturned an earlier acquittal and sentenced Ibrahim   
   to five years in jail on sodomy charges. This ended his hopes of   
   contesting a key by-election in the state of Selangor on March   
   23.   
      
   The court of appeal ruled that Ibrahim had anal intercourse with   
   his male aide in 2008, a crime in the Muslim majority country.   
   His defence team's argument that DNA evidence had been   
   contaminated, which had been ruled as such by the high court   
   judge, was dismissed.   
      
   An angry Ibrahim, however, vowed to appeal to the country's   
   highest court. Ibrahim, who is the de facto leader of the   
   People's Justice Party, has repeatedly said he is innocent.   
      
   He called the case against him an attempt by the government to   
   end his political career.   
      
   "This is a travesty of justice -- a blatant disregard of the   
   rule of law," said Azmin Ali, deputy president of the People's   
   Justice Party and a member of parliament. "This case is a clear   
   case of hurried justice."   
      
   He warned Prime Minister Najib Razak's government that it "faces   
   the wrath of the people".   
      
   The court said Ibrahim could remain free on bail during the   
   appeal against the verdict to the country's highest court.   
      
   Ibrahim, 66, is seen as the most potent threat to Najib, whose   
   popular support has weakened over the last two elections.   
      
   "All over again, after 15 years, they want to put me in the   
   lockup and that is why they are rushing," Ibrahim said after his   
   acquittal was overturned.   
      
   The government has however denied any involvement in the case:   
   "This is a case between two individuals and is a matter for the   
   courts, not the government," an official spokesman said.   
      
   Sodomy, even consensual, is a crime in the Muslim-majority   
   Malaysia and is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.   
      
   International human rights groups say the legal moves against   
   Ibrahim are politically motivated.   
      
   "It's truly a dark day for the Malaysia judiciary which has   
   shown itself incapable of standing up straight when national   
   political issues are in play in cases before them," Phil   
   Robertson, deputy Asia head of group Human Rights Watch, said   
   after the verdict.   
      
   http://www.malaysiasun.com/index.php/sid/220372179/scat/48cba686   
   fe041718/ht/Malay-court-rules-Anwar-Ibrahim-guilty-of-sodomy   
      
       
      
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