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Anwar's Federal Court appeal for corruption on July 24

The Federal Court today fixed July 24 to hear an appeal filed by jailed deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim on his conviction on four corruption charges.

One of Anwar's counsel, Sankaran Nair today told malaysiakini that he was informed of the hearing date this afternoon.

"We will file in the relevant documents a week before the hearing date," he said.

The Court of Appeal had on April 29, rejected Anwar's appeal to overturn his April 1999 conviction on four counts of corruption and six-year jail sentence.

Court of Appeal president Lamin Yunus, who sat with judges Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Mokhtar Sidin, dismissed both the appeals against his conviction and six-year jail sentence, in a brief statement.

The three-member panel heard submissions from both parties from between Feb 28 and March 9 this year, making it the longest appeal hearing in the country's legal history.

High Court judge Augustine Paul had on April 14 last year jailed Anwar after finding him guilty of abuse of power in asking the police to get a retraction from two individuals, Azizan Abu Bakar and Ummi Hafilda Ali, who had accused him of sexual misconduct.

Anwar was found guilty in committing the offences at his former official residence between Aug 12 and 27, 1997. Paul's decision came after 77 days of hearing with evidences from 47 witnesses.

Anwar is also on trial for sodomising his wife's former driver Azizan, together with his Indonesian adopted brother Sukma Dermawan Sasmitaat Madja, at Sukma's apartment in Tivolli Villas, Bangsar on "one night at 7.45pm, between January and March, 1993".

The defence team closed its case last week after it told High Court judge Arifin Jaka that Anwar had no more witnesses to be called to testify.

According to Sankaran, the defence is still preparing its written submissions to be served on the prosecution on or before July 1.

Anwar has also filed an appeal to the Federal Court against judge Arifin's ruling that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad need not testify in the trial after the Court of Appeal has upheld this ruling early this month.

The sodomy case will be reopened again should the Federal Court decide that the prime minister should testify. Otherwise, the court would not wait for the Federal Court's decision and will deliver its judgment at an appropriate time.

Anwar, one-time heir apparent to the prime minister post, has repeatedly denied all charges and said they were fabricated by political rivals to end his political career.

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