Amnesty International has called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on the second anniversary of his incarceration.

“The ongoing political persecution of Anwar Ibrahim is symbolic of Malaysia’s crackdown on human rights.

"He has unjustifiably spent the past two years behind bars on trumped-up charges intended to silence him and end his political career,” claimed Josef Benedict, Amnesty International’s deputy director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific in a statement today.