Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim to be freed on Tuesday, daughter says

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is set to be released from custody and granted a full royal pardon on Tuesday, local media reported. 

Channel NewsAsia cited Nurul Izzah, Ibrahim’s daughter, as saying on Saturday that the paperwork for her father’s release was under way. 

Newly elected Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said at a press conference on Friday that the king of Malaysia had decided to pardon Anwar, but did not give a date for his release.

In 2015, Anwar, 70, was jailed for five years for sodomising a former aide, a charge he described as a politically motivated attempt by former Prime Minister Najib Razak to end his career.

Sodomy is illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where the offence carries a jail term of up to 20 years.

Anwar was previously imprisoned for six years after being overthrown as deputy prime minister in 1998 on earlier charges of sodomising his former family driver and abusing his power.

He was freed in 2004 after Malaysia’s top court quashed that sodomy conviction.

Anwar is currently in Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, where he is recovering after surgery, according to Malaysian local media.

Under Malaysian law, unless he is pardoned by the king, Anwar would be disqualified for five years from running for office after his release.