Jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim hopes that the appeal against his sodomy conviction will be heard by the Court of Appeal as soon as possible.

He lamented that since he has been denied bail, further delay of the hearing will not only cause him to be incarcerated longer but also aggravate the deterioration of his health.

Anwar said this in a letter to acting Court of Appeal president Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim (also the Chief Judge of Malaya) dated June 4.

"I had expressed my disappointment on the delay by the trial judge Datuk Arifin Jaka in issuing the grounds of judgment which was given eight months after the conviction and sentence were made.

"The notes of evidence only came in July 2001 which is almost a year after the sentencing. Things got worse as I continue to be detained despite my illness. We only managed to file a notice of appeal in Aug 2001," he said.

Extreme burden

Meanwhile, Anwar's wife and Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail urged the judiciary to take the necessary steps to ensure that the appeal is heard soon.

"The delay has put an extreme burden on us considering Anwar is still in jail and in need of medical treatment," said Wan Azizah in a press statement yesterday.

When contacted, Anwar's lawyer, Sankara Nair told malaysiakini that four letters were sent to the Court of Appeal but there has been no reply.

"I sent letters on Aug 24 and Sept 19 last year and there was no reply. Another letter was sent on Feb 11 but there was still no reply.

"So I asked senior counsel Karpal Singh to send another letter which he did on April 11 but still no response was given. Then my client decided to make the request himself," said Sankara.

He also claimed that there was no response to their request to meet Ahmad Fairuz to discuss the matter.

On April 14, 1999 Justice S Augustine Paul found Anwar guilty on four counts of corrupt practices and sentenced him to six years in jail.

On Aug 9, 2000 Justice Arifin Jaka convicted Anwar for sodomy and sentenced him to nine years jail which is to be served after his sentence for corrupt practices ends this year.

His appeal against Paul's decision had been dismissed by the Court of Appeal while the outcome of his appeal at the Federal Court had been deferred indefinitely.

Anwar is suffering from a slipped-disc which he claimed has worsened after being assaulted by former Inspector-General of Police Abdul Rahim Noor.

The police chief was jailed two months for the assault.