Opposition Leader Abdul Hadi Awang today feared continuing political interference will keep former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in prison although his six-year jail term for corruption - minus the o­ne-third remission for good behaviour - will come to an end next month.

"Many people are expecting Anwar's release to take place o­n April 14. We too are expecting this to happen but we fear that continuing political influence will derail such hopes," said Abdul Hadi in a statement.

Meanwhile, according to a report in the o­nline edition of the New Straits Times, Prisons Department director-general Mustapa Osman said Anwar will not be released from jail o­n April 14.

Mustapa was quoted as saying that although the duration of Anwar's jail term for corruption ends in April, he must complete his term for sodomy, which was until 2009.

Anwar was sentenced to six years' jail in April 1999 for corruption, and in August 2000 he faced another nine years' jail after being found guilty of sodomy. The second sentence was to run consecutively, much to the chagrin of Anwar's supporters.

He was denied bail for both charges, and in both cases, the High Court judges had not considered his remand terms when sentencing.

Government conspiracy

Anwar had maintained that the charges against him were a result of a political conspiracy to remove him from power after he was seen as a threat to Mahathir. This accusation was denied by the government.

Abdul Hadi, who is also PAS acting president as well as the Terengganu mentri besar, said that the opposition was convinced that Anwar's sacking and subsequent jailing was a result of a government conspiracy.

"His two trials as well as the judgments delivered against him went to prove us right. In other cases, the duration of remand would be taken into consideration, but not in Anwar's case," added Abdul Hadi.

He said that other instances in which justice was denied to Anwar include the refusal to grant him bail and the changing of charges against him halfway in the sodomy trial

Anwar's application to review the Federal Court's decision in upholding the corruption charge will be heard o­n March 18, and six days later, the Court of Appeal will be hearing his sodomy appeal.

In his statement today, Abdul Hadi also urged the courts not to be influenced by political elements in hearing Anwar's appeals.