Jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's chances of getting an early hearing for his bail application may be affected by the impending general election, according to his lawyer Sankara Nair.

Sankara told malaysiakini that Anwar had expressed his concern that the Federal Court may be pressured into delaying hearing his bail application until the elections are over.

"We hope the court will not get political as it would be an injustice for the court to prioritise irrelevant considerations like the elections, above my client's interests. We hope that they be fair to us," he said when contacted this morning.

Sankara also revealed that Anwar has written two personal letters to Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, requesting the court to hear his bail application as soon as possible.

"We sent a letter last week dated Feb 20 together with Datuk Seri Anwar's personal letter to the Chief Justice. But when we received no response, Anwar wrote another letter which was sent yesterday," said the lawyer.

Anwar and his adopted brother Sukma Darmawan Sasmitaat Madja were jailed nine and six years respectively in 2001 for sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar, the former driver of Anwar's wife Dr Wan Azizah Ismail.

The jailed politician filed an application for bail to the Federal Court on Jan 29 after the Court of Appeal dismissed his bid for a stay of execution pending his appeal against a sodomy conviction.

He has cited his deteriorating health condition - his slipped disc- as basis for bail but Justices Pajan Singh Gill, Richard Malanjum and Hashim Yusof ruled that his medical condition is not strong enough to warrant stay of execution.

In his letter, Anwar expressed disappointment with the court's failure to set a date although it has been two months since the application was filed.

"I fear that such delay would be construed as a failure on the part of the judiciary to fulfill its duty and responsibility in upholding justice without fear or favour including pressures from the political authorities," he said in the letter which was made available to malaysiakini.

Two recent cases

Anwar also pointed out the nine-month delay by the Court of Appeal in delivering its decision to reject his bail application and hoped that such unfair treatment will not be repeated by the highest court in the land.

"Why is the judiciary allowing such blatant injustice on me? In the cases of (Perwaja Steel ex-boss) Tan Sri Eric Chia and (former land and cooperative development minister) Tan Sri Kasitah Gadam, (right) the court had allowed oral bail applications by the two within half an hour," he said.

Chia who faces a misappropriation charge was released on a RM2 million bail while Kasitah who claimed trial to two charges of abuse of power respectively, was bailed out for RM1million.

Although the charges faced by Chia and Kasitah are different from Anwar's sodomy case, Sankara explained that three cases posed similar consideration for the court to take into account before granting bail.

"Like the sodomy charge, Chia's misappropriation charge carries a 20-year jail maximum penalty and it's a non-bailable offence. Meanwhile, Kasitah's charges are under Emergency Ordinance - same as Anwar's corruption case- yet he was granted bail when Anwar was denied bail right from the start. Where is the fairness?," he asked.