Nine British Parliamentarians want their government to 'impress upon' Malaysia the need for a just and fair decision in ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's appeal against his sodomy conviction, which is currently underway.

The nine moved a motion at the British Parliament on May 10 urging the House to call on their government to act on the issue.

The MPs were Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott, Harry Cohen, Neil Gerrad, Mike Hancock, Paul Holmes, Elfyn Llwyd, Alice Mahon and John Mcdonell.

In their motion, they said the House must "register its concern that the Malaysian Court of Appeal (sic) is about to announce its decision in the case of Anwar Ibrahim, who was imprisoned for sodomy in 2002, the trial having been criticised by a UN special envoy for compromising the independence and impartiality of the Malaysian justice system by, amongst other things, excluding senior judges from hearing the case".

They added that the House must also note that "previous trials were deemed not to have met international standards of fairness (and) further note Anwar's ever-deteriorating health in detention".

In view of these, the MPs called on "her Majesty's government to impress upon the Malaysian government the importance of a just and fair decision in Anwar's case, which would only serve to improve Malaysia's standing in the international context of human rights".

Final appeal

Anwar's appeal is currently being heard by the Federal Court, his final avenue. If he fails to get his conviction overturned, he would have to remain in prison for at least another five years.

The former deputy premier was sacked in 1998 by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He was subsequently convicted for sodomy and corruption.

Anwar claims the charges were fabricated by Mahathir and his associates after he began cracking down on corruption during his tenure as deputy prime minister.

However, Mahathir and the authorities have dismissed this charge.

Anwar's trials have also received widespread criticism, both domestically and internationally.

Yesterday, his counsel told the Federal Court that the trial judge for Anwar's sodomy case had deliberately ignored the evidence produced by defence witnesses.