The Federal Court today fixed Aug 28 to deliver its judgment on jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's appeal against a sodomy conviction and the accompanying nine years' jail sentence.

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair told malaysiakini that he was informed of the date via a fax from the Federal Court registry today.

"I have informed my client (Anwar) of the date when I met him at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) this afternoon. He is relieved that the court has finally set a date as it had been almost three weeks since it suddenly postponed its judgment,"said Sankara when contacted.

"He is also anxious to know the outcome of his appeal as it would help him decide on the treatment he must choose to treat his back pain."

Anwar is appealing against his nine-year jail term for a sodomy offence involving the former driver of his wife in 1993.

The matter was set for decision on July 22 but was deferred indefinitely, without any reason bing given, at the eleventh hour.

Anwar has since repeatedly pressed for the decision to be expedited.

The jailed politician is presently being treated in HKL after his slipped disc condition deteriorated He had been declared to be medically unfit on Aug 10 to attend a review by the Federal Court's of its decision on his corruption conviction. The review has since been deferred to Sept 6.

Will Anwar be in court?

As to whether Anwar will attend court for the judgment, Sankara said that Anwar had expressed his wish to be there when the judgment is delivered.

"I have spoken to the senior counsel (Karpal Singh) who felt that he (Anwar) must be there for the judgment ... but it's difficult to decide on the matter as the doctors treating him may object to the idea. We'll just have to wait and see," he said.

Meanwhile, Free Anwar Movement spokesperson Tian Chua welcomed the date, stating that "... it had been delayed for quite some time already".

"It should have been announced about a month ago. We feel that the last-minute announcement (of the postponement) is an indication of the court
system opening itself to questions of impartiality," he said.

The date coincidentally falls on the same day as polling for the Kuala Berang by-election.

Tian, who is the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat vice-president, described the coincidence as "strange".

"But I do not want to speculate further and hope that it is no more than a mere coincidence. To do that (speculate further) would suggest that the judiciary is open to taking direction from the executive," he said.