Anwar trials (1999-2004, 2015)
The criminal cases involving Anwar Ibrahim, their court outcomes, and their effects on federal politics.
What happened
Anwar Ibrahim’s cases involved separate convictions at different times. In 1999 he was convicted of corrupt practices and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment; in 2000 he was convicted of sodomy and given a consecutive nine-year sentence.
In September 2004, the Federal Court allowed his appeal against the sodomy conviction and he was released. The earlier corruption conviction was not overturned by that decision.
A later case, based on an allegation from 2008, ended with the Federal Court upholding a five-year sentence in February 2015. The result removed Anwar from Parliament, and Wan Azizah Wan Ismail subsequently became the MP for Permatang Pauh.
The legal outcomes did not settle public disagreement about the cases. Anwar and several rights organisations described the prosecutions as politically motivated, while the Federal Court’s 2015 judgment upheld the conviction. In May 2018, Sultan Muhammad V granted Anwar a full royal pardon and he was released.
What the sources say
First prosecutions and release
2 September 1998
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad dismissed Anwar Ibrahim from his posts as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister on 2 September 1998; Anwar was later arrested and prosecuted.
14 April 1999
On 14 April 1999, the High Court convicted Anwar of corrupt practices/abuse of power and sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment.
8 August 2000
On 8 August 2000, the High Court convicted Anwar of sodomy and sentenced him to nine years’ imprisonment, ordered to run after the six-year corruption sentence.
2 September 2004
In its 2 September 2004 judgment, the Federal Court allowed Anwar’s appeal against the sodomy conviction by a 2–1 majority; he was released that day, having already completed the sentence for the separate corruption conviction.
The 2004 Federal Court decision overturned the sodomy conviction, not the earlier corruption conviction.
Second sodomy case
The second case concerned an allegation made in 2008 by Anwar’s former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
7 March 2014
The High Court acquitted Anwar in January 2012; the Court of Appeal reversed that acquittal on 7 March 2014 and imposed a five-year prison sentence.
10 February 2015
On 10 February 2015, the Federal Court upheld Anwar’s conviction and five-year sentence in the second sodomy case.
18 May 2015
The 2015 conviction ultimately removed Anwar from the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat; Wan Azizah Wan Ismail won the subsequent by-election and took her oath as its Member of Parliament on 18 May 2015.
Speaker’s statement reported by Astro AwaniParliament of Malaysia
Pardon
Article 42 of the Federal Constitution provides for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites for offences in the Federal Territories.
Federal Constitution of MalaysiaUniversity of Melbourne Law School
16 May 2018
On 16 May 2018, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V granted Anwar a full royal pardon, and Anwar was released from detention.
16 May 2018
No public record located in this review sets out the Pardons Board’s deliberations or reasons before the 16 May 2018 full pardon.
searched: official-pardon and contemporaneous-reporting searches
Where accounts differ
Anwar described the 2000 sodomy prosecution as a political conspiracy against him.
Amnesty International said in 2000 that it considered Anwar a prisoner of conscience and that he had been prosecuted because of his political activities and challenge to government leaders; this was the organisation’s assessment, not a Malaysian court finding.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded in 2015 that Anwar’s detention was arbitrary; this was an opinion of that UN expert body, rather than an overturning of the Malaysian Federal Court judgment.
Human Rights Watch characterised both periods of imprisonment as resulting from politically motivated charges; that is Human Rights Watch’s assessment.
Common questions
What happened in Anwar Ibrahim's first trials?
Anwar was convicted of corrupt practices in 1999 and of sodomy in 2000. The High Court sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment in the corruption case, then to a nine-year sentence in the sodomy case to run after the first sentence.
Why was Anwar released in 2004?
He was released after the Federal Court allowed his appeal against the sodomy conviction by a 2–1 majority on 2 September 2004. He had already completed the separate six-year sentence for the corruption conviction by then.
Did the 2004 ruling overturn all of Anwar's convictions?
No. The 2004 Federal Court decision overturned the sodomy conviction, but it did not overturn the earlier corruption conviction.
What happened in the 2015 sodomy case?
The Federal Court upheld Anwar’s conviction and five-year prison sentence on 10 February 2015. The case had followed a High Court acquittal in January 2012, which the Court of Appeal reversed on 7 March 2014.
What changed after Anwar lost the Permatang Pauh seat?
The 2015 conviction removed Anwar from the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail then won the by-election and took her oath as the constituency’s Member of Parliament on 18 May 2015.
Speaker’s statement reported by Astro AwaniParliament of Malaysia
Why did people disagree about Anwar's cases?
Public disagreement continued after the court outcomes. Anwar described the 2000 prosecution as a political conspiracy, while Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the charges were politically motivated; the Federal Court’s 2015 judgment upheld the later conviction.