Malaysia's Anwar vows to fight sodomy allegations
Updated
Malaysia's opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has dismissed new allegations of sodomy as 'pure lies', and says he expects due process will prove his innocence.
Dr Anwar is facing charges similar to those levelled against him in 1998, which the Federal Court later dismissed.
Speaking on Australian state broadcaster, SBS, he claims the latest charges are a government ploy to keep him out of politics.
"I don't believe there's going to be any credible forensic, or alibi, anything of the sort," Dr Anwar said.
"There's no question that they can have it ... if they fabricate evidence, and we will challenge and fight it at every step."
The sodomy claim threatens to derail a stunning political comeback by Dr Anwar.
Dr Anwar has said he is poised to seize power from Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with the help of government defectors, after his opposition alliance claimed one third of parliamentary seats and five states in March elections.
In 1998, Dr Anwar was sacked as deputy premier and jailed on sodomy and corruption allegations that he said were politically motivated.
He was freed from prison in September, 2004, after six years in custody, when the country's top court quashed his conviction and nine-year jail sentence for sodomy.
The same court later refused to hear a new appeal against his conviction and six-year sentence for corruption.
As a result he was barred from holding political office until this year.
