A Malaysian federal court on Wednesday rejected a final appeal by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim [BBC profile] to set aside his sodomy conviction. Anwar was convicted [BBC report] of sodomy in 2014 and sentenced to a five-year jail term. This came less than a year after he led a three-party opposition alliance to massive electoral gains in 2013. A panel of five judges ruled unanimously that Anwar’s appeal was without merit [Reuters report]. Anwar claims that his conviction for sodomizing a former aide was politically motivated to end his career. Anwar’s prison term ends in 2020, but he is expected to be released in 16 months for good behavior. However, this conviction disqualifies him from seeking political office of contesting the 2018 election.

Wednesday’s ruling comes after the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined [JURIST report] that Anwar’s imprisonment was political and urged his immediate release. Anwar has continually denied [JURIST report] the sodomy charge. The Kuala Lumpur High Court acquitted Anwar in January 2012, but an appeals court overturned the acquittal [JURIST reports] and sentenced Anwar to five years in prison. The opposition leader was arrested in July 2008 after he filed a lawsuit against his accuser [JURIST reports] a month earlier. In December 2010 Anwar filed a complaint [JURIST report] in a Malaysian court over a WikiLeaks cable published by Australian newspapers stating he had engaged in sodomy. Anwar was Malaysia’s deputy prime minister under former Mahathir Mohamad until he was fired in 1998 following earlier sodomy charges of which he was initially convicted but later acquitted. He reentered Malaysian politics following the expiration of a 10-year ban [JURIST report] against him for unrelated corruption charges.