KUALA LUMPUR — Jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday (Dec 14) lost his final bid for freedom when the Federal Court rejected his appeal to set aside his sodomy conviction and five-year jail term, effectively ending his political career.

The decision means Anwar has exhausted all legal avenues to reverse the conviction but he maintains this is part of a political conspiracy against him.

"This is not the end of the road ... I have pleaded and reiterated my innocence, but the judiciary has ignored my pleas," Anwar told reporters in the court after the verdict. "It’s a long road, like a long walk to freedom."

A panel of five judges ruled unanimously that Anwar’s application for a review of his 2014 conviction was without merit.

"This is not a fit or proper case for this court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to initiate a review," said Mr Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, the Chief Judge of Malaya, as he read excerpts from a 60-page ruling.

The Chief Judge also refuted allegations by Anwar and his supporters that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had interfered with the conviction last February. "There is no evidence to show that there was any communication whatsoever between PMO and the Federal Court either prior or subsequent to the decision of the case," he said.

Anwar was convicted and jailed for sodomising a former aide, a charge he and his supporters describe as a politically motivated attempt to end his career. He will be ruled out of the next election, to be called by 2018. The conviction also bans him from politics for five years after his sentence ends, by which the time he will be in his late 70s.

Anwar is widely expected to be released from prison in 2018, as Malaysia grants a one-third reduction of jail terms for good behaviour. Anwar’s prison term ends in 2020.

A rising politician, Anwar was Deputy Prime Minister and heir apparent to former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad until he was sacked in 1998 by his boss over political differences, an episode that continues to reverberate. Charged with sodomy and corruption, Anwar spent six years in jail. But he emerged to lead the previously ineffectual political opposition to strong electoral showings until he was jailed again last year by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government.

But the opposition fell apart after Anwar’s imprisonment, and the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition took advantage to coast to victory in several by-elections this year.

Earlier on Wednesday, crowds of demonstrators gathered outside the court ahead of the verdict, to show support for the 69-year-old Anwar, backed by the presence of his wife, children and grandchildren in the courtroom.

Anwar’s wife, opposition leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, said her family will not stop fighting until Anwar is freed. "There is nothing that can stop this struggle. Together we hold on to the principle and hope. Don’t lose hope and continue the fight," she said on Wedneday. AGENCIES