KUALA LUMPUR Anwar Ibrahim and the judge in his sex trial traded verbal barbs on Tuesday, calling each other "sick", before the former Malaysian finance minister was sentenced to nine years in prison.
After finding Anwar and his adopted brother guilty of sodomy, high court Judge Arifin Jaka said they had committed "despicable" offences.
"You are a sick man," Arifin said.
Anwar replied: "Only a sick judge would call me a sick man." After a short break in the proceedings, the judge returned to the court room and apologized for calling Anwar sick.
Arifin later sentenced Anwar to nine years in jail and Sukma Darmawan to six years and four strokes of a cain. Caning is limited to convicts aged 49 years and below, sparing Anwar, who turns 53 on Thursday.
During the court session, Anwar repeated his accusation that he was the victim of a far-reaching plot orchestrated by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to destroy his political career and prevent him from ever exposing corruption and cronyism.
Earlier, after being convicted but before being sentenced, Anwar told the court: "There were indeed some who maintained some confidence in the Malaysian court system.
"But they have seen how the trial was conducted, and they have concluded that this case has nothing to do with crime. There has been no criminal trial in this court, only political prosecution." Arifin said his was a difficult decision to take. "The principle of sentencing must reflect the seriousness of offence," he said.
"I consider all the mitigating factors. But the sentence to be imposed must reflect the seriousness of the offence. In our country, these kind of offences are despicable." (Reuter)