KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was released on bail on Thursday after pleading not guilty to sodomy charges, ahead of a by-election expected to return him to parliament this month.

“This is a slander, it is a malicious allegation and I am not guilty,” Anwar said from the dock after being accused of sodomising 23-year-old aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan on June 26.

Anwar, a former deputy

premier who was jailed a decade ago on similar charges that were later overturned, has said the new allegations have been concocted by the government to prevent him from seizing power.

Despite fears he would not be given bail, Sessions Court judge Komathy Suppiah set Anwar free on a 20,000-ringgit ($6,100r) bond and set the next hearing for September 10.—AFP