The Federal Court has fixed July 22 to deliver its judgment on the appeal by jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim against his sodomy conviction.

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair told malaysiakini that he was informed of the date by the court's registrar this morning.

Two months ago, a three-man Federal Court bench consisting of Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Rahman Hussein and Tengku Baharudin Shah Tengku Mahmud heard extensive submissions from lawyers on the matter.

After hearing the appeal, the judges said that they would announced their decision 'as soon as possible'.

Nair said Anwar still had doubts over winning the appeal.

"He told me that he remains pessimistic more so in light of the flimsy reasons given for rejecting his bail. It is more than evident that he will not be getting a fair decision," Nair said.

Nair added that there was a possibility of applying for a judicial review should the judgement not be in favour of Anwar. "If it warrants a review we will consider the possibility," he said.

Nine years

Anwar was convicted of sodomy in 2000 by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Arifin Jaka after a year-long trial. Anwar was also then denied bail by Arifin.

His appeal against his sodomy conviction was subsequently thrown out by a three-member Court of Appeal panel comprising of Pajan Singh Gill, Richard Malanjum and Hashim Yusoff on April 18 2003.

His bail appeal was later dismissed by the same panel on Jan 21 this year without the grounds of judgement being made known.

The bail matter was finally brought to the Federal Court but his legal team again hit a dead end when Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad who sat with Justices Rahmah Hussein and Tengku Baharuddin Shah Tengku ruled two months ago that they had no jurisdiction in the matter.

Anwar is currently serving a 15-year jail sentence in Selangor's Sungai Buloh prison. While he has finished his sentence for his first conviction for corruption, he still has nine years to serve for sodomy.

Back injury

The jailed politician is also suffering from excruciating pain from a bad back ailment which requires immediate surgery.

On Tuesday night, he was rushed to the Hospital Kuala Lumpur after developing neurological problems related to the long-standing back injury. He is expected to remain there indefinitely.

The government, which has consistently refused to allow Anwar to seek specialised surgery in Germany, has offered for the operation to be done locally.