The Federal Court today postponed indefinitely the hearing of a review of jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim's corruption conviction.

The matter was postponed this morning after the parties involved were informed of a sudden death in the family of one of the judges scheduled to preside over the case.

Federal Court deputy registrar Azimah Omar broke the news as Anwar's defence team and the prosecution were getting ready to argue the matter.

"The review cannot proceed today as the father-in-law to one of the judges passed away this morning and I have been instructed to inform that the matter will be heard on Aug 12," Azimah announced.

(Although the identity of the judge had been withheld by the court as a formality, a court staff said that it was Court of Appeal president Abdul Malek Ahmad who was to hear the review together with Federal Court judges Siti Norma Yaakob and Allaudin Mohd Sherif.)

Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail then informed Azimah that he would not be free on Thursday and asked for the matter to be heard next week.

To this, Azimah had said that she was not authorised to defer the date and advised the parties to officially apply for another date.

However, the deferment was allowed after both parties met Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim in chambers.

No date yet

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair told reporters later that he reiterated to the chief justice his client's wish for the matter to be heard by a five-member bench.

"The CJ told us that he can only form a five-man panel in December as there will be a group of judges who are expected to be elevated to the Federal Court in November," said Sankara.

As such, he said no date had been set as yet for the hearing of the review of Anwar 's corruption conviction.

"I will refer to my client (Anwar) for further instructions and will immediately relay his decision to the court so that a hearing date can be fixed as soon as possible. If he says no to a long deferment, we have been told that the matter would definitely be heard in September," added Sankara.

Anwar filed the review application in August 2002, seeking leave from the Federal Court to review its own decision which upheld an April 14, 1999 Kuala Lumpur High Court verdict finding him guilty of corruption.

While there is no other avenue for appeal against a decision by the Federal Court, aggrieved parties can apply to the same court for a review of its own decision under a new bench.

Sodomy appeal concern

Anwar, who was taken to Hospital Kuala Lumpur last month after his slipped disc condition deteriorated , was not in court as he was declared to be medically unfit to attend today's review hearing.

His lead counsel, Karpal Singh, said the defence team was not overly concerned about the outcome of the review as it had no bearing on the jailed politician's freedom.

"We are more concerned with his sodomy appeal where the court has yet to set a date for its decision which ought to have been delivered long ago. The court cannot simply set a date (for decision) and then suddenly postpone it without any reason and not fix a new date," he said.

"There is also no reason for the court to prolong the matter as we know the judgment is already there ... or else they would not have set the date in the first place."

Anwar is appealing against his nine-year jail sentence for a sodomy offence involving the former driver of his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

The matter was set for decision on July 22 but was deferred indefinitely at the last minute.

'Such unfairness'

Expressing similar sentiments, Anwar's eldest child Nurul Izzah said it was 'uncanny' for the court to suddenly postpone the sodomy appeal decision, adding that it 'brought a sense of interference' from the political administration.

She believed that it was not difficult for the court to decide on the case as it was a normal criminal case. Several international human rights bodies including the International Commission of Jurists have also clearly indicated that there was no reason for the matter to be further delayed, she said.

"But as time passes, the entire episode suddenly becomes complicated and sordid. We don't understand why our father who has been recognised internationally as a political prisoner, has to be treated with such unfairness," she said when met at the court building.

She also revealed that the family will meet Anwar at the hospital this evening to celebrate his 57th birthday.

"In his sixth birthday in prison. We never thought that it would last this long and it's hard for us to see him in pain. But we all will try and put on a brave front and happy face for his sake," said Nurul Izzah.