Reaching out from behind prison bars, jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has sent an emotional plea for Malaysians to rise up and choose freedom over the repression he says people are currently living under.

Anwar also pleaded for the world's democracies to help Malaysians achieve that freedom by censuring the present Malaysian ruling government for crimes against democracy.

"A critical mass of our citizens want democracy. I have been imprisoned to stop our opposition coalition from bringing together our diverse peoples to achieve a multi-ethnic and multi-religious Malaysia.

"Malaysians who want to hold Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the Malaysian government to account for their misdeeds and bring about change for the better need meaningful support from the international community," Anwar said in a commentary published by US newspaper The Washington Post.

The former deputy prime minister says that he has given all he has for the struggle to free Malaysia from what he believes to be the repressive ruling regime, for he is certain that the country can reach greater heights.

Anwar hoped that Malaysians will also see that they have it in them to be great, and not give in to becoming a failed state.

"My imprisonment is something I will endure as a necessary sacrifice in the struggle for democratisation of my beloved country.

"However, far more is at stake for Malaysia than just my personal freedom.

"The question at hand is whether Malaysia, a country with immense potential, will rise to achieve it, or whether it will instead become a failed state?" asked the PKR de facto leader.

Anwar said he has resigned himself to what may come after his final judicial review bid to reverse what he says is the injustice of his politically-motivated detention for crimes for which he still maintains his innocence.

He accepted it as part of his lifelong struggle for the betterment of Malaysia and its citizens, which has seen him having spent 10 years of his adult life behind bars over the course of multiple jail sentences.

'Unprecedented threat to democracy'

"Although this has been particularly hard on my family, I am most worried about the unprecedented existential threat to Malaysia’s democracy and stability.

"We are at a crossroads where we can either emerge as a pluralistic democracy in Asia and in the Muslim world or where our nation will implode from grand corruption and different religious and ethnic groups being pitted against each other, fighting for limited resources," warned Anwar.

He lamented that most democracies around the world have remained totally silent, and none have taken concrete measures to censure Najib and his government before the damage done by their corruption and authoritarianism is irreversible.

Anwar rued that to maintain his grip on power, Najib severely restricts public protest, imprisons countless people for exercising their basic right of freedom of expression, and maintains almost total domination of the media and institutions of governance.

"Left unchecked, in Malaysia this will pave the way for unbridled corruption, religious extremism and inter-communal violence," concluded Anwar as he called for action from both Malaysians and the democracies of the world.

Anwar is currently serving a five-year jail sentence in Sungai Buloh Prison, after he was convicted in the controversial Sodomy II trial.

Yesterday, the Federal Court heard his judicial review bid against his conviction, and has deferred its decision.