The apparent 'silent treatment' meted out by the judicial system to jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim appears to be taking its toll on his family as well.

During a press conference today, his wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail shed tears as she read out Anwar's personal appeal to Chief Justice (CJ) Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim to look into various cases.

These consist of several appeals and applications pending before the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court in relation to his convictions for corruption and sodomy.

"I am so sorry...I'm just moved by his thoughts on justice and fairness that he wrote about in the letter (dated Oct 11)," Wan Azizah said to explain her feelings.

She called on the CJ to consider the appeal, claiming that there was merit in the various cases before the courts to justify an early hearing.

Also present at the press conference were all the supreme council members of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, of which Wan Azizah is the president.

The letter - which Anwar had given to prison officials to deliver - was in addition to the official one sent yesterday by his lawyers to the CJ's office.

Wan Azizah said Anwar had no choice but to bring the matter to Chief Justice's personal attention as his lawyers have exhausted all avenues in seeking to expedite the hearings.

"What we are really concerned about is his bail application (in the sodomy case). He has already been in jail for five years and has completed one sentence (for corruption offences), so we really want the court to allow bail. We have waited so long for the decision," she said.

"His health is not helping the situation...he is weak... even our request for his personal physician to examine him has been ignored for months. With the PM (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) leaving, it is almost as if they want to forget him."

Contents of letter

In the letter, Anwar reiterated his innocence, claiming that he was a victim of political conspiracy involving the prime minister who "holds absolute power".

"Under these circumstances it is hard for me to expect a normal judicial process. The political situation has apparently also affected the judicial systems and the judges," he wrote.

He said the unfair treatment clearly showed that former CJ Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah's statement to improve the judiciary was nothing but empty rhetoric.

"I choose to write this to you Tan Sri (Ahmad Fairuz) because I am confident with our common goal to defend the Constitution, the rule of law...and the judiciary is the final recourse for justice," he said.

" Insya'Allah (God willing) with the change of environment coupled with our strong will for freedom, we will soon see a positive change."

To date, the following cases are scheduled to be heard:

  • Review of Federal Court ruling in dismissing his appeal against the conviction and sentence of six years' jail for corrupt practices (the hearing was last heard on March 18);

  • Decision by Court of Appeal ( pending since July 23) on bail application pending the disposal of his appeal against the conviction and sentence of nine years for sodomy, and application to submit fresh arguments to support this (filed last week); and

  • Appeal to the Federal Court against the conviction and sentence for sodomy, and subsequent application to the Court of Appeal to review its own decision to dismiss this appeal.