Jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim received a new setback at his final appeal hearing today when the judges refused to consider a bail application.

Anwar's lawyers had applied for bail in the hope that he could return home and attend court daily until a judgement is made on his appeal against a sodomy conviction.

But three Federal Court judges said they would only hear the application at the end of the appeal case, which is his last chance for freedom.

Anwar has already been in jail for more than five years, having completed a sentence for corruption and begun serving a nine-year term for sodomy.

If his appeal fails, he will remain in jail until at least 2009, even with a one-third remission of sentence for good behaviour.

Anwar's lawyers argued that as he had a good chance of overturning the sodomy conviction, he should be allowed bail until a decision was made.

Application 'premature'

Presiding judge Abdul Hamid Mohamad said, however, that the application was premature and could "confuse things".

Commenting on the decision to reporters, Anwar said it proved that he had been right in his previous allegations that the judges were biased against him, but added: "Never mind, let's see what happens."

Anwar's lawyers had tried unsuccessfully on Monday to get two of the three appeal judges to recuse themselves from the case, accusing one of bias and the other of inexperience.

The rest of the day was taken up with his lawyers attacking the conduct of his trial as unfair.

Counsel Karpal Singh asked the judges to "focus on the weird and bizarre events" in the sodomy case, such as the changing of the date of the alleged offence and the refusal to allow a fresh alibi.

Anwar, once heir apparent to former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, was convicted in August 2000 of sodomising Azizan Abu Bakar, an official driver.

The original charge stated that Anwar sodomised Azizan one night in May 1994. It was changed to one night in September 1992 after prosecutors realised that the condominium where the alleged event took place did not exist at that time.

Government lawyers later again changed the date to "sometime between January and March 1993."

Not putting a show

The conduct of the trial was widely condemned internationally, and Anwar says he was framed to prevent him from mounting a political challenge to Mahathir after being sacked in 1998.

Anwar has also sought bail to enable him to receive medical treatment abroad for a back injury which he says he sustained during a beating by police when he was first arrested, but the government says treatment is available in Malaysia.

Anwar, who wears braces on his neck and back during court appearances, said today he would begin receiving steroid injections for the pain next week and denied that he was "putting up a show".

The hearing is due to continue tomorrow. - AFP