Former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a five-year jail sentence in Sungai Buloh prison, has been denied permission to appear in the Court of Appeal in his defamation suit against S Nallakarupan and Utusan Malaysia .

 

This was confirmed by one of Anwar's lawyer Latheefa Koya, who said his attendance in court was turned down by Court of Appeal president Md Raus Sharif.

 

She added this is despite Raus not being a member of the presiding panel.

 

“We have applied for Anwar to attend. This is to enable us to get instructions from him on the decisions, such as on stay and costs.

 

"However, we were informed by the court that Raus Sharif has disallowed the application.

 

"Our client has expressed his surprise and disappointment for being denied the right to appear in a case involving him," said Latheefa in a message to the media.

 

“After all he is the appellant,” she added, saying one of the lawyers met PKR de facto leader at the prison yesterday.

 

Anwar is suing Nallakarupan ( above right, with Anwar ) over comments made in Utusan Malaysia making allegations on his sexual orientation.

 

Nallakarupan was previously described as Anwar’s tennis partner, but the duo had a falling out.