Former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is hoping 13 judges of the Federal Court will not hear his application for a review of his Sodomy II conviction and five years' jail sentence, which is to be heard this coming Wednesday.

His lawyer Latheefa Koya told Malaysiakini that they had sent a letter to the Federal Court registrar today, by hand and by fax, informing the court of Anwar's request.

The letter was sent by the firm of Daim & Gamany.

“Anwar is requesting that the 13 judges who had heard the merits of his conviction and sentence, at one point or another, be excluded from the panel that is scheduled to hear the review on Wednesday,” Latheefa said.

However, the judges were not named in the letter. There are at present 15 judges who attend to cases before the highest court in the country.

Naturally, the five judges who upheld Anwar's conviction and sentence in February last year cannot be on Wednesday's panel.

The five are Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria and Court of Appeal president Justice Md Raus Sharif, besides Federal Court judges Abdull Hamid Embong, Suriyadi Halim Omar and Ramly Ali.

Abdull Hamid retired earlier this year.

Anwar applied for a review of his conviction and five-year jail for Sodomy II and earlier this year a five-member bench, led by Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin, rejected his application to call former Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Ramli Yusof to the witness stand.

The other judges sitting with Justice Zulkefli Ahmad were Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Richard Malanjum and Federal Court judges Hasan Lah, Abu Samah Nordin and Zaharah Ibrahim.

Federal Court judges Balia Yusof Wahi and Aziah Ali heard the prosecution's appeal that led to Anwar's conviction in the Court of Appeal two years ago, while the another Federal Court judge, Azahar Mohamed, was part of the prosecution team in Sodomy I.

Normally, judges from the Court of Appeal can be brought in to hear cases in the Federal Court, but it remains uncertain whether they would be brought in to hear Anwar’s review bid.

Anwar's legal team will be led by former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram.