Jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has launched a fresh attempt to overturn his conviction for sodomy.

Anwar is claiming that his conviction resulted from perjured evidence, as the main prosecution witness Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan was untruthful.

According to documents filed in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today, Anwar claimed the government knew about Saiful's alleged perjured evidence.

In view of this, he wants his conviction and sentence by the Court of Appeal and Federal Court to be set aside.

Anwar named the Malaysian government as defendant.

The application, filed today by law firm Daim and Gamany, follows a failed bid in the Federal Court on Dec 14 last year for a review of his conviction and five-year jail sentence.

Following his conviction, the PKR de facto leader vowed that the decision was not the end of the road for him. Anwar has already served more than two years of his jail sentence. 

Also present were PKR president and Anwar's wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, PKR vice-president and Batu MP Tian Chua and Pakatan Harapan chief secretary Saifuddin Abdullah.

Anwar, 69, claimed in his statement of claim today that the government had fabricated evidence in the form of a DNA sample, which he claims was used to support evidence from Saiful (photo).

He further suggested the government had fraudulently and had intention to injure him by placing Saiful as a truthful witness and that the evidence against him was perjured.

Anwar further alleged that the government, through its agents, Saiful and other individuals known to the government, had acted concertedly to place Saiful as a truthful complainant and produced him (Saiful) in the trial and relied on his false testimony to injure him and his reputation.

He further claimed that Saiful's evidence was perjured, with the government's knowledge that the sodomy act, as claimed by Saiful, did not take place.

Following the purported fraud, the Court of Appeal judgment and the afiirmation by the Federal Court are therefore null and void and should be set aside under Section 44 of the Evidence Act, Anwar said.  

He is seeking that two judgments - the Court of Appeal's on March 7, 2014, and theFederal Court's on Feb 10, 2015 - be set-aside for fraud and that he be released immediately. He is further seeking costs and other relief deemed necessary by the court.

Wan Azizah said it is wrong for an innocent person to be imprisoned, even if it is just for a day, and thus, it is important for justice to be upheld. 

Saifuddin said Pakatan Harapan is in support of Anwar's latest bid to set-aside his conviction and sentence.

“Anwar should be with us physically (to fight in the general election), but he is with us spiritually to go against the ruling government,” he said.

He pointed out that in surveys conducted, be it by Merdeka Center or Institut Darul Ehsan, Anwar remained a prominent leader.

Anwar's lawyer and Padang Serai MP, N Surendran, said that he has also filed in a certificate of urgency for the matter be heard quickly.

“We will meet with the registrar to fix an early date for the trial to be heard immediately. We will bring the perjured evidence in trial,” Surendran said.

Meanwhile, Anwar, commenting on his application, said he was looking forward to the hearing.

"I hope that I will be given a fair trial. They must allow us to present our case," Anwar said, just before his suit against Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin came before the court this afternoon.