A Malaysian panel rejected jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s petition for a royal pardon, his lawyers and court officials said Wednesday. A pardons board gave no explanation for its decision to reject the petition, which was filed after his sentence was upheld by the country’s highest court. Anwar is serving a five-year sentence for sodomizing a former aide. He maintains the charges were a political move to end his career. The 67-year-old led a three-party opposition alliance that gained traction in the 2013 election and threatened Malaysia’s ruling party, which has been in power since the country gained independence in 1957.
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