Anwar Ibrahim

Anwar Ibrahim (än'wär ē'brähēm), 1947-, Malaysian political leader. He first came to public attention as the founder (1971) of an Islamic youth movement and as a leader of antigovernment demonstrations during the 1970s. He joined (1982) the United Malays National Organization and served in Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad's National Front government as minister of finance (1991-98) and deputy prime minister (1993-98). In 1998 Anwar began a campaign against official corruption and differed with Mahathir over economic policy, and his former mentor dismissed him from office. Anwar was charged (1999) with corruption, found guilty, and sentenced to six years imprisonment, precipitating widespread public protest. He also was charged (2000) with sodomy, again found guilty, and sentenced to nine years in prison. He was jailed until Sept., 2004, when the sodomy charges were overturned, but he was banned from seeking public office until April, 2008. An alliance led by Anwar's Justice party made significant gains against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi coalition in the March, 2008, parliamentary elections. Anwar was elected to parliament in a by-election in Aug., 2008, but that month he also was again charged with sodomy, an action he asserted was politically motivated.