The freeing of Anwar

摘要

After almost six years in jail, five appeals, two bitterly contested elections and one black eye, Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's most famous political prisoner, is free. On September 2nd, the Federal Court, the country's highest, overturned his conviction for sodomy, a crime in Malaysia. Websites were overloaded, mobile circuits jammed and Mr Anwar himself stayed behind to talk to the thronging press for several hours after the verdict. The ruling came exactly six years after Mahathir Mohammad, the prime minister of the day, fired Mr Anwar as his deputy and finance minister. The man all Malaysians once viewed as their future leader finally has a future again—although Malaysia's political system remains stacked against him.