Malaysia's Anwar told to pay PM legal costs

Anwar, now serving 15 years in jail, does not have money to pay the legal costs

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A Malaysian court has ordered jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim to pay his erstwhile boss Mahathir Mohamad the legal costs for a failed defamation suit, his lawyer said.

Anwar lost his final appeal in February when the Federal Court, the country's highest, ruled he had no case against Prime Minister Mahathir.

Mahathir's lawyers had to settle for the sum of just over 85,000 ringgit ($22,400) awarded by court Tuesday. It was a fraction of the costs they initially demanded, which amounted to more than 200,000 ringgit ($52,600).

"We'll see whether Mahathir wants to enforce it," Anwar's lawyer Karpal Singh said, adding his client did not have the money to pay.

Non-payment would mean Mahathir could choose to declare Anwar bankrupt, forcing him to sell property to raise the money, something Singh saw as unlikely.

"I don't think he will do. It wouldn't go down well with the public," he said.

A one-time Mahathir protege and seen as possible successor, Anwar was sacked on September 2, 1998, and arrested that same month on charges of sodomy and abuse of power.

Shortly after the arrest, Mahathir held a news conference where he detailed alleged homosexual acts by Anwar, which became the basis of the suit Anwar filed in January 1999.

Anwar accused Mahathir of lying about him with malicious intent after sacking him.

He is currently serving 15 years on sex and corruption charges he says were made up by Mahathir's government to thwart his political challenge.

The prime minister says his ex-deputy was immoral and unqualified to succeed him.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Malaysia Prime Minister's Office
Free Anwar Campaign

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