KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 10): Putrajaya must release former opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as he is serving a prison sentence for politically motivated charges, says human rights monitor Amnesty International.

In a statement today, deputy director for campaigns Josef Roy Benedict said Anwar was a prisoner of conscience who was targeted only because he was exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Anwar is serving a five-year prison sentence for sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Benedict also urged Putrajaya to take steps to repeal or amend laws that impose unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and bring them into compliance with international human rights law and standards.

Authorities should drop charges and quash convictions against all individuals who had been targeted simply for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, he said.

He added that the criminalisation of consensual sexual activity between adults — including those of the same sex — is contrary to international human rights law.

“No person should be arrested or detained for consensual sex with another adult — it is not a recognisable criminal offence under international law. Malaysia’s ‘sodomy’ law should be removed from the statute book altogether,” he said.

He added that Anwar's imprisonment comes amid a wider crackdown on freedom of expression and political dissent in Malaysia.

He quoted a recent report by Amnesty International that highlighted how at least 91 people, including human rights defenders, political activists, journalists, academics, and opposition politicians, were investigated, arrested or charged in 2015 alone under the Sedition Act 1948.

Other laws that have been used to silence critical voices include the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, the Multimedia and Communications Act 1998, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, he added.