Malaysia's jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was granted a furlough Sunday to attend his father's funeral, soon after he began a five-year prison sentence on sodomy charges that he says are politically motivated, ABC News reported on Sunday.
Wearing a white Malay outfit, Anwar was taken to his father's house under heavy security to pay respects to the 96-year-old who died Sunday morning. Anwar will return to prison after the burial, which takes place after Muslim prayers.
Anwar began his sentence Feb. 10 after losing a final appeal against a charge of sodomizing a former aide in 2008. The court case was widely seen at home and abroad as politically motivated to eliminate any threats to Malaysia's ruling coalition, whose popularity has been eroding since 2008.
Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail posted pictures on her Facebook page of Anwar arriving at the father's house. Anwar was sitting on a chair beside his father's body draped in a white cloth, his wife and children on the floor beside him, and prison guards surrounding them.
She said it reminded her of the time when Anwar's mother passed away while he was imprisoned on the first sodomy charge. "Oh Allah, give us strength," she wrote.