Family of Malaysia's Anwar Launches Freedom Campaign

The family of jailed Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday described his five-year incarceration as an "outrage" and vowed an international campaign to free the former deputy prime minister.

The "March to Freedom" program, Anwar's second daughter Nurul Nuha Anwar said, is designed to drum up international support from political leaders and human rights groups to press for her father's release.

"March to Freedom is that struggle," she said. "A struggle to free our father from unjust incarceration and give voice to Malaysians who have suffered injustice in our country."

Nuha, 31, said the jail sentence imposed on her father on Tuesday had left the family "devastated."

"We hoped justice would prevail. However the outcome has left us devastated. We are outraged," she said in a statement.

Tuesday's ruling was also criticized by international human rights groups, Australia and the United States, which said it raised questions over the rule of law.

Government critics say the case is part of a long-running campaign to destroy Anwar, who was ousted from the ruling party in the late 1990s and later helped unite a previously divided and hapless opposition into a formidable force.

Anwar's conviction is expected to have a big impact on Malaysia's political landscape, which recently saw a rejuvenated opposition coalition gaining significant electoral ground from the long-ruling government.