PUTRAJAYA: Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim insisted Thursday he was the victim of a Malaysian government “fabrication and conspiracy” as the country’s top court continued to hear his appeal against a sodomy conviction that would send him to jail.

Anwar, who has led a once-hapless opposition to the brink of power, has long asserted the much-criticized proceedings against him are a politically motivated campaign to eliminate him as a threat.

“Based on the facts and law, I see no possibility or no other options except to acquit me of all the frivolous charges,” Anwar, 67, told reporters outside the Federal Court chambers where the case is being reviewed.

“Clearly people can see now the evidence of fabrication and the conspiracy on the part of the powers that be.”

Sodomy is illegal in the Muslim-majority country.

Jailing Anwar, who has been sentenced to five years’ prison, would strip away his Parliament seat and remove the opposition’s highest-profile figure.

Anwar was initially acquitted in 2012 of the charge that he sodomised a young former male aide. The charge first emerged in 2008 shortly after he led the opposition to historic gains against Malaysia’s now 57-year-old ruling regime.

But an appeals court controversially overturned that acquittal early this year, convicting the charismatic political veteran and sentencing him to a five-year jail term. He has remained free on appeal.

The Federal Court began hearing Anwar’s final appeal on Tuesday.

Originally expected to end with a ruling this week, the proceedings have now been extended to next week due to the volume of submissions by each side.

Government prosecutor Shafee Abdullah insisted his side was “confident of our own case.”