DHAKA: Malaysia’s top court has upheld opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s conviction for sodomy.

Anwar was accused of having sex with a male aide in 2008. Sodomy is illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia, but very few people are ever prosecuted.

The popular politician was sentenced to five years in jail in March 2014 after an earlier acquittal was overturned, a ruling against which he appealed.

He says the case is a bid by the ruling coalition to block him from politics.

Anwar, who heads a three-party alliance, is widely seen as the only man who can break the governing coalition’s dominance, correspondents say.

The Barisan Nasional has been in power since 1957, but suffered its worst-ever result in the most recent elections in May 2013.

BDST: 1230 HRS, FEB 10, 2015