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 The U.N. Human Rights office and Australia said they were
disappointed by the ruling. Human Rights Watch condemned it as
persecution and Amnesty International said it would have a chilling
effect on freedom of expression.
Anwar, the ruling party's rising star in the mid-1990s before he
fell out with then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, denied the
charge that led to his second conviction for sodomy as a fabrication
aimed at ending his political career.
"I will walk again for the third time into prison but rest assured
that I will walk in with my head held high," a defiant Anwar said in
a statement he read out in court.
"I maintain my innocence."
Prime Minister Najib Razak's government has rejected any suggestion
of interference in the case.
"Malaysia has an independent judiciary, and there have been many
rulings against senior government figures," the government said in a
statement after the ruling.
Anwar criticized the court saying that in rejecting his appeal it
was "bowing to the dictates of the political masters".
 "You chose to remain on the dark side and drown your morals and your
scruples in a sea of falsehood and subterfuge," he told the judges
who walked out of the court as he spoke.
"I will not surrender," he said.
Anwar later comforted his wife and children and had a meal with them
before being taken to the Sungai Buloh prison, about 30 km (20
miles) from Kuala Lumpur.
A court found the 67-year old former deputy prime minister guilty in
March last year of sodomizing a former political aide.
The conviction disqualifies him from political office and contesting
the next election that must be held by 2018.
Nurul Izzah, Anwar's daughter who is also a political leader in his
Parti Keadilan Rakyat, was also defiant.
"This is not the end," said told reporters outside the court.
Anwar is head of a three-party opposition alliance that made
stunning gains in a 2013 general election which for the first time
raised the possibility of a genuine challenge for the coalition that
has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957.
The decision against him raises the prospect of a fresh bout of
political agitation which could make investors even more cautious
about putting money into an economy so heavily dependent on oil and
gas revenues at a time when global prices are so low.
"PERSECUTION"
Anwar's party and the opposition alliance plan protests against the
verdict. Hundreds of his supporters outside the court waved party
flags and shouted "Down with Barisan Nasional", referring to the
ruling coalition.
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"What has happened today is not fair but this has happened before
... we will keep fighting," said an Anwar supporter who identified
herself as Salihah M, 36.
Australia said it was disappointed and "deeply concerned" about
Anwar's sentence.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called
the court ruling a "travesty of justice".
"Prime Minister Najib Razak's government has persisted in its
politically motivated prosecution of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim
at the expense of democratic freedoms and the rights to
non-discrimination and privacy for all Malaysians," he said.
The U.N. Human rights office said sodomy should not be a criminal
offence.
Anwar has for years been the greatest threat to Malaysia's political
establishment. His jailing could undermine the opposition's unity
and the challenge it poses but it could also galvanize dissent.
His political career has been turbulent since he was sacked in 1998
after falling out with then premier Mahathir and then campaigned
against corruption and nepotism and led a nationwide "reformasi"
(reform) protest movement.
He has been beset by legal problems and spent several years in
prison after being convicted of corruption and an earlier sodomy
charge.
Mahathir remains hugely influential and his old guard was critical
of an attempt by Prime Minister Najib to introduce reforms after he
came to power in 2009.
Following the ruling coalition's worst ever election result, in the
2013 polls, Mahathir attacked what he called Najib's "bad
performance".
Some ruling party members and analysts have played down fear of
upheaval in response to Anwar's return to jail.
"Anwar's political image is not anywhere near close to what it was
in the '90s," Wan Saiful Wan Jan, of the Institute for Democracy and
Economic Affairs, said earlier.
"The country has moved on."
(Writing by Praveen Monon; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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