Ibrahim, Anwar (1947– )

Malaysian politician, minister of finance 1991–98, deputy prime minister 1993–98. A charismatic and outspoken critic on issues such as rural poverty, wealth distribution, and political corruption, he was presumed to be Malaysia's next prime minister, but was sacked from his various positions in September 1998 and charged with homosexual acts and corruption. He was sentenced to nine years imprisonment in August 2000, having been found guilty of sodomy, although he has continually insisted that he is the victim of a plot made by Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Muhammad. The sentence was given in addition to a six-year sentence for corruption that he received in April 1999.

Educated at the University of Malaya, and a student Islamic activist in the 1960s and 1970s, he founded the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (ABIM) in 1971 and led mass anti-government demonstrations in 1971 and 1974, for the latter of which he was arrested. After his release in 1976 he continued to lead the ABIM until 1982 when the prime minister, Mahathir bin Muhammad, invited him to join UMNO (Malaysia's ruling party). He rose rapidly in the government holding several senior cabinet posts, including the ministries of agriculture 1984–86 and education 1986–91. Human rights groups and many foreign governments expressed outrage at the sentences of imprisonment he was given in 1999 and 2000.