Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been freed on police bail, his lawyers said today, but they added he could still be charged for sodomy.
As a condition of the bail, Mr Anwar has to report to police on August 18th unless the authorities decide otherwise.
The former deputy premier was arrested yesterday on a sodomy complaint lodged by a former aide and had spent the night in police custody after the authorities remanded him to help in investigations.
Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison in Muslim Malaysia.
Mr Anwar, a former deputy premier who is having eyeing the country's leadership position after being sacked a decade ago, has said the sodomy allegation was a political ploy aimed at destroying the opposition.
But Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar was quoted as saying Mr Anwar's arrest was not politically motivated and the government did not fear a backlash.
"A criminal case was lodged against him and the police have to conduct a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of the allegation," the minister was quoted as saying in a report in The Starnewspaper.
"Whatever action being taken is according to the due process of the law."
Reuters