Kuala Lumpur, A Malaysian court on Tuesday charged opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim in relation to his role in a street protest last month calling for electoral reform at which the police fired tear gas at demonstrators.
The charges create uncertainty about the part Anwar will be able to play in elections expected to be called later this year, just months after a court found him not guilty of sodomizing a former male political aide.
The April 28 protest, organized by a loose coalition of opposition groups known as Bersih, spilled into Independence Square in Kuala Lumpur, prompting the police to move in and arrest hundreds of demonstrators.
The police had obtained a court order forbidding protesters from entering the square.
The court in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday charged Anwar with breaking the court order by inciting people to breach the barriers around the square. That offense carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a 2,000 ringgit (U.S. $640) fine.
He was also charged with participating in a street protest, the maximum punishment for which is a 10,000 ringgit (U.S. $3,200) fine.
As he left the court, Anwar said the charges were “political in nature.”
The court charged two other people with the same offenses Tuesday: Azmin Ali, the deputy president of the People’s Justice Party, and Badrul Hisham, an opposition activist.
The three men were granted bail at 500 ringgit (U.S. $160) each.