Malaysia’s top opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim pleaded innocent Thursday to a sodomy charge, dismissing it as a "treacherous" accusation as he was freed on bail to campaign for a key by-election to Parliament.

Anwar, who faced a similar accusation a decade ago. was charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court amid massive police secunty underscoring the political tensions surrounding the case. Anwar says it is designed to thwart the rejuvenated opposition's bid to topple the government. which has been in power since independence in 1957.

Government prosecutors charged Anwar, 60. with sodomizing his 23-year-old male aide. Saiful Bukhari Azlan, on June 26 in a condominium in Kuala Lumpur. Defence lawyer Sankara Nair said ’there is no case,' adding that Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, has an all bi.

Anwar was charged under a section of the Criminal Procedure Code that says consensual sex between men is a crime.