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KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - FIVE members of Malaysia's opposition have been charged with corruption on the eve of their leader Anwar Ibrahim's critical by-election, reports said on Tuesday.
The arrests in northern Perak state - which is governed by the opposition alliance - of two members of the state's cabinet and three other members of Mr Anwar's Keadilan party have triggered charges of 'dirty tricks'.
Keadilan has said the corruption probe is designed to undermine Mr Anwar's support in a by-election on Tuesday which is expected to return him to parliament and advance his campaign to seize power from the government.
The Star daily said the five opposition members, who were detained last week, pleaded not guilty after facing a total of 16 charges relating to the development of a housing project.
The court heard allegations that they accepted bribes of between 400 and 100,000 ringgit (S$168 and S$41,950) from a businessman to expedite the project, the daily reported.
The court released them on bail and is set to hear the case on September 15, it said.
Perak's chief minister Nizar Jamaluddin, from the conservative Islamic party PAS which is part of the opposition alliance, has said he was perplexed by the allegations as the housing project does not even exist.
The two state cabinet members, Mohammad Osman Mohammad Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohammad Radzi, have filed a 100 million ringgit defamation suit against the Anti-Corruption Agency over statements on alleged bribes and sexual favours.
The two deny taking any bribes and said the ACA's actions were designed to destroy their reputations and that of the Keadilan party, the Star reported.
Mr Anwar, a former deputy premier who was convicted on sodomy and corruption charges after his 1998 sacking, faces new allegations of sodomy levelled by a former aide which he says have been concocted by the government.
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