KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will finally learn his fate next month when the Federal Court delivers its high-anticipated verdict in the Opposition Leader’s second sodomy charge.

The Federal Court said today that it will deliver its ruling on Anwar’s case on February 10.

"Decision of DSAI v PP at Federal Court fixed on February 10, 2015 at 9.00 am (sic)," said the tweet posted on the official Twitter account of the Federal Court's Chief Registrar's Office with its handle ‏@MYJudiciary.

The High Court had in 2012 acquitted Anwar of allegedly sodomising his former political aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in an upscale Bukit Damansara condominium on June 26, 2008.

But the decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal and the Opposition Leader was subsequently sentenced to a five-year jail term.

Last year, the Federal Court, after hearing Anwar’s appeal against the Court of Appeal’s 2013 conviction and jail sentence, deferred its decision to an unspecified date.

The apex court’s decision next month could affect the fate and future of the federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat that Anwar now leads.

Anwar has repeatedly maintained his innocence, insisting that the charges were trumped up to kill his political career as he allegedly poses a threat to the Barisan Nasional coalition’s decades-long rule.

If Anwar fails to reverse the Court of Appeal’s five-year imprisonment sentence and conviction, the 67-year-old would lose his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat as the law bars anyone fined RM2,000 or imprisoned for one year from serving as a lawmaker.

On January 18, Anwar said that he is not cowed by the possibility of being sent to jail, reaffirming that he has chosen to face the coming court ruling instead of seeking asylum overseas.

Anwar noted then that many of his friends abroad had advised him against returning to Malaysia and face the risk of being imprisoned again, but said that he had told them he would still return to the country.