Ms Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told The Irish Times last night that her husband, Mr Anwar Ibrahim, would appeal within 14 days against yesterday's guilty verdict on a charge of sodomy.
Clearly upset by the nine-year sentence on the former Malaysian deputy prime minister, she said: "I was disappointed at how long it was. I prepared for the worst but it still does not lessen the impact or the pain." The couple have six children, five girls and a boy.
Speaking from her home in Kuala Lumpur, the Dublin-trained eye surgeon said her husband would remain a political force despite his long sentence.
"Definitely, he's the driving force," she said.
"He has lit the fire for reform. He told me, `Even though behind bars, even within prison walls, I will continue to fight for my principles.' I spoke with him after the verdict. He said that he could have been detained under the Internal Security Act but the courts had allowed themselves to be used to make out that it was actually a criminal case. He said `I have to go through the appeal even though it is clearly a political case. We have to go through these avenues, and it will further strengthen our case that it is a political trial.'"
Ms Wan Azizah, who is leader of the Parti Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party) founded after her husband's arrest, said the verdict "leaves us no option but to go ahead and strengthen the party and win more support and increase our appeal among the voters".
In last November's general elections the party, which campaigns for more open democracy, formed an electoral pact with conservative Muslims that gained ground against the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).