KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (AFP) - Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, bearing a swollen eye and a bruised arm, was produced in court Tuesday and charged with corruption and unnatural sex acts.

It was the first time he was seen since his detention on September 20.

He pleaded not guilty to four charges of unnatural sex and three of corruption. Anwar in turn complained that he had been beaten until he nearly fainted on his first night in custody. Anwar had a swollen left eye and bruising on his right arm.

The court refused bail at the end of a four-hour hearing but allowed an eye doctor to examine him. Anwar is expected to be brought before another court on Wednesday, officials said.

Anwar, who had been held under the Internal Security Act which allows for virtually indefinite detention without trial, was allowed to testify about the violence against him. He has lodged a police complaint about his injuries sustained in custody at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters.

Anwar said police "beat him severely, causing serious injuries" until he "virtually passed out until the next morning.

"I was blindfolded and handcuffed. The moment I arrived at the lock-up, they took off the blinds and the cuffs but a few minutes later, they put it on again," he told the court.

"I was boxed very hard on my lower jaw and left eye. I was also boxed on the right of my head and they hit me on the left side of my neck very hard," he said.

"I was then slapped very hard left and right until blood came out fron my nose and my lips cracked. Because of this, I could not see and walk properly."

He was moved to a solitary confinement on the third day of his arrest and finally an ethnic-Indian doctor inspected him on the fifth day of his arrest, and gave him some medicine.

If convicted of corruption, Anwar faces a maximum of 20 years jail or a fine of 20,000 ringgit or both. If unnatural sex is proved he could go to jail for 20 years or be caned under the penal code, officials said.

Judge Asmah Mohamad Hashim told the sessions court that Anwar's case would be transferred to the High Court.

Anwar, who appeared to have lost weight, sat on a bench in the tiny courtroom in front of two policemen. He was allowed to hug his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and two of his children and called his mother on a mobile phone. Before he was led away, Anwar told reporters in the courtroom about his treatment in custody.

"I think they tried to send a clear message (for me) to behave and cooperate," he said. "The beating has stopped for now."

Anwar said he was kept in a dark room and "moved to and fro from secret hideouts" but added adamantly that he was "more convinced we must change and fight (on).

"I am in good spirits," he said.

As Anwar faced the court, some 200 riot police and scores of plain clothes officers were stationed outside but there were no immediate reports of new protests.

Thousands have taken to the streets to support Anwar and to take up his clarion call for political change, stiffening opposition to the 17-year rule of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Police have violently ended protests, arresting dozens of Anwar associates and barring Azizah from addressing rallies.

On Monday, baton-wielding police arrested the head of a new opposition coalition and dozens of other demonstrators as they broke up a demonstration here.

About 50 riot police and 200 plain-clothes officers beat protestors as they dispersed the crowd of around 3,000 people. Police used electric prods on some of those detained, reporters and photographers at the scene said.

Among those arrested was Tian Chua from the Voice of the Malaysian People rights group, who chairs the Coalition for People's Democracy.

The coalition was one of two formed on Sunday amid a growing opposition clamour over Anwar's detention and the need for reforms.