The International Parliamentarian Union (IPU) has been misled over the treatment given to jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim for his slip disc condition, claimed his lawyer Sankara Nair today.

He said a letter from the Malaysian Parliament to IPU in September 2003 stated that Anwar was allowed the 'exclusive use' of a 'large' air-conditioned gymnasium with adequate equipment to carry out his prescribed physiotherapy exercises at his own convenience.

"They had even stated that the so-called air-conditioned gym was adjacent to his cell. This is ridiculous and a brazen lie! He is only provided with an exercise bed and two dumbbells, placed in an adjacent small room.

"A bed and a pair of dumbbell hardly qualifies the status of an equipped gymnasium!" he added when contacted.

According to the lawyer, Health Minister Chua Jui Meng and Anwar's consultant physician Dr S Jeyaindran promised the ex-deputy premier access to a fully equipped gymnasium after he was discharged from hospital on May 10, 2001, but this was never fulfilled

Sankara alleged that the letter misled the IPU further by claiming that Anwar was taken for routine medical treatment to Hospital Kuala Lumpur Hospital between October 1999 and June 2003.

"Between October 1999 and June 2003, Anwar was taken to the hospital only twice, once on Dec 19, 2002 to treat his pneumonia and another time was a consultation with Dr Jeyaindran who wanted to convince him (Anwar) to accept a titanium disc replacement," he added.

Explanations demanded

He said Anwar had instructed him to inform IPU of this and demand explanations from the Health Ministry, Prisons Department and the Malaysian Parliament as to who is responsible for the 'lies'.

"We don't know who provided the false information and we want to find out. It could be propagated by certain parliamentarians, the health minister, the doctor in- charge or the Prisons Department. My client suspects that it is a calculated move to hide the truth," he added.

IPU has made several enquiries regarding Anwar's health condition ever since he claimed that the government has denied him treatment of his choice.

The ex-deputy premier suffered a slip disc as a result of a horse riding accident several years ago. He claims that his condition worsened after being assaulted by former inspector-general of police Rahim Noor in 1998.

Anwar was previously warded in HKL for more than eight months since November 2000. He has also requested in vain to undergo a specific endoscopic surgery in Germany, which is not available elsewhere.

Serious act

Meanwhile, Sankara said letters to the IPU, health minister, Prisons Department and the Malaysian Parliament on this issue were submitted yesterday.

He added that the IPU was informed of the true status and urged to seek an explanation from their colleagues here.

"In our letter to the Malaysian Parliament we have expressed our view that this is a serious act that can undermine the integrity of our Parliament especially if the disinformation was within the minister (Chua) and certain parliamentarians' knowledge.

"We also urged the Dewan Rakyat Speaker to appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate the matter," he revealed.

In the letters to the Prisons Department and the ministry, Sankara said he conveyed his client's dissatisfaction with the physician in-charge.

"We informed the authorities that my client has information that Dr Jeyaindran had briefed high government officials that he (Anwar) is fine and that his complains of pain are fake. At the same time, he is perpetually pressuring my client to undergo the local conventional spinal surgery," he said.

"If our client is faking, why is the need for him (Jeyaindran) to continually insist that our client undergoes a spinal surgery or disc replacement?" added the lawyer.

Claiming that Jeyaindran failed to act professionally in making decisions pertaining to Anwar's health, Sankara said the doctor previously dismissed HKL's panel of orthopedic and neurosurgeons headed by Dr Borhan Tan.

"It's obvious that the panel is more qualified than Dr Jeyaindran who is only a physician," he said.

The letters also mentioned that the physician once ignored Anwar's complaints of back pains and gave him painkillers for months until a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan conclusively diagnosed that he had a slipped disc.

IPU's reply

In a related development, Sankara said IPU representative Ingeborg Schwarz has replied, saying that the matter will be referred to the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians at its next session on Jan 15.

"The letter (from Schwarz) also assured my client that the IPU will seek an explanation from the Malaysian Parliament," added the lawyer.

Despite numerous attempts, Jeyaindran could not be reached for comment.

In May 2001, the health minister said Anwar was receiving the "most unprecedented treatment for a slipped disc in the entire history of medical services in this country."

The ex-deputy premier is currently serving a nine-year jail sentence for a sodomy conviction, which he is appealing against.

He is also awaiting a Court of Appeal decision on his bail application which cites his health as one of the main reasons.

Anwar, who was also convicted of corruption, claims that the charges were trumped up but the authorities have denied this.