'I want them to publicly apologise'.

This is what former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today on the reasons for him filing a civil suit against the home minister, former Inspector General of Police Rahim Noor and the government for injuries he suffered during police custody.

Anwar, who is now a senior associate at St Anthony's College in Oxford University and professor at Georgetown University in Washington, explained the top priority of the suit is get the three parties to issue a public apology not only to him but also to his family.

"It is important for them to accept and recognise that what they did to my family and me was absolutely uncalled for, unwarranted and wrong.

"They abused their positions to cover up the assault on me hoping to gain personally. This conduct cannot, and must not, go unpunished."

Anwar urged the court to consider the entire circumstances he was faced in assessing his claims against the defendants, adding the case also dealt with the issue of 'vulnerability of a citizen under oppressive circumstances'.

"I was first assaulted, then had the offence denied not only by the then IGP but also by the then prime minister (Mahathir). So I pray that the court considers entire context, not only the issue of the assault but how and why it was difficult for me to obtain my basic right to and guarantees of justice."

Rahim 'busy overseas'

In his statement of claim filed earlier, Anwar said that after his arrest at his Bukit Damansara home on Sept 20, 1998, he was taken to the Bukit Aman police headquarters where he was placed in a cell, blindfolded and handcuffed from behind. He was then assaulted.

Rahim had pleaded guilty to the offence on March 15, 2000 at the Sessions Court and was jailed two months and fined RM2,000. He served the sentence and paid the fine after the Appeals Court upheld the imposition of both penalties on May 22, 2001.

The government, in its statement of defence, said that the injuries sustained by Anwar were caused solely by Rahim who had acted on his own accord.

Anwar's suit is being heard before justice Hishamuddin Yunus. He is being represented by Gobind Singh Deo and Sankara Nair while senior federal counsels Mary Lim and Mohaji Selamat are acting for the home minister and the government respectively.

At the outset of today's hearing, the court was informed of Rahim's absence whom counsel Joseph Ting said was 'busy overseas'.

"While I cannot force your client to be present in court, I would advise him to make himself present out of respect, considering that he is one of the defendants named in the suit. Please relay to him the message,' said the judge.

Gobind then said he intended to submit further on this point stating that Rahim's absence showed '... his fear in facing Anwar and his own wrongdoings'.

Former AG admits

In his testimony, Anwar related that he was only able to lodge an official complaint on the assault a week later.

"I was in police custody and under the supervision of senior police officers. They knew exactly what had happened. But yet no one took the matter up. There was an attempt to cover up a crime."

"We are dealing with very senior police officers including SAC I Musa Hassan, now the acting IGP. The court can appreciate what could I have done under those circumstances with a black eye and serious injuries . They (the police) were aware of these facts and yet they took no notice of it and made it just impossible for me to even lodge a report.

"Finally on Sept 27, when police officers came to see me on the pretext pf getting my statement on the ludicrous allegations of sexual misconduct, I told them I was not prepared to cooperate until they took my report on the assault.

" The session was adjourned for three hours before they could come back with a form for me to write the report."

Anwar also submitted to the court a press statement by then attorney-general, the late Mokhtar Abdullah, who had said that the police force is fully responsible for the injuries suffered by Anwar and expressed his regret that the current AG had refused to honour that admission.

"It is quite strange the new AG Abdul Gani Patail now declines to accept responsibility or denies liability on the part of the government for my injuries. They agree and then disagree as they please."

The hearing continues tomorrow.