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No paperwork from Dr M on Anwar visit, says Prisons Dept
Published:  Jan 11, 2018 12:34 PM
Updated: 7:30 AM
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The Prisons Department did not receive any application from Dr Mahathir Mohamad regarding his intended visit of Anwar Ibrahim yesterday.

In a statement today, the department said that prisoners are only allowed visits from non-family members on grounds of urgency and at the prison director's discretion.

"Among those who have been granted permission to meet Anwar are the Selangor menteri besar and the Penang chief minister," the department said.

Mahathir had tried to visit Anwar at the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital, where the latter is recuperating following a surgical procedure carried out in November last year.

Anwar began serving his five-year jail sentence in February 2015 after failing to overturn a sodomy conviction.

However, the Prisons Department did not explain the rationale behind the decision to grant Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his deputy Ahmad Zahid Hamidi permission to visit Anwar at the hospital in November last year.

Mahathir, who admitted that he did not submit the necessary paperwork to the Prisons Department, said he had hoped to visit Anwar to thank him on recent political developments within Pakatan Harapan.

In a related development, Zahid, who is also the home minister, denied Mahathir's allegation that he had a hand in the decision to bar the meeting.

He stressed that Anwar's visitation rights were at the sole discretion of the Sungai Buloh prison.

Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed also pointed out that Anwar is a convict and cannot be granted social visits.

"Mahathir has no official reason to visit him," he told The Malaysian Insight.

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