Mahathir ignores advice on Anwar<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday
\nbrushed off a recommendation from Malaysia's human rights
\ncommission that his jailed deputy Anwar Ibrahim should be allowed
\nspinal surgery overseas.<\/p>\n
\"That is Suhakam's view,\" he told a press conference, using
\nthe Malay acronym for the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.
\n\"You cannot expect us to accept directions from Suhakam. In that
\ncase, it is better if they replace the government ... and we hand
\nover everything to them.\"<\/p>\n
The premier was quoted by the New Straits Times web page. The
\npress conference was closed to foreign media.<\/p>\n
Mahathir had said last week that his decision to refuse Anwar
\npermission for an overseas operation is final.<\/p>\n
The statement on Thursday from the officially-appointed rights
\ncommission follows a long campaign waged by Anwar's family and
\nsupporters for him to have surgery at a specialist spinal clinic
\nin Munich.<\/p>\n
His wife Azizah Ismail welcomed its statement.
\n\"I applaud the decision because it endorsed what we have been
\nsaying so far, that my husband has the right of choice of
\ntreatment, that it's a basic human right,\" she told reporters.<\/p>\n
Anwar is serving a total of 15 years for abuse of power and
\nsodomy but says he was framed to avert a political challenge to
\nMahathir.<\/p>\n
He has become the symbol of opposition to the premier, who
\ndenies interfering in the courts.<\/p>\n
Azizah's National Justice Party is launching a nationwide
\nreferendum-style opinion survey, involving the printing of
\n200,000 ballot slips, on whether Anwar should be allowed to go
\nabroad.<\/p>\n
Anwar was last November transferred from jail to a state-run
\nhospital with a slipped disc which is pressing on the spinal
\nnerve.<\/p>\n
He was moved back to prison on May 10 after he rejected a
\ngovernment offer of surgery at the hospital.<\/p>\n
Anwar insists he has the right to \"less risky\" endoscopic
\nmicrosurgery in Munich, performed by his chosen consultant.<\/p>\n
He has given a guarantee he would bear all the costs and
\nreturn voluntarily to jail in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
The government says the consultant can operate in Malaysia and
\nbring in equipment or Anwar can undergo an alternative form of
\nsurgery locally. But it insists he cannot go abroad.<\/p>\n
The rights commission said there are \"no prohibitions in law\"
\nagainst medical treatment overseas for prisoners. It was also
\naccepted medical practice to respect a patient's choice of
\ntreatment.<\/p>\n
Anwar is appealing his convictions.<\/p>\n
The commission noted that \"under ordinary circumstances\" a
\nperson charged with similar offenses could have been bailed
\npending appeal and thus gone overseas for treatment.<\/p>\n
Doctors have said Anwar's pain will worsen without an
\noperation and there is a slight risk of paralysis in future.<\/p>",
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