Anwar report to be published
Anwar report to be published
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): The Malaysian government will make public the findings of an independent panel investigating injuries sacked finance minister Anwar Ibrahim suffered in police custody, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said.
"What is the point of setting up the inquiry if the report is not to be made public," the official Bernama news agency quoted Mahathir as telling reporters on Langkawi Island off the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
Last month, the government decided to set up a four-member commission to investigate the injuries, including a black eye, which Anwar suffered after he was arrested in September. But it was not clear whether its findings would be made public.
Anwar said in September that he had been blindfolded and beaten until unconscious and bleeding.
The federal police chief resigned last month after the attorney-general pinned the blame for Anwar's injuries on the police.
A police investigation failed after a two-month investigation to identify the person or persons who hit Anwar, prompting calls for an independent commission of inquiry.
While opposition leaders and non-governmental organizations had welcomed the formation of the commission, they called on it to make its findings public and some criticized the composition of the panel.
The commission is headed by former Chief Justice Anuar Zainal Abidin. Its other members are former Appeals Court Judge Mahadev Shankar, former Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Yeoh Poh Hong and former Attorney-General Abu Talib Othman.
Mahathir said the commission, which will report to the Malaysian king, should be given sufficient time to complete its inquiry although "we want it to be done as quickly as possible".
Asked to comment on a newspaper report that the commission would complete its investigation soon, Mahathir said: "I don't know and I'm not aware of it."
The prime minister dismissed opposition criticism of two of the members of the commission. "I did not appoint members of the commission," he said.