Appeal by Anwar's assailant postponed

Appeal by Anwar's assailant postponed

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): An appeal by Malaysia's former police chief against a jail sentence for beating former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim has been postponed to September, his lawyer said on Monday.

Lawyer K. Kumaraendran said former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor was not well and was under going treatment for chronic asthma.

The High Court hearing on Rahim Noor's appeal, which had been fixed for Monday, was reset for Sept. 18.

Rahim was sentenced in March to two months in jail and a 2,000 ringgit ($525) fine after pleading guilty to a reduced charge of causing hurt to Anwar on the day the ex-minister was arrested in September 1998.

Rahim hit Anwar while he was blindfolded and handcuffed in a detention cell in federal police headquarters on Sept. 20, 1998.