KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — US Secretary of State John Kerry revealed to the media here this afternoon that he broached the subject of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s imprisonment during his 45-minute meeting yesterday with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Kerry also said he raised concerns about freedom of expression in Malaysia, amid the apparent crackdown against the local press, politicians, and civil societies for their comments on the debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

“We discussed our shared interests in wrapping up successfully the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, and especially cooperating to combat violent extremism,” Kerry told a press conference here.

“I also raised concerns about freedom of expression. And I spoke with the prime minister about Anwar Ibrahim's situation.”

Kerry did not elaborate, however, on the details of his conversation with Najib regarding the two topics.

Yesterday, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) news site Washington Blade quoted the US State Department spokesman Mark Toner as saying that Kerry had requested for Anwar to receive what he described as “much-needed medical attention.”

Toner also claimed that Kerry had raised several other human rights issues as a prerequisite of Malaysia joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), including gay rights.

“We’ve been very clear from this podium and elsewhere as you know that gay rights are human rights … And so in that context we certainly believe that gay rights fall into the concerns that we would have going forward on any kind of trade agreement,” Toner told Washington Blade.

Kerry paid Najib a courtesy call yesterday in Putrajaya on the sidelines of an annual regional security forum hosted this year by Malaysia.

Anwar is currently serving a five-year jail sentence after his appeal to the Federal Court against his second sodomy conviction was dismissed on February 10.