KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 ― Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has appealed for prison authorities to allow him several hours of freedom to attend today’s funeral of Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the PAS leader who died last night.

Prison officials have yet to respond to his request to be at the funeral in Kelantan.

“No, nothing yet,” Anwar's eldest daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

“Informal request (was made) at midnight and written this morning by lawyers,” she added.

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One of Anwar's lawyers, Latheefa Koya, confirmed that they have not heard from the Prison Department.

“There has been no response from the prison authorities,” she said.

PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz died last night at his home in Pulau Melaka, weeks after he was readmitted to the hospital due to his ailing health.

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Nik Aziz, 84, was Chempaka state assemblyman. He won the seat in the 13th general election with a 6,500 vote-majority

His death will trigger a by-election, although the Election Commission (EC) will have to first make an official announcement on the matter.

The PAS spiritual leader, who suffered from prostate cancer, was admitted in January after his health deteriorated during the recent floods.

Nik Aziz led the Kelantan PAS government for 23 years until 2013, when he stepped down from office and was succeeded by Datuk Ahmad Yaakob.

The veteran Islamist party leader remains popular even among non-Muslim supporters of federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat.

The Federal Court had on Tuesday upheld the Court of Appeal’s 2014 ruling that had reversed Anwar’s acquittal of sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, and maintained the sentence of five years’ imprisonment.