KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 — Forty-five minutes was all the time that was given to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s family today when they visited him for the first time since he began his prison sentence on Tuesday.
They were separated by a glass wall, unable to hold, touch or even hug Anwar, who already looked gaunt and thinner, just three days into his five-year term.
For his eldest daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, the short visit reignited painful memories of 1998, when family members were similarly not allowed physical contact with Anwar.
“It is too much of a déjà vu. One that we would not want to wish on anyone,” she told Malay Mail Online moments after they left the Sungai Buloh prison.
“We are relieved to see him, but I cannot stress how it pains (us) to find ourselves back in the same glass meeting room of 1999 to 2004. Fate sometimes has a cruel twist, but we trust in God’s wisdom and remain proud to be Anwar’s children,” she added.
All six of Anwar’s children, his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and his grandchildren went to see him.
When asked about his physical and mental condition, Nurul Izzah said her father appeared to be in “high spirits” but had already begun losing weight as he has been fasting — something he also did during his imprisonment for his first sodomy case.
“He has lost weight, he is fasting now… he used to fast in prison,” the PKR vice-president said.
She added that even behind bars, her father “remains committed to the struggle” of Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
The Federal Court upheld Tuesday the Court of Appeal’s five-year jail sentence and sodomy conviction against Anwar, and maintained the five-year sentence it meted to him last year.
Anwar’s conviction has invited questions over Malaysia’s judicial independence, with the US and Australia leading the criticism of the decision to imprison him for a charge that he vehemently insists is a political ploy to end his career.
The court decision also leaves the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal opposition pact without a leader.
