KUALA LUMPUR: The Prisons Department has rejected opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's application to be granted leave and attend the month-long Parliament sitting.
This was confirmed in a joint statement issued today by Anwar's lawyers, N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya, who said they had received a letter from Prisons Department commissioner-general Datuk Seri Zulkifli Omar, rejecting Anwar's request to attend Dewan Rakyat.
The lawyers said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had "evidently chosen" to reply through the commissioner general, who was a civil servant and by law, answerable to Zahid.
"This refusal is completely unacceptable and obstructive of the functioning of the Dewan Rakyat.
"Shockingly, no reasons whatsoever were given for the refusal; it was a point-blank rejection. This failure to even give reasons renders the decision arbitrary and unlawful," they said.
They added that it was "high-handed" of the ministry to deny Anwar's attendance without providing any reasons.