A former PKR lawmaker, who is now an Anwar Ibrahim nemesis, claims that Anwar had been accorded several privileges during his last prison stint.

This, according to Zulkifli Noordin, included having durian, roti canai and a mobile phone.

Pointing out that such a treatment would be unfair to other inmates, Zulkifli reportedly called on the authorities not to repeat the same mistake.

This morning, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi ( left ), another former Anwar ally, vowed that the opposition leader would not receive VIP treatment.

Zahid, who oversees the Prisons Department, and Anwar were close associates during Anwar’s time in Umno.

"The prison will be treating every inmate justly as it is provided under the prison law," Zahid told reporters after attending the Home Ministry's monthly assembly in Putrajaya.

Also present at the press conference were Prisons Department director-general Zulkifli Omar and deputy inspector-general of police Noor Rashid Ibrahim.

Anwar is currently being held in the Sungai Buloh Prison where he will serve a five-year sentence.

On Tuesday, the Federal Court upheld his sodomy conviction.

Housed in a cell alone

Zulkifli also said that Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, is being housed in a cell alone, adding that there are also other inmates in such solitary cells.

"He has a cell to himself and in terms of food, uniform and (the condition) of his cell, it is the same as that of other prison inmates," he is quoted as saying in news reports today.

According to Zulkifli, the opposition leader is entitled to 45 minutes of visit a month, which is restricted to family members.

The visiting rights, he added, would improve when Anwar moves from the stage of being a red collar inmate to that of a blue collar.

"Anwar now wears a red collar. Inmates with blue collar are entitled to a visit once every week," he said.