The government must recognise PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's status as a prisoner of conscience and as such he should be placed under house arrest, said his lawyers today.

This is especially since global organisation Amnesty International had officially declared Anwar a prisoner of conscience, they said.

Anwar's lawyers, N Surendran, Latheefa Koya ( photo ) and R Sivarasa in a statement today said the country, as a trading nation, could not afford to ignore the opinion of the international community.

Neither can it as a democratic nation, they said, ignore the concerns of ordinary Malaysians for Anwar.

"His conviction and jailing has been criticised by governments, respected organisations and prominent individuals throughout the world.

"Millions of ordinary Malaysians share the concerns of the international community on the jailing of Anwar," they said.

Address serious health conditions

As such, the lawyers confirmed that they had, on the instructions of PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, formally written to the Home Minister (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) and Prisons director-general (Zulkifli Omar) asking that Anwar be treated as a prisoner of conscience.

"Accordingly, we have asked that Anwar be removed from Sungai Buloh prison, and placed under house arrest as befitting a prisoner of conscience. His house arrest will be at his usual place of residence at Bukit Segambut, Kuala Lumpur.

"We have made this request in accordance with legal requirements, pursuant to section 43 of the Prisons Act 1995."

This is the second time Anwar's lawyers have urged the authorities to place him under house arrest.

Sivarasa last month said Anwar's health is deteriorating as a result of not being provided access to treatments required to address his serious health conditions.

The PKR parliamentarian had said that Anwar has lost 6kg since his incarceration on Feb 10 and is suffering from irregular blood pressure, a 4cm growth in his kidney, muscle tear on his shoulder

and chronic arthritis.

Anwar has since served 155 days of imprisonment now after he was found guilty of sodomy and sentenced to five years in jail in February.