I refer to the letter by Suresh Gnasegarah who gave his very detailed reasons why Anwar must play by the rules. Having gone through them, I get the impression he seems fixated with the idea of going by the book - nothing else matters.

It does not matter to him whether Anwar used to be deputy prime minister, whether he was denied bail for his bailable 'crimes', whether the judges were truly independent, whether the fact that he was beaten up by the then inspector-general of police, whether there was indeed a political conspiracy against him and so on.

Suresh's view, in a nutshell, is that Anwar has been convicted and he should be treated like any other prisoner, regardless of who he used to be. Very judicious indeed. If only Suresh were the victim instead, to have felt the beating and the sense of hopelessness against the persecution of a vindictive political conspiracy.

Suresh was afraid that allowing Anwar overseas it will set a precedent and that there will be complaints of double standards. But we have had precedents before - pardons no less - for those who had been convicted of murder (Mokhtar Hashim) and corruption (Harun Idris).

In Anwar's case, the present leadership has all to gain by being humane as most of the Malaysian people would have supported them. It will cut across all political divides. But Pak Lah's reluctance has given rise to suspicion that the continued persecution of Anwar could be one of the conditions imposed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad before the former was selected for succession.

Anwar, in his heyday, might have been a charismatic leader who could have wreaked havoc on Umno. But now, in his present state, any deterioration in his health can have a more powerful effect which will reflect badly on our present leadership.

If nothing else, the government owes him an apology and compensation for the fact that the former IGP inflicted near fatal blows on him.

I wish good sense will prevail after all the arguments have been put forward, as Anwar's health is deteriorating and he has only one life.

If he is paralysed as a result of a delay in seeking the proper treatment, I will be among the millions who will not forgive the present leadership.