Jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim is staging a hunger strike in solidarity with the six Internal Security Act detainees who are holding a similar strike at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak, said his lawyer Sankara Nair today.

According to Sankara, the former deputy premier  who is serving a six-year prison term for corruption charges at the Sungai Buloh prison  started his strike yesterday.

Anwar is protesting the unjust and unlawful detention of the six under ill conceived and vexatious grounds under the draconian ISA and is demanding for their immediate release, said the lawyer during a press conference at his office in Kuala Lumpur.

However, Sankara expressed concern over the physical consequences of Anwars decision to only consume water and ignore medication for his back pain.

As his lawyer, I note with concern the impact such action will have on his already deteriorating health. He was suffering from a bad bout of flu as of last week and his back has been acting up a bit, he said.

Police report

In a related development, the wife of one the detainees lodged a police report on behalf of the six against Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Kamunting detention centre director Abdul Basir Muhamad.

Arliza Jaffar, wife of Saari Sungib, lodged the report at the Campbell police station in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

The report stated that the director was wrong in not allowing another detainee, Dr Badrul Amin Bahron, to be taken to a hospital last Saturday despite a doctor diagnosing him as being seriously ill.

Abdullah was also named in the report because family members were prevented from visiting the detainees.

Keadilan leaders Saari, Badrul, Tian Chua, Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor and malaysiakini columnist-cum-filmmaker Hishamuddin Rais started their hunger strike last Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of their incarceration.

The six, who are undergoing a two-year detention, for allegedly planning to topple the government through militant means, are demanding that they be released or charged in an open court.

Starvation effects

Meanwhile, the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) said the 15 people who have been on a hunger strike outside the PAS headquarters in Gombak, Selangor since last Wednesday, were experiencing effects of starvation.

GMI spokesperson S Arutchelvan told malaysiakini today that the 15, who are striking in support of the detainees, were suffering from severe weight loss and their health is being monitored closely.

Since Friday, four have collapsed due to dehydration. They are Keadilan Youth leader N Gobalakrishnan, Muthana Saari, 19 Badrul Hisham Sahrin, 26 and Muhamad Hidir Khalid, 27.

Muthana, who is being treated at the Islamic Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur, is the son of detainee Saari.