Preliminary investigations showed that a Barisan Nasional (BN) member of Parliament was responsible for the misleading report to the International Parliamentarian Union (IPU) on jailed ex-deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's medical treatment.

Anwar's wife and Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said this was revealed when she and seven other opposition leaders met Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tun Mohd Zahir Ismail on Tuesday to submit a letter of protest on the misleading report.

She was referring to the September 2003 Malaysian Parliament report on her husband's medical treatment submitted to the IPU which Anwar claimed contained false information to insinuate that he received special privileges from the health minister and Prisons Department to treat his slipped disc.

Perturbed speaker

"When we met Tun (Zahir) on the matter, he was surprised and taken aback. He was perturbed and said that he was not informed or referred to in regards to the nature and content of the report," she said in a press conference at the Keadilan headquarters in Shah Alam this afternoon.

"In a preliminary enquiry he discovered that a BN member of Parliament had indeed made the misleading report (to the IPU) on the supposedly 'excellent' medical treatment provided to Anwar Ibrahim."

However, Wan Azizah declined to reveal the identity of the MP involved saying that she preferred to wait until after Zahir fulfilled his promise to further investigate the matter..

"We know who the person is. But we should wait for investigations to be completed. Tun (Zahir) has assured us that he would call up the MP and ask for an explanation as to how this could have happened. He said he will get back to us... so we will follow up after that," she said.

Meanwhile, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok who was also at the press conference described the act (of making a misleading report) as "shameful"

"I am surprised...as the MP concerned is a well respected and rather articulate person while in parliament. I would never have expected him to present a false report to the international community," she said

Kok also urged Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to look into the matter because this involved the integrity of the country, Parliament and the BN government.

"Abdullah has asked the people to speak truthfully to him, so since a Umno MP had lied ...he must look into this seriously to rectify the situation," she said.

In September, the Malaysian Parliament submitted a report to the IPU stating that Anwar was allowed exclusive use of a "large" air-conditioned gymnasium complete with equipment to carry out his prescribed physiotherapy exercises at his own convenience.

The letter also informed the IPU that the political prisoner was taken for routine medical treatment to Hospital Kuala Lumpur Hospital between October 1999 and June 2003.

Anwar said that such information was calculated lies to mislead the IPU and to hide the truth. He claimed he was only supplied an exercise bed and a pair of dumbbells placed in a small air-conditioned guest room.

He said throughout his stay at the Sungai Buloh prison, he was taken to the hospital only twice, once on Dec 19, 2002 to treat his pneumonia and another time was a consultation with Dr S Jeyaindran who wanted to convince him (Anwar) to accept a titanium disc replacement.

He sent a letter of protest to the Malaysian Parliament, the Prisons Department and the Health Ministry demanding explanations and urging them to find the "culprit" responsible for the misleading statements.

Refer to committee

The IPU, which was also informed of the false report, will refer the matter to the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians at its next session on Jan 15.

Asked on the consequences if the Umno MP is found guilty, Wan Azizah said they would have to refer him to the Parliament's privileges committee.

"It is quite serious but it's actually in the hands of the privileges committee. Batu Gajah MP Fong Poh Kuan was suspended six months without pay for just expressing herself (criticising the speaker's decision)...I don't know how strict the committee would be if the MP is found guilty," she said.

She also said that the opposition MPs planned to seek Parliament's help to arrange an official visit to Sungai Buloh prison "so that they can see the truth for themsleves".

"It's a bit difficult now that Parliament is not is session but we will try our best," she said.

As to Anwar's health, Wan Azizah said that her husband is still awaiting approval from the Prisons Department to have his slipped disc condition examined by another medical specialist, Dr Halili Rahmat.

"Although the prison had referred the matter to the hospital, we feel that the prisons are the appropriate authority to decide whether to allow him to get a second opinion," she said.