Human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar who shelved his plans to seek asylum in Britain is not a coward, his colleague RN Rajah said today.

The lawyer, a vocal critic of police abuses, left the country on May 20 after he claimed he was assaulted and threatened at gunpoint. He believes that the police were behind the attack.

"We have repeatedly stressed that Uthayakumar is seeking temporary asylum as his life is in danger and he will only return if the government ensured his safety," said Rajah, the chairperson of the Police Watch and Human Rights Committee, at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Last week, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz urged the lawyer to return home and guaranteed his safety.

"In light of the assuring statement made by Nazri, we contacted Uthayakumar and relayed the message. He respects and accepts the assurance given and will return to his beloved country," said Rajah.

He added that Uthayakumar has also cancelled his interview with the United Kingdom immigration department, scheduled for June 25.

Tabloid rapped

Meanwhile, Rajah took the Malay Mail tabloid to task over its 'misleading' and 'defamatory' headlines pertaining to the case.

"It is unfair of them to do so especially when Uthayakumar is not in the country to defend himself. We are now considering taking legal action against them." he said.

He also challenged the tabloid to name the so-called 'expert' that was quoted in its June 10 report titled 'Asylum-seeker has no long term right to stay'.

"If it is true that this person is an 'expert' in international immigration law, then the person would have known that it takes months maybe even years for the British immigration to approve an asylum application.

"Furthermore if the application is rejected, there is an appeal process. Why the deliberate attempt to mislead readers in not mentioning this?" he questioned.

According to Rajah, Uthayakumar is now in Geneva where he is keeping his appointments with various officials from the United Nations, International Commission of Jurists, International Federation of Human Rights and others.

However, he has cancelled his planned travels to Strasbourg, US and Canada in order to return to Malaysia.