PKR has told the Inspector-General Police Khalid Abu Bakar to keep his men away from the vigil Anwar Ibrahim’s family and PKR are holding for the jailed opposition leader.

Responding to the IGP’s urging to cancel the nightly vigils outside Sungai Buloh prison, PKR vice-president Tian Chua agrees with Khalid that the men in blue have better things to do than to police the solidarity gathering.

"When he said the cops have better things to do, I also agree. But they shouldn’t come and try to disturb us," he said when met at the vigil attended by a multiracial crowd of 300 tonight.

The vigil was not started by Anwar's family or PKR, he said, but by some individuals last night after Anwar was sent to jail that afternoon.

"It’s like (the) Reformasi (era). It is not started by the party or the family members," said the Batu MP, who was a front-line Reformasi activist.

IGP Khalid earlier urged Anwar’s wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to call off the vigil because it is a burden to police.

"When they gather, police have to allocate resources to manage the crowd. If the vigils continue, we will need to use a lot of resources to ensure order.

"Police have more important things to do than to take care of Wan Azizah and her group outside prison. I hope she thinks about this rationally," he told Astro Awani.

Wan Azizah yesterday said the vigils will be held nightly at 9pm and will continue for as long as people are interested to gather.

The vigil tonight, also attended by Anwar's children, had a defiant tone but was peaceful.

Even so, about 20 prison helmeted prison guards armed with batons and shields formed a cordon line in front of the prison gates.

Anwar was sentenced to five years in jail for sodomising his aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.