The National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has been given permission by the Prisons Department to visit and interview jailed former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim in his cell at the Sungai Buloh prison this afternoon.

In a press statement, Suhakam stated that the purpose of their visit was to "discuss with Anwar himself his health problems".

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair, when contacted, said commissioners Anuar Zainal Abidin, Hamdan Adnan, Mahadev Shankar and Muhammad Hirman Ritom Abdullah would be going today in response to a memorandum handed over to Suhakam which called for Anwar's right to his choice of treatment to be respected.

Sent in mid-May, the memorandum stated that Anwar has been denied his right under "peculiar medical circumstances".

Anwar, serving 15 years for abuse of power and sodomy - charges which he has denied - was moved back to prison on May 10 after spending more than five months in hospital with a slipped disc. He has rejected a government offer to undergo spinal surgery at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

He insisted that he has a right to endoscopic surgery at a specialist clinic in Munich, Germany.

The government has ruled this out but said a foreign endoscopic specialist can operate in Malaysia if desired. Doctors have warned that Anwar risks aggravating his back pain and might lose the use of his lower limbs if he refuses an operation soon. The government says it has offered Anwar the best possible medical treatment and options.

[Full report to follow]