THE Prisons Department has refused to allow Dr Mahathir Mohamad to visit Anwar Ibrahim in hospital, despite the Bersatu chairman filing his request early, says Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah.

She said attempts to talk to the hospital management for permission to see PKR’s de facto leader were also futile.

“We need to get permission from three authorities for the visit but the hospital has said it will not interfere with the visit. 

“Certain individuals like Cabinet Minister Nazri Aziz were allowed in. There is no consistency,” she said at the Rehabilitation Hospital in Cheras today. 

She said Dr Mahathir did not receive a formal reply to his request to visit Anwar.

“He had been planning to visit since after the surgery and we had known for quite some time (that Dr Mahathir will not be allowed to visit Anwar). We discussed it with Dr Mahathir and we tried to make it happen. That was why we met with the hospital authority,” said Nurul Izzah.

Dr Mahathir spoke with the hospital management before proceeding to the ward where Anwar was housed.

However, it is understood that Dr Mahathir was barred from entering the ward by the 30 prison and police officers who were at the entrance.

This is Dr Mahathir’s first attempt to visit Anwar in hospital. He had earlier said that he wished to visit but had been bogged down by   meetings and other duties as chairman of Bersatu and PH. Dr Mahathir has also had problems with his health.

A visibly disappointed Dr Mahathir left the hospital at 4.50pm, about 20 minutes after his arrival. – January 10, 2018.