The South China Morning Post, HK 10th April 2001

A Dutch spinal specialist has said he will not operate on jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in Malaysia, and accused the Government of ignoring his findings that local facilities were unsuitable.

In a statement released yesterday by Anwar's lawyers, Dr Thomas Hoogland said Malaysian officials had made no effort to address "essential deficits" in equipment and staff skills at Kuala Lumpur's main hospital, where the Government wants the surgery to take place.

"The attitude of the Malaysian Government . . . forces me to withdraw my option of performing the endoscopic surgery of Mr Anwar in the hospital of Kuala Lumpur," Dr Hoogland said in the statement.

The decision appears to end immediate hopes that Dr Hoogland would operate on Anwar for a slipped disc, which has kept him in hospital since November and which he claims was caused in part by a beating he received from police while in custody.

The Government has refused to allow Anwar to go abroad for treatment, as Dr Hoogland had recommended.

At Anwar's request, the Government allowed Dr Hoogland to examine the former deputy premier and tour the Kuala Lumpur Hospital in March.

Dr Hoogland said afterwards that Anwar needed an operation within weeks and that the safest option was for minimally invasive endoscopic surgery performed at his Alpha Klinik in Munich.

In a report, he said specialist equipment needed for the surgery was not available in Malaysia, that operating tables were unsuitable, and that anaesthetic staff were untrained in necessary procedures. He said equipment and staff would have to be brought in if the operation was performed in Malaysia.

The Government said Dr Hoogland would be allowed to operate on Anwar, but only in Malaysia, where "all facilities" were already available.

Once considered Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's successor, Anwar was sacked by his former mentor in September 1998 amid disagreements over how Malaysia should handle the Asian financial crisis.

Anwar was later charged with sodomy and corruption and sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison. Anwar claims the charges were part of a conspiracy to stop him challenging Dr Mahathir for power.

Anwar's ouster galvanised Malaysia's fragmented opposition, which organised large anti-government protests and joined forces in a four-party coalition in an unsuccessful bid to unseat Dr Mahathir in elections in 1999.

By then, the economy had partly recovered and Dr Mahathir's ruling coalition succeeded in retaining power, although the opposition made inroads.

Dr Mahathir said last month his former deputy would not return if he were allowed to leave Malaysia.

In his statement, Dr Hoogland said "many political aspects" were complicating Anwar's situation but that his first consideration was "the health and the humanitarian aspects of my patient".

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair said he had forwarded Dr Hoogland's statement to prison officials and that the next move in the case was theirs. It was not known when they would reply, he said.