KUALA LUMPUR:  DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng’s request to visit Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar in the Kajang Prison has been turned down by the Prisons Department.

Lim said he wants to visit Uthayakumar not only in his capacity as the chief minister of Penang and an MP but also as a former prisoner.

“I want to hear him out, to see how I can assist, to ensure he gets the minimal assistance.”

In 1998, Lim was sent to the Kajang prison upon being convicted of sedition and publishing “false news” linking the then Melaka chief minister Tan Sri Rahim Thamby Chik to a rape case involving an underaged girl.

Speaking to reporters at the DAP headquarters yesterday, Lim said he understood that Uthayakumar had complained about how he was being treated in the prison and was allegedly denied medical treatment.

This, he said, prompted him to write to Prisons director-general Datuk Seri Zulkifli Omar and Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, seeking permission to visit Uthayakumar.

But he was informed by the Prisons Department on Sept 6 that his application had been rejected.

“I hope the home minister can overturn the decision of the DG,” Lim said.

Lim had previously voiced his concern over Uthayakumar’s situation and urged the Prisons Department to provide medical treatment to him.

Uthayakumar was sentenced to 30 months’ jail by the Sessions Court on June 5 after being convicted of sedition.

He was charged on Dec 11, 2007, with publishing an allegedly seditious letter on the “Police Watch Malaysia” website, addressed to then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

For more stories, go to www.fz.com, the website for freedom of expression and fairness in articulation.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 12, 2013.