Lim also says the DAP re-election will proceed as planned despite a grassroots member filing for a court injunction yesterday to stop the fresh polls.
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today called upon Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to allow him to meet human rights activist and lawyer P Uthayakumar who is currently serving a 30 month jail term for sedition in the Kajang prison.
Lim said he has written to the Prisons’ Department and the Home Ministry in his capacity as Penang chief minister but his request was turned down by the Prisons’ Department director Zulkifli Omar on Sept 6.
Hence, he hoped that the home minister would reconsider the request which was rejected by Zulkifli.
Under the Prison Act 1995, nobody except family members of an inmate is allowed to meet him or her once a month. Anyone else must apply for prior permission for such visits.
Lim said his request to meet Uthayakumar was purely on humanitarian grounds as the latter claimed he was not receiving adequate medical treatment in the prison.
“As an ex-convict, I think I understand how he feels. So I hope I can meet him to see what I can do for him,” he said.
Uthayakumar was convicted to jail for penning an open letter to the British prime minister in 2007 to highlight the plight of the local Indian community and the responsibility of the British government who brought them in during the colonial era.
He was one of the five who organised the Hindraf mega rally in 2007, and further established the Human Rights Party then, of which he is the pro-tem secretary-general.
Meanwhile on a separate issue, Lim said the DAP re-election would proceed as planned despite a grassroots member A David Dass filing for a court injunction yesterday to stop the fresh polls.
Describing as an act of sabotage, Lim said the party would proceed until they receive further notice from the court.
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