Anwar supporters gather outside prison to celebrate 69th birthday

SUNGAI BULOH: A group of supporters gathered outside the gates of the Sungai Buloh prison here to call for the release of jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the night of his 69th birthday.  

The event, which was organised by the Bebas Anwar campaign began at 9pm was also attended by prominent opposition leaders and social activist.

Speaking from the back of a pick-up truck, former Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan told supporters that the best birthday present that Anwar could receive was for a united Opposition to face Barisan Nasional in the upcoming 14th general-elections.

Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah meanwhile said that Anwar was an icon of student and youth activism in Malaysia that should not be forgotten.

Meanwhile Batu MP Tian Chua was optimistic that Anwar would be released before his next birthday.

The event also had a carnival like atmosphere as supporters brought birthday cakes, read poems, posed for a picture with a cardboad cutout of Anwar and sang along when a member of the organising committee sang a song in Mandarin dedicated to Anwar.

Also present at the event was PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, former Umno division chief Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan and national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said.

Sepang MP Mohamed Hanipah Ahmad made a special appearance at the event in a wheelchair despite still recovering from a brain haemorrhage.

Anwar who was born on August 10, 1947, is currently serving a five year sentence at the prison.

On Feb 10, the Federal Court upheld the Court of Appeal’s five-year prison sentence on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at the Desa Damansara condominium in Bukit Damansara on June 26, 2008.