By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : The prisons department of the Malaysian government has again denied accusations that imprisoned Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P. Uthayakumar was being denied medical treatment.
It said in a statement Friday that it had never stopped Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees or prisoners from getting the medical treatment they needed.
Uthayakumar is a diabetic and his family members have repeatedly alleged that he was not getting required medicine and those sent by them were not being passed on to him, The Star reported Saturday.
He has said that the food being served included curry that was sweetened.
“Up until April 14, Uthayakumar was given about 10 medical treatments at a government hospital and a clinic outside the Taiping detention camp,” the government said.
However, it said that he refused to take the medicine given by the Taiping Hospital but insisted on taking only those provided by his family, which was not allowed by the prison for safety and health reasons.
The statement said he later accepted the medicine given by a medical officer, who went to the prison to provide consultation to him.
“We hope that with our explanation, the public and the relevant parties will stop making baseless allegations,” it said.
Uthayakumar, 46, along with M. Manoharan, 46, V. Ganabatirau, 34, R. Kengadharan, 40, and K. Vasantha Kumar, 34, are serving a two-year jail term under the stringent ISA for organising a protest rally last November.
Hindraf claims to speak for Malaysia’s two million-plus Tamils and has alleged that they are being discriminated in employment and education.