The sedition trial of an ailing leader of a banned Hindu rights body, arrested in 2007 after his group organised a rally against alleged marginalisation of ethnic Indians in Malaysia, was on Tuesday postponed to April 28 after he obtained a court order to refer him to a hospital for diabetes treatment.
The non-governmental Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P Uthayakumar, held under the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA), is under trial for sedition for publishing material on a website alleging “ethnic cleansing” of Malaysian Indians.
The non-governmental Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leader P Uthayakumar, held under the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA), is under trial for sedition for publishing material on a website alleging “ethnic cleansing” of Malaysian Indians.Uthayakumar, whose trial started today and postponed to April 28, has been in detention for more than a year now after he and his colleagues organised a massive rally on November 26, 2007 complaining of racial inequality in the country.
The ISA detainee wanted a private hospital for treatment of diabetes but the court order referred him to a government medical facility.
Uthayakumar told reporters that he had asked the prison authorities to send him to a private hospital to attend to his swollen left leg but that they had not responded.
“My foot is darkening which shows acute diabetes. It is spreading to my toes. It can be chronic and shows risk of amputation. So today I asked my lawyers to get a court order so that I can get medical attention in a private hospital,” he was quoted by the online media here as saying.
He also said that he had informed the prison authorities that only he and his brother P Waytha Moorthy, now on self-imposed exile abroad, were responsible for Hindraf.
Uthayakumar said the three other lawyers detained with him under ISA - M Manoharan, V S Ganapathy Rao, K Kengadhadran - were mere legal advisers of the group and not involved in its day-to-day operations.