KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Malaysia's lower house of
parliament on Wednesday rejected a bid by the opposition leader to
discuss a complaint by sacked cabinet minister Anwar Ibrahim that he
had been beaten by police while under arrest.

Lim Kit Siang, head of the Democratic Action Party, told the lower
house of parliament that detainees should not be mistreated or
beaten while in police custody.

"This is not about a former deputy prime minister but a human being
and a member of this House," Lim said. "This House seems to have
lost its sense of direction."

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, whose National Front coalition
dominates parliament, said earlier that an injury suffered by Anwar,
his former deputy and finance minister, might have been
self-inflicted.

Anwar told a Kuala Lumpur court on Tuesday that police had beaten
him while he was in custody, hitting his head and back.

Lim's speech during a debate on a regulatory bill was interrupted by
several ministers who insisted that the Anwar issue was not meant to
debated in the sitting.

The house speaker ordered Lim's microphone switched off after he
told Lim several times to stop raising the Anwar issue.

Lim on Tuesday called on Mahathir to make a public statement in
response to Anwar's accusation. Mahathir was at the Parliament House
to attend a sitting of the Senate, the upper house.

"When Anwar Ibrahim was produced in court, it should (have been) a
day of vindication of the rule of law but it has turned to be a day
of shame for the rule of law in Malaysia," Lim said in a statement
on Tuesday.

Anwar, who was arrested on September 20 under Malaysia's Internal
Security Act, is a member of parliament from Malaysia's north.

He was indicted on nine counts of corruption and sexual misconduct
on Tuesday. He pleaded not guilty to these charges and to another of
sodomy on Wednesday.
 

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