Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has recalled being beaten almost to death on his first day in prison in 1998, describing the incident as one of the most difficult episodes of his life.
Anwar said he wished he could erase and forget the experience, but acknowledged that it remained a painful part of his journey.
“No one expected that I could be beaten almost to death on the first day in prison, beaten by the Inspector-General of Police at the time.
“Yes, I want to erase and forget it, but the reality was that I was taken into the lock-up, handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten until I nearly died. I fainted until morning,” he said in a podcast aired today.
Anwar said he was taken to the lock-up in a semi-conscious state before the then Inspector-General of Police came to the lock-up at Bukit Aman.
“I was taken there half-conscious. The police chief at Bukit Aman came, but there were many who beat me or… I think it sounded like one person.
“If the lock-up has a concrete platform, when he hit me from the front, I fell onto the platform, which was why there were some injuries on my back,” he said.
Despite the ordeal, Anwar said he got up the following morning and regarded the experience as a high price he had to pay for pursuing change and cleansing the country.
“But I was stubborn too. I got up the next day. To act, bring change and cleanse the country, we paid a very high price,” he said.
He said the experience taught him that the path towards bringing about change would never be easy.
“If you want change, do not think the path will be easy,” he said.
Anwar said he had expected to be arrested because of his stance in advocating reform, fighting for the rights of the poor and opposing corruption and oppression.
“At that time, I expected and anticipated that I would be arrested. There was even a video from an international magazine in which I gave a message to my children.
“But I never expected that I could be beaten almost to death,” he said.
