Ten years after her husband was detained for sodomy, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail feels a sense of déjà vu over the latest arrest of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday.
"It is a feeling of déjà vu. Of course, now my children are big and I am in Parliament. But I feel it should not have happened this way," she told reporters Wednesday outside the KL police headquarters after meeting the PKR de facto leader.
Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah and one of her daughters arrive at the city police headquarters where police had taken Anwar."I have a fear because, although they guarantee his safety, it was the same thing that they said before but it didn’t happen."
She also expressed regret over the way Anwar's arrest was handled by the police on Wednesday. "It now has political connotations," she said.
The Permatang Pauh MP was with her daughters Nurul Izzah and Nurul Nuha, son-in-law Raja Ahmad Shahrir and one of Anwar's lawyers Sankara Nair.
The PKR president also said her husband told her and Malaysians to remain calm.
"He is doing well, so far," she said.
"I regret the way he was detained. After all, he had given his assurance that he would be here. He will act within his legal rights."
Earlier before meeting her husband, Dr Wan Azizah said she was at Parliament when informed about Anwar's arrest.
"I was told by our lawyer about the arrest," she said.
"I felt there was something fishy when an MP spoke about my husband in his speech in Parliament."
Nurul Izzah, who is also Lembah Pantai MP, expressed shock over the manner in which her father was arrested.
"We were ready to come (here). My sisters and I had already agreed to accompany our father and be here by 2pm. How am I supposed to feel safe?"
She arrived with her husband Raja Ahmad at about 1.55pm and was seen handing over her marriage card to obtain a visitor's pass to enter the building as she had left her MyKad in parliament.
Nurul Izzah also said the arrest of her father was carried out by Special Action Unit commandos, similar to what happened in 1998.
She said their requests to obtain the police report made by his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan alleging he had been sodomised had not been met so far.
"We continue to be concerned for his safety. We have no problems with the local police force. They are just doing their duty. It is the orders that come asking them to do otherwise."
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