The former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysian Anwar Ibrahim has issued a statement calling on the prime minister to take responsibility for the fact that he was beaten in police custody.

Mr Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Ismail reads a statement outside court.

A statement read by Mr Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Ismail said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad should apologise for initially suggesting that the injuries might have been self-inflicted.

The Malaysian Attorney-General yesterday revealed that the police were fully responsible for injuries to Mr Anwar following his arrest last September on charges of corruption and illegal sexual activity.

Wan Azizah Ismail's statement in Malay

His injuries first came to light when he appeared in court with a black eye. He said he had been blindfolded and then beaten unconscious on the night he was arrested.

International condemnation

The allegations provoked condemnation from around the world over the Malaysian government's handling of the case against Mr Anwar.

Mr Anwar's statement said that the assault had still not been properly investigated, and that individual police officers responsible should be brought to justice.

PM Mahathir: Had suggested injuries were self-inflicted

After nearly four months, Wan Azizah said the assault on her husband had still not been properly investigated and she alleged her husband's political supporters had been threatened by the police.

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said Mr Anwar's beating was "a security scandal of the first magnitude."

"If this could happen to a personality who was until recently the deputy prime minister, the second highest office in land, which ordinary Malaysian can be safe and secure in police hands in the country?"

Setback for defence

Meanwhile Mr Anwar's defence lawyers say their case has been considerably weakened by the refusal of the judge to admit key evidence.

Defence lawyers want to play four audio tapes of a conversation secretly recorded in London between the star prosecution witness Ummi Hafilda Ali and Malaysian businessman, Sng Chee Hua. They say this will prove there was a conspiracy to destroy Mr Anwar's political career months before his arrest.

But the judge refused to hear the tapes saying their authenticity was seriously in doubt because they were not the original recordings. Prosecutors and defence lawyers had earlier agreed their transcripts of the tapes did not match.