The Malay daily’s deputy editor-in-chief, Zaini Hassan, in his weekly column, said sooner — within a day or two if possible — the secretly recorded video was shown in its entirety, the sooner Malaysians would cease talk that may damage the government’s reputation.
“Let the rest of the video be shown... This is not a question of whether it is pornography. This has become an academic and Syariah question,” he said, pointing out that Syariah demanded that truth be upheld.
Zaini urged those who leaked a 107-second clip from the sex video to release it in full in the name of transparency, arguing that if they wanted to “strip” someone they should do so without reservation.
He said there had to additional footage from close-circuit television cameras (CCTV) of the man alleged to be Anwar walking into the hotel lobby and elevator before entering the bedroom shown in the video.
“Why only a minute? Release all 20 minutes,” he said.
“I will admit that I know the image from that one minute. If I am wrong, then I am wrong. I only saw it for a minute. If possible, to prove that I am not wrong, I want to watch the whole thing.”
If the video cannot be shown to the public, it should at least be screened to party leaders and MPs so that those who represent the people can make up their own minds, Zaini added.
He said if there was still no consensus on the identity of the man in the sex video after that, the recording should be brought before a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) like in Teoh Beng Hock’s case.
The video first came to light in a secretive screening at the prestigious Carcosa Seri Negara hotel on March 21, with those behind it alluded that the man in the footage was a “prominent Malay opposition leader”.
Anwar has denied he is the man featured in the video and has accused Barisan Nasional (BN) of orchestrating the video expose in an attempt to smear his name.
Three men — former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Datuk Sharzyl Eskay Abdullah and Umno stalwart Datuk Shuib Lazim — have already come forward to claim credit to being the mysterious “Datuk T” behind the screening.
The men subsequently surrendered the recording to the police, ahead of their self-imposed deadline for Anwar and wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to quit all political posts or risk having the video released.
A snippet of the video was later posted online to video sharing site YouTube and traded among pro-Umno blogs.
Shazryl told The Malaysian Insider they had not released the video to anyone and that the only copy remained with the police.
A recent Merdeka Centre poll found that 51 per cent of those surveyed did not believe Anwar was the man in the video, with 39 per cent saying BN had masterminded the video — more than twice as many as those who said the ruling coalition was not involved.
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