Mat Zain: ‘Datuk T’ defiled mosque with bulletproof vests

The trio had donned bulletproof vests under their shirts. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — The “Datuk T” trio who attended a sumpah laknat ceremony by one their own had defiled the mosque where it was held by entering in bulletproof vests, claims retired senior cop Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim.

The former city criminal investigation chief said today that “Datuk T” created the perception that the situation in the Masjid Amru Al-As, Sentul was unsafe.

“It was as if they would be hurt or shot in a mosque. In fact, they should know that even the Malay Rulers do not wear bulletproof vests when they enter any mosque in the country.

“This act has defiled the holiness of the mosque and insulted Islam,” he said in a letter sent to editors today.

He said the trio — businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah, former Malacca Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik and Perkasa treasurer-general Datuk Shuib Lazim — had run afoul of Section 295 of the Penal Code.

“As with the offence of screening the obscene video under Section 292, this is also an open-and-shut case. In my opinion, they have no defence,” Mat Zain wrote.

A sex video allegedly featuring Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was first screened to journalists by a mysterious “Datuk T” at the Carcosa Seri Negara hotel on March 21, but has now leaked onto the Internet.

The trio later claimed joint-responsibility for the video, before Shazryl took the oath on April 29 on behalf of the group that the opposition leader was the man in the video.

Shazryl had invited Anwar to join him during the oath-taking but the latter ignored the challenge.

Section 295 states that “whoever defiles any place of worship, with the knowledge that any class of persons is likely to consider such defilement as an insult to their religion” will be jailed for up to two years and/or fined.

Mat Zain, who headed the 1998 police probe into Anwar’s black-eye case, claimed that Shazryl’s actions conveyed the message that he felt more at ease and safer in a brothel than in a mosque.

“He didn’t need to wear a bulletproof vest then,” he said of Shazryl’s own admittance that he was the third person who was seen in the 21-minute sex video.

“Instead, at the mosque, he not only needed a bulletproof vest but a few armed bodyguards as well,” he said.

Mat Zain called on the government to take action over the trio or lose any justification for taking action against others who might defile or insult Islam.

“In this situation, the prime minister has no choice but to act according to the rule of law. But it us up to him whether to protect Eskay, Rahim and Shuib from the law or protect and defend Islam itself,” he said.