On instruction from Umno, top police leaders have begun spinning a new web of lies against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in a bid to discredit him ahead of snap general elections widely expected to be called within the next 2 months, PKR leaders said on Friday.
"This is a new and desperate attempt to prosecute and imprison, to halt the movement for national political and economic reforms and to prevent Pakatan Rakyat from winning federal power in the coming general election," PKR vice president N Surendran told a press conference on Friday.
"We will not hesitate to say that Umno and BN are behind this latest political persecution. They have done so against Anwar in 1998, again in 2008 and now."
Police themselves lodged the report against Anwar
Sivarasa Rasiah, the MP for Subang, revealed that Anwar was asked to lodge a police statement this week but he requested that it be deferred to next Wednesday.
Although the police did not specify why they wanted to take his statement, the PKR MP believes it is related to the Datuk T sex tape. So far, the police has only informed Anwar that they have begun a probe on him under Section 182 of the Penal Code for giving "false information to injure another person".
"The same person who took Anwar's report on the sex tape, DSP S Shanmugamoorthy, lodged a report against the opposition leader two months ago," said Siva, who was also at the press conference.
“We expect Umno-BN will get itself involved in low-level gutter politics to further humiliate Anwar as the polls approaches."
It is not him
Anwar had lodged a police report against the 'Datuk T' sex tape after it was presented to a group of senior journalists in a hush-hush manner at the Carcosa Seri Negara Hotel by a group of anonymous perpetrators who eventually turned out to be Umno members - Shazry Eskay Abdullah, Rahim Thamby Chik and Shuaib Lazim.
The three men were later fined for their role in screening pornographic material to a public audience. However, they insist the man in the tape was Anwar and the reason for their actions was because they wanted to expose Anwar's immorality. They also demanded that Anwar and his wife, PKR president Wan Azizah, give up politics within a week or the tape would be made public.
During the course of the first police probe, Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar revealed that audio-visual experts from the US found that the man in the tape was 99% Anwar. However, the reputation of these experts is not established nor has a copy been extended to Anwar's lawyers.
Those who have watched the tape, which was widely circulated despite a ban on pornography in Malaysia, say it is definitely not the Opposition Leader who is much darker in skin colour and of much slighter built.
Just two months, Anwar's doctor from German, a renowned bone specialist, confirmed that he has limited mobility and strength in his lower limbs. Yet the man in the tape had cavorted with great energy with the prostitute in the hotel.
Umno assembly
But despite losing credibility, Umno needs to deflect attention from its own woes.
“This latest move is to divert from all the wrongdoings - the National Feedlot Corporation exposure, along with other allegations of abuse of power and corruption," said PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli, who was also present.
Given that the Umno assembly is slated for the first week of December, PKR leaders expect the BN-controlled mainstream media to play up the issue so as to allow Prime Minister Najib Razak and his cohorts to justify their actions against Anwar to the party grassroots.
Within Umno are several factions and Najib himself is at risk of being ousted by warlords. A book entitled Kesilapan Najib or The Mistakes of Najib, had listed some of the PM's biggest blunders since taking office. These included the Sodomy II and the botched Datuk T sex tape, both of which have digusted local and global watchers. The book also called for Najib to step down before Malaysia went to the polls.
"For sure, Najib and company needs to justify and pretend they were right all along but it is a double-edged sword," said Rafizi.
Malaysia Chronicle
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