KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, the individual that PKR identified yesterday as pro-Umno blogger Papa Gomo, has come out to deny the allegation, claiming instead to be the chief executive of a media firm.
In an SMS to Malay daily Sinar Harian yesterday, Wan Muhammad Azri confirmed that it had been his MyKad number that PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli had used during a press conference yesterday when checking on Papa Gomo’s past records.
But he insisted that he was not the controversial blogger, who was earlier this week sued by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for posting photographs from an allegedly fake sex video.
“Saya nak maklum bahawa nama saya adalah Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, kad pengenalan 8301210350** dan merupakan Ketua Eksekutif KL POS Media & Production Sdn Bhd.
“Saya tegaskan di sini bahawa saya bukan blogger Papa Gomo seperti didakwa pembangkang,” he was quoted saying in the SMS by Sinar Harian.
[Translation: I would like to state here that my name is Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, identification card number 8301210350** and I am the chief executive of KL POS Media & Production Sdn Bhd. I stress here that I am not the blogger Papa Gomo as alleged by the opposition].
According to the daily, Wan Muhammad Azri also denied Rafizi’s claim that he was a “phantom voter”, pointing out that he had never once voted before.
“Macam mana (boleh jadi) pengundi hantu sedangkan saya belum pernah mengundi lagi. PRU12 (Pilihan Raya Umum ke-12) saya belum ada kesedaran untuk mengundi.
“Sekarang, saya daftar mengundi di Parlimen Wangsa Maju dan tidak pernah mendaftar untuk mengundi di mana-mana tempat selain Wangsa Maju,” he was quoted saying.
[Translation: How could I be a phantom voter when I have never voted before. During the 12th general election, I did not have the awareness to vote. Now, I am registered as a voter in the Wangsa Maju parliamentary seat and I have never registered elsewhere before].
Rafizi (picture) had alleged yesterday that the controversial “Papa Gomo” was formerly a policeman convicted of bribery and a phantom voter registeredd to vote in two different constituencies — Wangsa Maju and Ampang.
“Investigation showed that the individual named Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris (Papa Gomo) is a former traffic policeman with the rank of corporal that was sentenced to jail for the offence of threatening someone suspected to be a drug addict to get bribes,” the PKR strategy director said. Following the allegation, Rafizi also showed reporters an entry in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) database with the name of the policeman from the Ampang traffic police and his police identity card (IC) number.
Using the police IC number shown in the MACC database and Papa Gomo’s ordinary IC number, Rafizi said PKR found that the blogger was registered as a voter in two parliamentary constituencies — Ampang and Wangsa Maju.
He then showed the two different entries in the Election Commission’s (EC) website, saying that the differing dates of birth recorded there had led PKR to investigate the addresses used by Papa Gomo.
Rafizi claimed that court documents and official correspondence showed that Papa Gomo had listed two addresses, one within Ampang and his current residence within Wangsa Maju, saying that the traffic policeman is likely to have used the first address when serving in Ampang.
Asked for proof that Papa Gomo was the same man in the MACC database which did not list the policeman’s ordinary IC number, Rafizi again pointed to court documents that could match the two IC numbers, saying he wanted to wait for the blogger’s response before showing them.
Rafizi also said background checks conducted by PKR in Ampang showed that people there remember the blogger as having worked as a policeman.
The Election Commission (EC) said yesterday it would verify Rafizi’s claims with the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM).
On Thursday, Anwar’s lawyers filed a defamation suit against Papa Gomo, with the opposition leader seeking to get RM100 million in damages and an injunction to stop the blogger from republishing the allegedly defamatory accusations.
In the statement of claim, the blogger was identified as Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, with a civilian IC number and an address within the Wangsa Maju constituency that Rafizi had referred to. No police IC number was mentioned in that document.
In the court document, references were made to three blog postings — with the first one posted last Saturday — by Papa Gomo that contained allegedly defamatory words and photographs.
Last Saturday, Anwar denied being the man involved in the photographs, claiming that it was a “disgusting political gimmick by Umno”.
Anwar’s lawyer N. Surendran had on Tuesday alleged that Papa Gomo has “close ties” with Umno, while also saying that the photographs are fake and were used by Anwar’s political enemies to tarnish the opposition leader’s image ahead of Election 2013.
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