Businessperson Albert Tei has challenged Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to emulate MACC chief Azam Baki by lodging a police report to refute allegations in a video implicating him in the Sabah mining scandal.
He noted that Anwar has yet to respond to the allegations raised in the video that circulated in November last year, which had already seen Anwar’s then-political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Akin hauled to court.
“In the video with (alleged Shamsul proxy) Sofia Rini (Buyong), it wasn’t me who accused Azam. She was the one who accused Azam.
“(She was the one who said) that Shamsul met Azam. (And) Azam was the one who gave protection and preferential treatment to Shamsul because Anwar was involved,” he said outside Bukit Aman today.
Tei also highlighted that despite Azam being central to Sofia’s allegations, no investigation has been made against him thus far.
His lawyer, Mahajoth Singh, questioned the authorities' contradictory stances regarding Sofia’s claims.
He said that while MACC regards her as a key witness in the corruption case against Shamsul, the police are simultaneously investigating her purported claims about Azam as slander.
“I think it's a very interesting and very serious thing that the government has to answer.
“You cannot, on one hand, say Sofia is a crown witness and, on the other hand, say that whatever she said (on Azam) is slander. It's beyond logic, beyond common sense, because it's the same person,” he added.
Tei was summoned to Bukit Aman to facilitate investigations into a police report concerning the video, in which Sofia purportedly told Tei that Shamsul had asked Azam to “ease his case”.
Later in the video, when Tei asked Sofia whether Shamsul told the MACC chief that the Sabah scandal recordings were “PMX’s orders”, Sofia replied: “Azam knows.”
Sofia has since denied being Shamsul’s proxy. While she admitted meeting Tei on Nov 5 last year, she said Tei was spreading lies about her.
‘Take it to civil courts, not cops’
Another of Tei’s lawyers, N Surendran, said the Bukit Aman’s Classified Crimes Unit conducted the questioning today under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act and Section 500 of the Penal Code.
Section 233 of the CMA criminalises the improper use of network facilities, while Section 500 of the Penal Code pertains to criminal defamation.
Surendran criticised the use of Section 500 of the Penal Code, saying government officials who feel they had been defamed should file a defamation suit in the civil courts, instead of using police resources to arrest people.
“Why is it that if it's a top government official, or let's say a minister, they don't need to use the civil defamation. They can just ask the police to investigate.
“Is that how it works now in this country? In other words, this is wrong,” the counsel said.
‘Highly inefficient’
Surendran also slammed the federal police headquarters for inefficiency, claiming that the process of obtaining entry passes for their entourage took 45 minutes.
He claimed that the delay was in part due to procedures such as recording IC details and using QR codes, which the legal team described as highly inefficient for an enforcement agency headquarters.
He demanded Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail to explain the incompetence.
“They didn’t even provide a shuttle or anything. It took us so long just to walk deep inside Bukit Aman, uphill and downhill, to get to the room where we're supposed to do the (statement) recording and then walk back.
“This is a very serious matter because this is Bukit Aman. This is the headquarters of the police in this country.
“If the efficiency is at this level here, can you imagine in other places? So, we as public-spirited citizens, as human rights lawyers and as public activists, also want an explanation on this from the home minister and the IGP,” he said.
Graft charges
Tei became the central figure in the Sabah mining scandal after he exposed a series of leaked videos implicating over 15 Sabahan politicians and state leaders in alleged corruption in November 2024.
On Dec 4 last year, Tei was charged with giving bribes to Shamsul, while the latter was charged with receiving bribes from the businessperson.
Shamsul was accused of taking RM176,830 in kickbacks during his time as Anwar's political secretary to help Tei's companies obtain mineral mining licences in Sabah.
Both were charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Dec 4 and in the Shah Alam Sessions Court on Dec 5. - Mkini
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