Former human resources minister M Saravanan stressed that he was not asking Anwar Ibrahim to cover up corruption allegations against him when he wrote to the prime minister.
Instead, he said it was to ensure that the matter was investigated transparently.
Earlier, at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, the MIC deputy president pleaded not guilty to three counts of receiving RM1.097 million in bribes to approve migrant worker quotas for a company in 2022.
Saravanan said he had been speaking to Anwar about the issue for the past six months and had raised concerns from the outset that the allegations were “wild”.
“I’m not asking him to help me solve this, but to help with a transparent investigation. I’ve said from the beginning that these are wild allegations,” he told reporters outside the courthouse, referring to a viral letter which he sent to Anwar.
Saravanan clarified that he had written to Anwar because the prime minister was his “boss”, adding that he was part of the Madani government and had supported Anwar’s appointment as prime minister.
He said he did not know the people named in the allegations and pointed to the existence of cabinet papers related to the matter.
Yesterday, Malaysiakini reported that Saravanan had written to Anwar over the case, claiming that certain individuals were coerced into implicating him.
In the letter dated Aug 24 and sighted by Malaysiakini, Saravanan claimed that neither he nor his family was personally involved in recruiting migrant workers.
His letter noted that two businesspersons were arrested in connection with the hiring of migrant workers.
One of them, Syed Amirul Syed Ahmad, has since passed away on July 28, while the other suffers from chronic kidney disease.
Saravanan claimed that these two individuals were forced to confess against their will, to allegedly associate him with the malicious intentions of certain parties.
‘MACC’s witness signed SDs’
Syed Amirul’s name appeared in Saravanan’s charges today, as the Tapah MP was accused of receiving bribes from the deceased.
Saravanan’s lawyer Geethan Ram Vincent told the media that Syed Amirul had signed statutory declarations, which MACC was aware of.
“Syed Amirul, who is a MACC’s key witness, stated in these SDs that he was compelled or forced to implicate Saravanan.
“In reality, the deceased said that there was no connection to Saravanan. He (Syed Amirul) also declared that he had never been in contact with Saravanan.
“This is what the MACC’s key witness, who is named in the charges, has said in the SDs. I believe he made two declarations to state his position,” Geethan said. - Mkini
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