Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Mansor Othman's special assistant, Zainal Abidin Saad, nabbed with two others by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for an alleged bribery case has finally broken his silence.
Zainal Abidin, 56, said he is merely "a witness and not a suspect" in the case where allegedly bribery came into play apparently to cover up sexual harassment by a former district officer in mainland Penang.
"I was shocked to read the news reports which focused on me as the special aid of the Penang DCM I," he said, in a statement late last night.
"I was not involved in any transaction to cover up any sexual harassment case; I did not give nor receive any money or compensation to cover up the case," he added.
"Reports about my arrest showed there is politically motivated ill intent to tarnish my image and that of my party leader," he stressed.
He added that he had been advised by his lawyers and will not hesitate to initiate legal action against any quarter continuing to slander him without justification.
Overnight in MACC lock-up
Zainal Abidin is backed by party lawyers who have vowed todefend him and Mansor, who at that juncture, was performing his Umrah in Mecca.
"I was shocked to read the news reports which focused on me as the special aid of the Penang DCM I," he said, in a statement late last night.
"I was not involved in any transaction to cover up any sexual harassment case; I did not give nor receive any money or compensation to cover up the case," he added.
"Reports about my arrest showed there is politically motivated ill intent to tarnish my image and that of my party leader," he stressed.
He added that he had been advised by his lawyers and will not hesitate to initiate legal action against any quarter continuing to slander him without justification.
Overnight in MACC lock-up
Zainal Abidin is backed by party lawyers who have vowed todefend him and Mansor, who at that juncture, was performing his Umrah in Mecca.
Mansor (left) returned to Penang yesterday. It is learnt he will issue an announcement soon on the matter after attending yesterday's state executive council meeting.Meanwhile, Zainal Abidin claimed that after he wasnabbed by MACC on Jan 3 and detained in a lock-up overnight before being questioned.
"At all times during the probe, I was referred to and questioned as a witness only and not as a suspect or a wrongdoer," he added.
However, he did not explain why the overnight detention in a lock-up if he were questioned only as a witness by the MACC.
He also did not explain why he needed one week to come up with this clarification after the media went to town with the news on his arrest, linking him with Mansor and PKR.
Zainal Abidin then denied that Mansor, who is also state PKR chief or any Pakatan Rakyat leader was involved in the case, which reportedly occurred in 2011.
"The investigation involved allegations of corruption to cover up a sexual harassment case involving the former Seberang Perai District officer," he added.
The former DO, Roslan Yahaya, has been transferred to the state secretariat effective Monday, and his former post filled by his colleague and former Seberang Perai Utara district officer Jusni Ismail.
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