Saiful accuses TV3 of giving Anwar too much coverage

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is getting too much publicity, says the man who accused him of sodomy. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, January 19, 2015.

Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the man who had accused Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of sodomising him, today hit out at Umno-owned TV3 for its extensive and continuous coverage of the opposition leader and his party, PKR.

In a blog posting today, Saiful accused the television station – where his wife used to work – of becoming a PKR mouthpiece.

"It is not my intention to question why TV3 is attacking Tun Daim (former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin), but I want to question why they insist on giving coverage to PKR? Has TV3 become PKR's media?

"It was Shamsul Iskandar (PKR lawmaker) that day, and now Anwar Ibrahim.

"That low Datuk Ashraf Abdullah, (Datuk) Manja Ismail? Can you explain why?" he said, referring to the top management of Media Prima, the company that owns TV3.

Saiful, who was Anwar's former personal assistant, had also published screen grabs of WhatsApp messages that his wife had received from Ashraf late last year, instructing the former reporter to cover press conferences by PKR.

Saiful had accused Anwar of sodomising him in 2008 but the High Court acquitted the Permatang Pauh MP in 2012.

The Court of Appeal then overturned the decision and Anwar has appealed against his conviction in the Federal Court. The hearing concluded in November last year but the court has yet to make a decision.

Saiful's wife, Nik Suryani Megat Deraman, had taken the mutual separation scheme (MSS) offered by Media Prima in December but he said that several factors, including the fact that she had felt she was working for the "enemy", were reasons she decided to leave the company.

The 30-year-old said his wife had also felt "disgusted" when she was instructed to cover press conferences by PKR's Shamsul to attack Daim, a leader she respected. Those assignments were marked "must cover, must use" by her bosses.

"She made a drastic, risky decision though there was no guarantee of another job. Let it be a life with principles. Livelihood is in Allah's hands."

Opposition politicians had previously urged anti-graft authorities to investigate Daim.

Shamsul, who is PKR Youth chief, had highlighted the lack of police action against the former finance minister despite a police report lodged in 1999.

Anwar had lodged that report 15 years ago, accusing Daim of amassing billions of ringgit in African and Eastern Europe banks through proxies.

Pro-Umno bloggers recently reported that Daim had been attacked by cybertroopers aligned to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for criticising Putrajaya's handling of the economy.

Daim and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad have emerged as strong critics of Najib's administration over the latter's handling of the economy and national politics.

In what is seen as a psychological war, Najib's supporters in the press and online portals have been attacking Daim with critical articles.

Veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin had warned a few days ago that Media Prima should stop sniping at Daim as it could backfire on Najib.

- TMI