Anina sues six Bersatu members over RM7m bribery claim

Former Bersatu supreme council member Anina Saadudin has sued six party members over the allegation that she had received a bribe of RM7 million from Umno.

She said the suit had been filed at the Shah Alam Sessions Court yesterday through the law firm Abdul Aziz & Yazmin, after the six failed to respond to letters of demand sent about three weeks ago.

However, she declined to disclose the identities of the six, saying that she could not do so until notices of the lawsuit have been served to the respondents.

Of the six, she said four of them are Langkawi Bersatu division leaders who had been appointed to the post by its division chief Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

To a question, she clarified that Mahathir was not among those being sued.

“I’m filing the defamation suit after I’m satisfied that I have gone through all internal party processes. I have sent a complaint to Bersatu’s disciplinary board on Aug 2, 2017, but there was no investigation or action taken.

“Prior to that, I also lodged reports to the police, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

“Unfortunately, the slander still lingers in social media and in public, and continues even into (Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s) press conference on Oct 2 where my name was mentioned,” she told a press conference at her home in Bandar Baru Bangi today.

Asked how much is she seeking for damages, Anina replied that the amount would be consummate to their positions.

She said the allegations first surfaced on Facebook on May 29, but she tried to ignore for about a month to focus on the then ongoing Ramadan month.

When Ramadan turned to Syawal however, she said there was still no apology forthcoming and there is still none today. It was then when she turned to the authorities and the disciplinary board, but to no avail.

She said her disappointment over the inaction was among the reasons for her decision to leave the party on Sept 16.

Meanwhile, Anina questioned Syed Saddiq’s move to hold a press conference on Oct 2 to claim a plot to bribe and threaten Bersatu leaders in a bid to weaken the party.

She asked why the matter is only being raised now if it has been known since December last year.

“Now I wonder if the decision to remove me from the women’s wing chief's post in December 2016 [...] is also from the (plot) involving invisible hands from Bersatu itself,” she said.

She surmised that the plans to disparage her through slander, malignment, and punishments without hearings, are now part of Bersatu’s culture.

“If such bad elements have already set roots in the party, what hope they have if given greater powers to look after the country?” she said.

Meanwhile, when asked about her plans to set up a new NGO, she said she had submitted registration papers for the group "Pertubuhan Empirikal Malaysia" to the Registrar of Societies last week.

However, the registration is still pending and she has yet to receive a response.

Once set up, she said the group the will work on issues relating to the Bumiputera economic agenda.- Mkini