Umno minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has insisted that PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar's meeting with self-styled Sulu princess Jacel Kiram two years ago was tantamount to treason to the country.
"This is because she met an individual linked to a group that declared war against Malaysia and intruded into Lahad Datu, Sabah.
"I am of the view that action can be taken against Nurul Izzah under the Penal Code and Prevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) 2015," he testified in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.
The rural and regional development minister was the third and last witness in the defamation suit brought by Nurul Izzah against him and former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar in 2015.
On Nov 9, 2015, Jacel uploaded few photographs of her meeting with Nurul Izzah in the Philippines, which courted uproar in the country.
Khalid, who was then the top cop, said that Nurul Izzah was investigated under Sosma and the Penal Code for treason while Ismail also urged for investigations under Pota for offending the relatives of those who died in the 2013 Lahad Datu incursion.
"Such a statement was in line with my responsibility as a cabinet minister and a country leader who is entrusted with matters of the interest of the nation," Ismail Sabri said when questioned by senior federal counsel Zureen Elina Mohd Dom.
"I had the responsibility to explain the implication of the meeting between Nurul and Jacel to the people because of the Lahad Datu intrusion," he added.
When grilled by Nurul's counsel R Sivarasa later, Ismail Sabri argued that he was merely stating his "opinion" and proposed the follow-up action against Nurul Izzah.
However, he admitted that he never sought clarification on the matter from Nurul Izzah.
Ismail Sabri made the contentious statement three days after Nurul Izzah uploaded a statement on her Facebook page to clear the air on Nov 19, 2015. The BN Bera MP said, however, that he never read the statement because he is not her Facebook friend.
If Nurul Izzah was honest enough, he said, then she should have called for a press conference and apologised, instead of taking to social media.
Judicial commissioner Faizah Jamaludin set Nov 16 for case management.
When met outside court, Nurul said that no one should make mala fide accusations against any lawmaker, particular proposing the government to act against them under Pota, without first checking the facts.
She also called for fair coverage of the opposition to counter accusations by the mainstream media.
When asked about the status of the hearing by Parliament's Rights and Privileges Committee for meeting with Jacel, she said the committee had been silent.
"So far, it has been silent. I think it is because they keep on bringing the same rule that any ongoing case and issues deliberated (in court) cannot be brought to the Parliament," she said.
"This happened in 1MDB issue. The hearing (by Parliament's committee) has been conducted but not concluded," she added.
In December 2015, Nurul was referred to the Privileges Committee, which conducted a proceeding and called her for questioning.
‘Our leaders arrested too’
On another matter, Ismail Sabri also denied that the ongoing MACC probe in Sabah involving his predecessor in the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, Mohd Shafie Apdal, was designed to destroy Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan).
He said this was because several Umno leaders have also been arrested in the sweep.
The minister even pointed to Umno still being in operation despite losing its then deputy president Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 to sodomy and corruption charges.
"Leaders come and go. Nobody is above the law," he said.
"As for why MACC acted now and not before, it is not up to us (the government) to decide, MACC made the call.
“Well, nobody is ever right according to Mahathir (Mohamad)," he said, referring to the chairperson of the opposition coalition.
MACC is probing RM1.5 billion allegedly siphoned from funds earmarked for rural development projects in Sabah.
Thus far, MACC has arrested Shafie, two of his brothers, as well as a number of Warisan and Umno leaders to assist in investigations. - Mkini
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