PKR files police report against author for extortion, tarnishing rulers

Federal Territories PKR chairperson Zahir Hassan today filed a police report against Yahaya Ismail, the author of a manuscript outlining why Anwar Ibrahim is not fit to be the prime minister.

The police report came a day after Yahaya dismissed claims by Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul that he attempted to extort money from the PKR president by making an offer to Anwar to purchase the copyright for the manuscript.

Zahir lodged the report at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

"I lodged a report against Yahaya for extorting a sum of RM400,000 from Anwar and if Anwar failed to pay, the book will be published and exposed to the public.

"The police report contains two parts - one is extortion, and the other is tarnishing the royal institutions," Zahir said at a media conference that was also aired live on his Facebook page. 

He said Yahaya had questioned the royal pardon granted to Anwar. 

For the record, Anwar had spent almost a decade behind bars following sodomy and corruption charges levied against him back in 1998 and 2014 under the premierships of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, during his first stint as prime minister, and Najib Abdul Razak.

The current PKR president constantly maintained his innocence and claims the charges and subsequent convictions were politically motivated.

He received a royal pardon and was released from jail when Pakatan Harapan took over the federal government in May 2018.

Yesterday, Yahaya, in his Facebook posting, admitted to contacting Johari to negotiate on selling the manuscript to Anwar but denied that it was extortion.

He claimed to have merely offered Anwar and Johari a chance to purchase the manuscript's copyright, which is “a norm in the publishing industry”.

“I gave both of them a copy to read, and if they want, to buy the copyright. This is normally done in the publishing business. If I publish the book and Anwar or Johari later say I defamed (Anwar), they can sue. So, what is the problem?” Yahaya said. - Mkini