Isnin, 4 April 2011

Nazri backs viewing sex tape; clip finds way into blogs

PKR leader?

LANGKAWI: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has weighed into the call that the controversial sex video implicating an opposition leader be screened in Parliament.

Saying he supported the call, Nazri said it would depend, however, on whether the Dewan Rakyat speaker would allow it.

“We are also concerned whether this is against the law.

“If we screen it in Parliament, where will it be screened? If it’s at Parliament compound, then we can’t have the (parliamentary) immunity. We should let the speaker decide,” Bernama quoted him as saying after opening the Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore Attorneys-General’s Annual Conference, here.

Nazri was commenting on the call by DAP chairman Karpal Singh for the video to be screened in Parliament to allow members of the house, including Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, to identify the man in the video.

Asked on the issue, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail said it would be “controversial.”

“I suggest that we read the Film Censorship Act which states clearly what constitutes an offence … it’s there, depending on the type of case.

“In this case, I can’t comment because I haven’t got the investigation papers from the police,” he said.

Blogs carrying video clip


When asked to comment by FMT, speaker Pandikar Amin refused to comment on the request to screen the video in the Dewan Rakyat.

Pandikar noticeably avoided reporters upon leaving the House at 4:30pm, making his way to his office through a back entrance.

A parliamentary staff member later told reporters that the speaker did not want to comment over the matter.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department SK Devamany said that any decision over a screening of the video in the House rested in the hands of the speaker.

“We should leave it to the speaker to look into Karpal’s request. It’s up to the speaker,” he said.

Fellow minister Koh Tsu Koon refused to comment on the matter, saying that he had not heard of Karpal’s request.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin also similarly said that it was up to Pandikar Amin to decide if the video should be shown to parliamentarians.

He also refuted reports that the government would table an emergency motion in the Dewan Rakyat to propose the setting up of a royal commission to investigate the sex video case.
3 Datoship

In another development, a short version of the said video clip has been loaded in various blogs, showing the main actor walking about in a room with a woman and another man.

The 1.47 minute clip – the original clip is believed to be 20 minutes long – has been posted in YouTube and shared in mainly pro-BN blogs.

The sex video was released by a trio calling themselves ‘Datuk T’ two weeks ago, claiming that the man in the video was Anwar.

Anwar had denied that it was him and had lodged a police report asking for action to be taken against the trio – former Malacca Chief Minister Abdul Rahim Thambi Chik, businessman Shazril Eskay Abdullah dan Perkasa treasurer Shuib Lazim.

‘Work of Umno cybertroopers’

Responding to the sex clip which was uploaded in the internet today, PKR’s communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said that after watching the clip, he was convinced the man in the video was not Anwar.

He said the physical attributes of the man in the sex video was different from Anwar’s.

“As his personal secretary for two years, I am sure that is not Anwar,” he said in a statement.

He also said that the wordings on the video clip contained Thai words.

“Is this a Thai porn video which has nothing to do with Malaysia?” he asked.

He said the video was uploaded on blogs by Umno’s cybertroopers for political reasons, especially to hamper the opposition’s chances in the Sarawak election.

Anwar’s personal lawyer Sankara Nair also affirmatively said that the man in the clip was not Anwar.

“This is a much older person. Not a clear shot of his face (but) big tummy. Anwar is very vain when it comes to his physique. He alway takes potshot at us lawyers when we have a ponch,” he said.

“In the 12 years I have known him, he never had such big tummy. The gait and posture of this person in the clip is also not that of Anwar. This is positively not Anwar,” he added.

Anwar’s wife and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and his daughter Nurul Izzah, who is also MP for Lembah Pantai, will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning on the clip posted in blogs.

Anwar is presently in Sarawak, campaigning for PKR for the coming state election.

Police have started investigations


Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek meanwhile expressed his suprise over the leak of the video as the original video was supposed to be in the custody of the police.

“We must know which source is doing this because the (video) should be with the police. So we have to know how it got into (the blogs),” he told FMT when met at Parliament.

On Karpal’s suggestion for the video to be watched in Parliament, Ahmad Shabery said that he would prefer the video to be investigated and verified by experts as the Parliament was not a place for a trial.

When contacted, Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department head Wira Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said no report has been lodged over the sex clip appearing in blogs.

However, he said the police have started an investigation.

“We’ll investigate this under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998,” he said.