KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — Police confirmed that they have taken the statements of Selangor Mentri Besar Azmin Ali’s wife and son today, over their alleged involvement in the August Bersih 4 rally.

In a statement, the Dang Wangi police headquarters said that the interview with Azmin’s wife Shamsidar Taharin and his 15-year-old son Mohamed Basheer Noor Alhaq went smoothly at 3pm this afternoon by investigating officers ASP Ananthan Rajoo and Insp Mohd Hasrul Nizam.

“Everything went smoothly without any interruptions,” the statement read.

Earlier today, Azmin, who is also PKR deputy president, challenged political foe Umno to take him on directly and to leave his family out of their disagreements, as he accompanied his wife and son into the Dang Wangi police headquarters to give their statement.

He also claimed the questioning was a sign that Umno was resorting to “desperate” measures to keep its hold on power.

Latheefa Koya, the lawyer representing Basheer, said the teen and his mother were both being investigated under Section 4(2)f of the Peaceful Assembly Act that criminalises the act of bringing a minor to protests.

Latheefa also said that Basheer was asked five questions such as whether he attended the August 30 Bersih 4 rally, who had brought him to the rally and why he had worn the Bersih 4 T-shirt, which was declared illegal just days before the rally.

Azmin’s wife, Shamsidar Taharin, was similarly quizzed on her involvement in the rally.

Mohd Razlan Jalaludin, the lawyer representing Shamsidar, said she exercised her right not to answer certain questions about her involvement with the rally, but insisted that they fully cooperated with the police.

On September 18, Azmin reportedly had his statement recorded at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters over three matters under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012: allegedly wearing the banned yellow Bersih 4 shirt, allegedly bringing his underaged son to a rally and allegedly calling the Inspector-General of Police “barua” Umno, a Malay word meaning “stooge”.