Anwar says under police probe for six cases, including sodomy allegation, claims political pressure

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — Called for police questioning, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said he is under investigation for six cases including one on a sodomy allegation.

The Opposition leader called the questioning by federal police an attempt to pressure him politically after he had claimed to command majority support in Parliament.

He had initially been called to Bukit Aman here to answer questions concerning a purported leaked list of MPs backing him as the next prime minister.

“Yes, there is, but this is normal and it is a mere political plot to pressure me at such a crucial time,” he said when asked if the police were also investigating him for sodomy.

He said the investigation today however was mostly on politics, the list of MPs and his recent meeting with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

“So I said that the meeting was between me and the Agong and it would not be proper for people to know in-depth what happened between me and the Agong,” he told reporters outside Bukit Aman, the national police headquarters.

Anwar said he found it “disconcerting and mind boggling” to be questioned on the identities of the 121 MPs said to support him.

“I have already been interviewed. There are six cases against me, and mainly it requires me to hand over the names of the MPs supporting me. I gave my fullest cooperation to the police for all these six cases investigated,” he said.

Anwar said the police wanted to know more about the MPs names in the leaked list.

“I said that I have already given confirmation letters from respective party presidents representing all the names, which were sent to their presidents.

“I informed that this matter now is my business to be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Not the business of police, of politicians, the home minister who ordered the police to learn the names,” he added, labelling the investigations against him “malicious” and a form of “political harassment”,

He said this was because of the intensity of the probe, which he alleged to be along a “political structure”.

However, Anwar said the police acted professionally during the questioning and seemed satisfied with his response.  

Lawyer and Bukit Jelutong MP Ramkarpal Singh, who accompanied Anwar, told reporters that the police used Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 for the investigations.

Section 505(b) of the Penal Code pertains to statements leading to public mischief while the CMA offence covers the nebulous offence of “misusing network facilities”.  

“Fullest cooperation was given to the police, and we can state that they took a professional direction.

“It is very strange that these reports, all six of them are being so investigated so quickly, all at one go.

“Normally they investigate, they take their time and they investigate over a period of time,” Ramkarpal added.

Anwar was granted an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at Istana Negara last Tuesday.

The PKR president had previously claimed to have secured the support of over 120 MPs to take over the federal government.

The authenticity of the list circulating online came under added suspicion after the Comptroller of the Royal Household disclosed that Anwar did not provide the list of MPs said to be supporting him during the royal audience.