Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said he was not aware of any video allegedly showing a federal minister having homosexual intercourse.
“I am not aware of this, I just heard so I need to read about it.
“You (the press) can brief me about it,” the prime minister said, drawing laughter from ministers who were present at the press conference today.
Viral videos showing an individual who resembles a federal minister have been circulating through WhatsApp.
At least three clips show two men in bed in what looks like a scene from a hotel room, accompanied by the sound of a foreign news bulletin.
Dr Mahathir was speaking at a press conference after chairing the Economic Action Council meeting in Putrajaya today.
Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution, Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub and Perbadanan Nasional Bhd (PNB) chairman Zeti Akhtar Aziz were present.
Meanwhile, Malaysiakini reported that at about 1.25am this morning, several Malaysiakini reporters were added into two WhatsApp groups with the title ‘Jemputan Hari Raya ###’ where the video clips were shared.
The video clips depicted two naked men in bed, of which one of them resembled a cabinet minister.
One WhatsApp group was initiated by a person with the phone number +60 11-#### 9849 and identified as “Faizal”, who added Malaysiakini staff and several notable Sabah PKR leaders as group participants.
Another WhatsApp group was initiated by a person with the phone number +60 11-#### 9037 and identified as one “Saifuddin Abdullah”. This group had participants that were mostly Klang Valley-based journalists.
Malaysiakini has been made aware of another WhatsApp group initiated by a person with the phone number +60 11-#### 4375 and identified as a “Tian Chua”. Participants of this group were mostly Sarawak PKR personalities.
The real Tian Chua, who is the PKR vice-president and is currently attending a conference in Geneva, told Malaysiakini that the phone number of the said WhatsApp group administrator did not belong to him.
Similarly, Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, who is also a PKR member, stressed that he was not the person responsible for initiating the WhatsApp group.
“The said person is masquerading around in the WhatsApp groups and we will let the authorities investigate this matter,” he was quoted as saying.
Malaysiakini has also been made aware that there are at least two other similar WhatsApp groups. One group saw the administrator identified as “Zuraidah”.
In a related development, Umno supreme council Lokman Noor Adam said he would lodge a police report on the video clips.
“I urge the police to clarify the veracity of the videos and that action be taken against those who disseminated, performed in and produced the videos,” said Lokman.
While not naming any names, he told the assembled media that it was clear which politician one of the men in the video resembled.
In addition, called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate an alleged suspicious transaction into the bank account of Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
“It was in December 2017 when he was still the Mentri Besar of Selangor. The transfer of funds was around RM3mil. I make this report hoping that the new MACC chief will act without bias and will take action against any parties, including those from her (former) political party,” he said.
Lokman added that if these allegations are true, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) should act on them.
The corruption allegation was circulated together with the lewd videos on WhatsApp.
Lokman also said he was told that Umno members were being persuaded to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
“I was told that our ‘atuk’ (an apparent reference to the Prime Minister) is becoming more desperate and that he plans to make Umno an illegal party. But he will approach Members of Parliament from Umno to join his party.
“This is for them to be the dominant party in Pakatan Harapan. I call my fellow friends in Umno to think this through and thank those that have been approached by Tun but rejected his offer,” he said.