Anwar Ibrahim, in line to take over as Malaysian prime minister, is to be called in for questioning over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a former male aide, police said yesterday.
Anwar has denied the accusation by the aide, Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, describing it as “politics at its worst.”
Muhammed Yusoff is being represented by a lawyer who counts Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad among his clients.
On Tuesday, Mahathir promised to hand over power to rival-turned-ally Anwar in spite of the latest allegations against him.
Muhammed Yusoff last week said that Anwar had attempted to force him to have sex in September last year.
Police recorded Muhammed Yusoff’s statement on Monday, Criminal Investigations Department Director Huzir Mohamed said in a statement.
“Statements from Anwar Ibrahim and several related witnesses will be taken as soon as appropriate appointment times are set,” Huzir said.
Anwar said in a press statement that he was grateful to police for speeding up investigations into the “latest defamatory allegations” against him.
“I would like to stress that I am ready to give my statement to the police immediately to assist in the investigation,” he said.
Anwar has spent nearly a decade in jail on two separate counts of sodomy and for corruption, charges that he and his supporters maintain were aimed at ending his political career.
Muhammed Yusoff’s lawyer, Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, denied a conflict of interest in taking on a case against the prime minister’s planned successor.
“The prime minister is still my client, but that does not mean I should not take on cases just because they involve his ministers or people in his administration,” Mohamed Haniff said.
“I did not speak to [Mahathir] before taking on this case, but we did talk about it afterwards. He was surprised, but he understood,” he added.
Mohamed Haniff denied charges of a political conspiracy in the allegations against Anwar, saying that Muhammed Yusoff stood by his statement.
“It’s time to let the police investigate,” he said.
Same-sex acts are illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia, and carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
A former deputy prime minister, Anwar was first sacked and then jailed in 1999 during Mahathir’s first 1981 to 2003 tenure as prime minister.
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