Let Govt decide on sodomy claim: Dr M
BUKIT TINGGI:
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said it was up to the Government to decide on the sodomy allegation against Parti Keadilan Rakyat Adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. “It is a new case. We will see what the police are going to say, what the Government will say,” he said after meeting Bosnia and Herzegovina President Dr Hans Silajdzic here yesterday. He was commenting on a police report lodged by Anwar’s 23-year- old male aide claiming his employer sodomised him on June 26 at a place in the capital. Anwar denied the allegation and said that it was a complete fabrication. Meanwhile when asked on the meeting with Silajdzic, the former Prime Minister smiled and said he was glad meeting an old friend. “He invited me to come here. I have known him for a long time. During the war, he kept on coming here. We have helped him a lot. That is why he knows me,” he said. Silajdzic is on a five-day visit to Malaysia beginning Saturday to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries. MeanwhiIe in KUALA LUMPUR, Umno Youth Chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein yesterday called on the police to conduct an investigation without fear or favour on the police report lodged against Anwar. He said the same should apply to the person who made the report. “This is to avoid any unfounded allegations,” he said in a statement yesterday. He said Umno Youth also wanted the results of the investigation to be made public if necessary to avoid confusion and in the interest of all. He said this was needed given the many allegations made against leaders both in the Government and the Opposition. Hishammuddin said that Anwar’s taking refuge in the Turkish embassy alleging threats to his safety did not make sense. “The action was taken to divert attention just as was done when he was similarly accused before,” he said. Hishammuddin said Anwar had once made allegations that attempts were made to kill him by arsenic poisoning, that he needed a spine operation and had problems with the nape of his neck. In Penang, DAP Secretary- General Lim Guan Eng said yesterday it should be left to the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the latest sodomy allegation made against Anwar. “Like Datuk Seri (Anwar) said, just wait and see because the truth will prevail by itself. The police report has been lodged, so we just have to wait and leave it to the police to probe. If the allegation was done with the aim of bringing Anwar down, sooner of later, the truth will prevail,” Lim told reporters here yesterday. -Bernama
