Malaysian police said on Friday they had received a foreign expert's report on the identity of the man filmed having sex with a prostitute, but declined to name the person that prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno party has insisted was Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
"We have obtained a foreign expert's report yesterday, which reaffirms local experts who found that the video is authentic and and not superimposed. If the video is authentic, you can make your own assumptions," newly-promoted Deputy Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told a press conference at the Bukit Aman headquarters on Friday.
Police join in Umno's sewer politics
But Khalid's comments, which were clearly meant to insinuate the man was Anwar who has denied involvement, were condemned immediately. The law does not require the man cavorting with the sex worker to be identified or to be revealed.
And it was actually Anwar who had lodged a police complaint days after the video was screened, demanding a full and speedy police investigation.
Pakatan Rakyat leaders pointed to Khalid's lack of creditbility, urging Malaysians to remember that he was the man who had insisted car theft suspect Kugan Ananthan had died due to fluid in his flungs.
It was only after Kugan's family had barged into the Selayan Hospital morgue and insisted on a second autopsy that it was finally revealed that Kuga died due to severe torture during his remand at the Subang Jaya police lockup.
"How can you listen to someone with this type of record," Batu MP Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
"This only shows how far down the sewers the Najib administration has taken Malaysia. The police are now actively working hand in hand with Umno and are even proud to show their bias because of the carrots that have been dangled to them. I think it is safe to say professionalism has gone to the dogs."
Police and AG chambers getting from bad to worse
Additionally, while Khalid was eager to share in details that advantaged Najib and the Umno elite, who want to put an end to Anwar's political career, he had no answers why the Datuk T trio had not been arrested or charged yet.
The Datuk T trio are Umno members, namely, former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and Perkasa treasurer Shuaib Lazim. They had tried to anonymously screen the tape to a group of journalists and select PKR leaders with the aim of luring the latter to defect to the BN.
However, they were forced to confess their identity, which straightaway makes them liable to punishment of up to 5 years in jail as possessing, distributing and screening pornographic material is illegal in Malaysia. Not being filmed having sex.
Yet, the police have closed an eye, only taking down the statements of the trio who are known for their links to the top Umno leadership.
The Attorney General too has helped to delay preferring charges by passing the file back and forth to the police.
But in the bid to embarrass Anwar as much as possible, Malaysia's enforcement agencies and judiciary only embarrassed their own integrity and the nation's reputation.
On Friday, Khalid said the police had to ensure that the video distributed was authentic and not superimposed, otherwise it could not be investigated under Section 292 of the Penal Code.
Asked if Anwar can be charged with making a false police report if it turns out that he is the man in the video, Khalid said: “We will see. We will bring the results of our probe to the attorney-general for further instructions."
Asked why there were no arrests yet, Khalid said: "Investigations are still ongoing."
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