PAS deputy president Mat Sabu has said he received several SMS messages on his handphone threatening to splash acid on his family members including his wife and daughter.
The sender of the messages did not identify himself but stated he was unhappy with Mat Sabu's "libellous" comments allegedly made during a ceramah or political lecture at Tasik Gelugor, Penang on August 21.
"Yesterday, I received a mobile text message from someone threatening to splash acid on my wife and daughter," Mat Sabu told a press conference on Thursday.
He told reporters he viewed the threats seriously.
Mat Sabu also said he had decided to give the UMNO-owned Utusan newspaper "24 hours" to retract its news report published report on August 27 or face a defamation lawsuit.
According to PAS lawyer Hanipa Maidin, said a letter has been sent to Utusan demanding a retraction and an apology within 24 hours.
Treachery
Mat Sabu is also mulling a suit against UMNO deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin, who was one of the strongest critics although the PAS leader had denied the Utusan report.
Since winning the PAS deputy presidency, Mat Sabu has been a favourite target of UMNO, which fears his charismatic oratory and popularity with the Malay grassroots.
Mat Sabu also told reporters he was consulting his lawyers over whether to lodge a police report on the acid threats as there was a possibility that the police might turn his complaint against him and arrest him. This has happened before to other politicians including Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in 1998.
Dozens of UMNO supporters have since lodged police reports against Sabu, whom Utusan accused of saying that it was the communists who killed the police at the Bukit Kepong station in 1950 because they were fighting the British colonialists and not the cops who died in the attack.
Sabu has denied ever saying such a thing and a video of his speech is available on You Tube. However, it has not stopped UMNO from attacking him.
According to Hanipa, Mat Sabu will also sue Umno Youth information chief Reezal Merican Naina Merican who had accused the PAS No. 2 of over-claiming medical bills. Reezal also alleged that Mat Sabu's medical expenses for a knee operation, following an injury sustained during the Bersih 2.0 rally, was paid by the Penang Water Supply Corporation.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has already refuted Reezal's claims and showed two receipts, indicating the UMNO Youth leader had lied. According to Lim, Reeza showed only one receipt to the press so as to reflect a smaller bill compared to the amount claimed.
