KUALA LUMPUR – A short video featuring PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan has been edited to take his comments about Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim out of context, said the party’s information department director.
Nadzir Helmi said the edited video was being circulated with malicious intent and the party was considering legal action against the perpetrators.
“PAS has looked into Takiyuddin’s speech in entirety, and he was only reiterating a remark made by the opposition leader (Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin), who defended the prime minister after an article was published by Agenzia Nova.
“Takiyuddin only questioned why the prime minister was yet to take any action to clear his name if it was slander,” said Nadzir in a statement today.
In November 2022, Italian news agency Agenzia Nova labelled Anwar as Malaysia’s “first full-blown homosexual” prime minister, which drew remarks from many local political leaders. The article, which is not accessible in Malaysia, was published on November 24 after Anwar assumed office.
Hamzah had then urged Anwar to take stern action against international media companies who spread “disrespectful” news.
Hamzah’s speech – made while debating the confidence vote for Anwar – was interrupted at multiple points by government MPs, including Jelutong’s R.S.N. Rayer who called for a retraction.
Anwar was imprisoned over sodomy charges in 1998 and again in 2015. He was subsequently granted a royal pardon and released from prison in 2018. – May 16, 2024