News website Malaysiakini reported on Monday that Haziq and five others were remanded in custody for six days as a part of a police investigation right into a sex video that the 27-year-old former aide claimed he showed him and Azmin in a hotel room in Sabah state.
The news portal quoted Huzir Mohamed, director of the federal criminal and investigation department, as saying that the investigation was linked to an article of the penal code regarding the dissemination of obscene materials. He added that an arrest warrant had been issued earlier on Monday.
‘I categorically deny this cruel defamation’: Malaysian minister Azmin Ali condemns gay sex video
‘I categorically deny this cruel defamation’: Malaysian minister Azmin Ali condemns gay sex video
On Saturday, police chief Abdul Hamid Bador said investigators had found “evidence of a conspiracy and conspiracy” involving the minister with the goal of “overthrowing someone.” He said police had not ruled out the involvement of politicians and “non-governmental organizations.”
But last 12 months Mahathir handed Azmin, 54, control of a strong recent ministry that oversees major state-owned enterprises, fueling reports of rivalry between Anwar and Azmin.
They have debated publicly on quite a lot of issues since last 12 months’s landmark elections, through which the Pakatan Harapan coalition ended six years of rule by the Barisan Nasional bloc.
The minister’s advisor told me to lie, says Haziq Abdul Aziz
The minister’s advisor told me to lie, says Haziq Abdul Aziz
Observers privately speculate that Anwar’s political allies orchestrated the sex video scandal to thwart any plans by Mahathir to appoint Azmin as an alternative of Anwar because the country’s next leader.
Anwar rejected suggestions he had anything to do with the recording, and Mahathir said he was determined at hand over power to Anwar.
After Haziq went public along with his allegations via Facebook, he was fired from his job as an adviser to Deputy Minister of Primary Industries Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, who can be from PKR. The party, the biggest a part of the ruling coalition, also dismissed him as a celebration member.
This article appeared within the print edition of the South China Morning Post as: Helper arrested in sex tape scandal
