Sabah Graft Scandal Pm S Perception Speech A Joke Says Latheefa

---

Lawyer Latheefa Koya has lambasted Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for regarding the alleged Sabah corruption scandal as a political perception.
Speaking at a forum today, the former MACC chief commissioner said videos showed several Sabah state leaders purportedly discussing bribes, and they are not mere perception.
"What perception was he talking about? This is hard evidence.
"Videos depicting people who are confessing to an action of corruption are not perception, it's hard evidence
"So, what is the message he's giving to the (MACC) chief commissioner? It's almost a joke. It's (the scandal) not perception," she said at a forum organised by the Universiti Malaya Law Faculty entitled “Corruption and Constitutional Democracy: A call for integrity”.
Latheefa (above), who is also the lawyer representing the whistleblower behind the scandal videos, is one of the forum’s panellists.
She was responding to Anwar's speech during an event in Sabah yesterday, where the prime minister defended MACC's handling of the case, which the anti-graft agency had been accused of inaction.
"The allegation is that we are covering it up, that’s a perception - raised especially in urban areas - as though there’s an effort to cover up acts of corruption and wrongdoing," Anwar reportedly said.
According to the prime minister, MACC had to investigate the videos to ensure their authenticity, especially during the era of artificial intelligence.
‘Another joke’
To this, Latheefa chided Anwar's notion that the videos could have been fabricated.
Saying that the remarks were "another joke", the lawyer pointed out that one of the state assemblypersons implicated in the scandal had admitted that it was him in the leaked video.
ADS"He said that was him, but he denies what he said was tantamount to bribery. He said it could be a political donation, there's no bribery element in the video.
"But how is it that someone admitted to the video, but you have the top leader suggesting that we have to be very careful when we investigate.
"Why? Why do we need to be careful? Is it because the Sabah election is happening?
"Is it because the person being investigated or targeted holds a very high position?" asked Latheefa.
She also pondered the question of what the difference is between the Anwar-led administration and Najib Abdul Razak’s BN government, whom she said had abused their powers to avoid investigation and charges in the 1MDB scandal. - Mkini

---