KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali denies the accusation made by an individual who had attempted to link him to a sex video which is going viral.
"I categorically deny this vicious libel upon me," the Economic Affairs minister said in a statement today.
This follows a "confession" posted on Facebook by one Muhammad Haziq Abdul Aziz, the senior secretary to a deputy minister.
Prior to the "confession", a short clip of two men having sex was leaked online.
Mohamed Azmin said he believed the plot against him started months ago based on the current political development, citing intimidation against the safety of himself and his family during the end of Ramadan.
“This is nothing but a nefarious plot to assassinate my reputation and character in an attempt to destroy my political career.
“I utterly condemn this brand of gutter politics. It has no place in this era of New Malaysia, where we are working to rebuild the nation through institutional reforms,” the statement said.
The PKR deputy president informed that he had instructed his lawyers to initiate legal action against the individuals behind these accusations as well as against other perpetrators.
“I will avail myself of all legal means at my disposal to expose these culprits.
"I will not submit to these cowardly acts and heinous attempts to distract the public from the pressing concerns of the nation and the successes of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the planning and implementation of national development policies that are sustainable and inclusive.
"I trust the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will take all necessary action with regards to this matter," he said.
Yesterday, journalists were added into a WhatsApp group where the messages included videos of two men engaging in sexual acts, presumably phone call recordings of the duo and bank transactions slips with the Economic Affairs minister’s name.
Earlier today, Muhammad Haziq's Facebook account displayed a video in which he allegedly admitted he was one of the individuals in the sex video and that the video was recorded without his knowledge.
Muhammad Haziq also named Mohamed Azmin as the other man in the video and then abruptly urged the MACC to investigate the federal minister over corruption.