KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is renting his current house in Kajang, Selangor for 10 years while the luxury cars he had borrowed have since been returned to their owners, his lawyer said today.
Datuk Sankara Nair, who has been representing Anwar for more than a decade now, stepped forward to clarify some allegations made by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia information committee member Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, that have been circulating on social media, news portal Malaysiakini reported this afternoon.
“The claims are highly defamatory because there is no truth in the allegations about the property he lives in,” Sankara was quoted as saying.
According to the lawyer, Anwar had signed a 10-year lease agreement in 2020 on the house he currently lives in, and that this evidence can be obtained by doing a search with the Land Office.
Sankara said the prime minister can live anywhere as long as he feels secure, and questioned why the latter would have to move out from the house which he has taken a 10-year lease on just because he is the prime minister now.
Sankara said he has advised Anwar to file a police report for criminal defamation against Badrul Hisham and two others.
Malaysiakini reported Anwar's political secretary Ahmad Farhan Fauzi saing that he had lodged a police report against Badrul Hisham, former Bersatu information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan, and blogger Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen over their allegedly defamatory remarks.
Farhan reportedly said his police report was lodged under Section 500 of the Penal Code (which is linked to the criminal defamation offence) and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (which covers improper use of network facilities or network service).
Last Tuesday, Badrul Hisham posted a statement on Facebook regarding alleged proof regarding Anwar's properties, his current personal residence and the vehicles that he was said to have used, which he said he had presented to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Badrul Hisham claimed that Anwar's personal residence is owned by a business tycoon and questioned if there are any agreements to rent or buy the place, and also mentioned two alleged luxury cars that he said Anwar was using but were allegedly not part of the latter's declared assets.
He claimed that a car of the Jaguar brand was under the name of a company where Anwar is the founder and adviser, and that the other car is a BMW and registered under a Selangor businessman's name.
Malaysiakini today reported Sankara saying that Anwar had said these were all second-hand cars that were loaned to him but have since been returned.
“As soon as he became prime minister, he returned everything. That's what he told me this morning,” he was quoted saying.
He said the police was asked to probe Badrul Hisham for allegedly going against Section 365 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, where information — given to the MACC when a report is lodged — cannot be publicly disclosed.
Section 65 is intended to protect informers and the information given.
