'Datuk T' got away with light fines

Sex video: Datuk Trio plead guilty and fined

The three individuals behind the sex tape which featured a man resembling Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim were charged in Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court today and slapped with a fine of up to RM3,000.

This came three months after they screened the video at a hotel to a group of journalists.

Businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and former Perkasa treasurer Shuaib Lazim were jointly charged for possession and distribution of pornography under Section 292(a) of the Penal Code.

They had allegedly committed the offence between 10.30am and 12pm at the Carcosa Seri Negara hotel on March 21.

Meanwhile, former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik was charged with abetment under section 109 of the Penal Code.

Rahim is represented by top lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, while Eskay was represented by Zamani Ibrahim and Shuaib by Suhaimi Salleh.

The prosecution team includes deputy head of prosecution division Mohamad Hanafiah bin Zakaria and DPP Kamaludin Md Said.

Magistrate Aizatul Akmal Maharani subsequently allowed a short break for the defence lawyers to consult the trio.

Eskay tells court: It's Anwar

When the court resumed hearing, all three pleaded guilty as charged.

As the facts of case were read out to the three accused, the court interpreter mentioned "resembling Anwar Ibrahim" four times.

It was also mentioned that a US expert report has found no tempering and no images being "superimposed" in the video footage.

The report also confirmed that the man resembles Anwar and that the woman in the sex video was from China.

It added that the woman gave the man oral sex and the couple went on to have sexual intercourse.

When magistrate Aizatul asked if the accused understood the facts of the case, Eskay said he did not agree with the content of US expert report - that the man in the video resembles Anwar.

"Not resembling, but it's Anwar," he told the court.

There are two widescreen televisions in the courtroom. It is possible that the video could be screened for the magistrate to ascertain whether the clip is really pornographic.

Trio's intention honourable, says defence

In mitigation before sentencing, defence lawyer Shafee argued that the motive of the accused was “honourable” - to expose the hypocrisy of a leader who at one time was one step away from becoming the prime minister.

He said the sex video would open him up to be blackmailed by local and international forces.

“This is more important than the issue of the case. The accused have merely committed a minor offence in the bid to expose bigger offence, and perhaps the biggest fraud ever.”

Shafee, who has prepared 40-page affidavit which detailed Rahim's background and achievements, said that while there were rumours surrounding the former politician, he was never convicted in a court of law.

The defence counsel asked the court to discharge Rahim on a good behaviour bond, and be given a warning.

Shafee also said the US video experts, who were consulted by the Malaysian police, had compared images of the man in the video with a photo of Anwar and confirmed that both were identical.

“This means A and B is same person,” he said.

Shafee said the June 4 report by Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, based on a facial recognition analysis shows 99.99% match of the male in the video clip to a known photo of Anwar.

The report was done professors Hany Farid and Lorenso Torresani.

He argued that Anwar had committed an offence of making a false police report under section 193 of the Penal Code.

“Datuk T should not be here, but Anwar,” said Shafee.

He also emphasised that the accused were not pornographic CD sellers, who ply their wares for money. The trio, said Shafee, did not gain personal benefit from the screening of the video.

After another short break, magistrate Aizatul handed down her sentence to the trio. All three were fined.

Eskay - fined RM3,000 or three months' jail.

Shuiab - fined RM1,500 or two months' jail.

Rahim - fined RM1,000 or one months' jail.

Video widely distributed

It was previously reported that several journalists and editors were shown a video clip of a man resembling Anwar having sex with a woman.

Shazryl and Rahim then unmasked themselves to be the ones responsible for the screening at a press conference two days later.

Although Shazryl said that he had the only copy of the video which was surrendered to the police, clips of it were later posted on a pro-Umno blog.

It did not take long for the full 23-minute video to be posted on the Internet.

Most recently, it was reported that the video had been mailed to politicians as well as distributed openly in many parts of Selangor. Some were left on car windshields at a shopping mall car park in Johor Baru.

Scorpenes, Altantuya to make waves in France when open court starts

Malaysian civil rights group SUARAM expects its corruption lawsuit filed against French naval arms firm DCNS to move into open court and hearings to begin in May or June.

This will pave the way for Malaysians to finally get access to details of a highly questionable RM6.7billion ringgit submarines deal entered into by their defense ministry in 2002, and kept top secret by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

DCNS was the vendor of the submarines and Najib has been accused of benefiting his close friend Razak Baginda with a 114 million euros commission in the deal.


"There is substantial evidence of corruption and some of it is new information of new corruption uncovered during investigation. Some of this could be sensitive or embarrassing to the Malaysian government but that is part of the process of helping Malaysian taxpayers recover their money lost through corrupt deals,” SUARAM board member Cynthia Gabriel told Malaysia Chronicle.

Investigative judge

SUARAM had in December 2009 filed an initial suit against DCNS at the Paris courts for “active and passive corruption, trading of favours and abuse of corporate assets” after failing to make any headway with the Malaysian government, which refused to impart any details despite constant grilling by opposition lawmakers in Parliament.

The deal agreed between Najib, who was then the Defense minister, and DCNS involved the sale of two Scorpene and one Agosta submarines to the Malaysian government.

Under the 2000 OECD convention of which France is a party, anyone French individual or company found to be involved in corrupt deals with foreign governments can be punished with 10 years imprisonment and a Euro 150,000 fine. This ruling provided the impetus for the SUARAM move to try and recover taxpayers' money lost through improper transactions.

"We have already applied for an investigate judge to preside at the open court. This will make the hearings more independent and we will certainly be pressing him to order further and more detailed investigations," said Cynthia.

Indeed, a French government-appointed judge may be less neutral given that the influential DCNS is one of France's largest firms.

The Altantuya sex and C4 murder

A sensational aspect of this high-stakes deal is the murder of 28-year old Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, a translator and intermediary who allegedly acted a a go-between for Razak Baginda and the French firm. She was killed in Kuala Lumpur with C4 explosives in a jungle clearing in Shah Alam after she purportedly tried to pester Baginda for her share of the commission.

Two of Najib's former bodyguards have been sentenced to hang for her killing but their court trial has been slammed as unfair. The former cops claimed they had been paid RM100,000 to kill Altantuya but this testimony was rejected by the Malaysian trial judge, who also warded off all attempts by defense counsels to ask the accused, who had ordered them to kill Altantuya.

French newspaper La Liberation has reported that the beautiful Altantuya, who could speak 4 languages including Russian, had told the two assassins she was pregant and had pleaded for her life before they shot her in the head, wrapped the C4 around her body and then detonated the explosives that are available only to the military in Malaysia.

A private investigator hired by Baginda has stated that it was Najib who met Altantuya at a diamond show in Singapore, and they had an affair before he 'passed' her over to Baginda.

But while Altantuya will feature in the French trial, the greater portion of the hearings will be centred on the submarines and the costing of the transactions between DCNS and the Malaysian government.

2.5million euros just for Razak Baginda's and Altantuya's travels


Among witnesses may be former DCNS administration and financial manager, Gérard-Philippe Menayas, who had been questioned by French police involving a similar case in Pakistan. Gerard has admitted having evidence to substantiate the kickbacks involved in the Malaysian deal.

Initially, it was suspected that Amaris, a subsidiary of DCNS and Thalès, had paid the 114 million euros commission to a Malaysian company called Perimekar, which headed by Baginda's wife..

However, the latest information show that it was not Armaris but the Malaysian government which paid the 114 million euros to Perimeka,r so as to enable the French firm to circumvent the OECD convention.

It is worth noting that this contrasts with the explanation given by deputy Defense minister Zainal Abidin Zin to Parliament in 2006 in which Zainal had said it was the Malaysian government which had paid a US$100 million commission for the deal to buy three submarines.

Meanwhile, two new pieces of evidence that have been uncovered include a payment of 30million euros by DCNS to its one of its own units and a 2.5million euros payment to a still-unidentified intermediary.

“Our investigators are still probing the intermediary but we have found out that a company called Gifen was established in Malta by one Jean-Marie Boivin to facilitate monetary transfers for the purpose of financing Baginda's and Altantuya's travels,” Gabriel added.

- Malaysia Chronicle

Obscene booklets of Anwar hit Sabah

Lewd caricatures and photographs depicting the opposition leader is 'no longer' about politics but a reflection of 'the morality of the people in the country'.

KOTA KINABALU: Police have been urged to investigate the mass distribution of a booklet called “Mentor 5” that is riddled with lewd wordings and photographs of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim in compromising positions.


United Sabah Taekwando Association (USTA) president David Chong said the 14-page booklet was disturbing, especially the caricatures and doctored pictures showing someone resembling PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and another person naked and in compromising positions.

“I have received complaints and was given a copy of the booklet … it is printed in colour. The complainant received the booklet through the mail on March 29.

“The booklet is sent using an 80 sen stamp and based on the post office rubber stamp it was sent from Pahang,” said Chong.

Chong described the booklets as “very disturbing” and that those responsible for publishing and sending them were going overboard in their bid to character assassinate the opposition leader.

“What worries me the most is that the booklet falling into the hands of schoolchildren. They will take this to school and show it to their friends.

“Being immature they may believe that it is all right for them to do whatever is said in the booklet.

“I hope the police and relevant authorities will look into the matter seriously.

“This is no longer political but involves the morality of the people in the country,” he said.

Chong believed the booklets were sent throughout the country using addresses randomly picked from the telephone directory.

He said TV3 should also initiate its investigation into the booklet because it had used the name “Mentor 5”, which was a singing competition reality show produced by the television station.

In the booklet, Anwar is depicted as the “Sifu” or mentor and one of his disciples is Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

In subsequent pages, both the face of Anwar and Saiful were “pasted” over men posing naked as well as on the face of two mating animals. Saiful is a key witness in Anwar’s ongoing sodomy II trial.

PKR vice-president and Anwar’s daugher Nurul Izzah had lodged a police report last week in Kuala Lumpur claiming that lewd cartoons depicting her father were being posted to the constituents in Lembah Pantai.

A sex video was also revealed two weeks ago by a trio calling themselves Datuk T, allegedly showing Anwar having sex with a foreign sex worker. Anwar has denied that he was the man in the video. By Charlie Rudai

'Even if not doctored, it isn't Anwar in sex video'

Not surprisingly PKR continues to rally behind its de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim despite the sex video allegations against him.

Amidst the nation's top cop stating that the footage of the sex video screened to journalists is genuine, PKR communications chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said it still does not prove who is in the video.

"Even if the video is genuine, fine and dandy. But it still does not prove who is in the video. Other people who have watched the video said that apart from the face, the physical attributes are not Anwar's.

"I hope the police will get to the bottom of this and find out who framed Anwar," Nik Nazmi (left) said when contacted by Malaysiakini.

The 22-minute video was shown to several people, including journalists, at Carcos Seri Negara in Kuala Lumpur on March 21, depicting a couple having sex.

'Datuk T' - the trio who admitted to screening the video - have since alleged that the man in the act is Anwar.

However, in an immediate reaction, several PKR leaders, including Batu MP and vice-president Tian Chua, have claimed that the video is doctored and falsified.

Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar said this morning the sex video was not doctored, based on views by "experts" roped in to help with the investigations.

"We didn't watch the video, so I still can't tell if it's doctored. But I know who Anwar is. I was his political secretary for two years. I've travelled abroad with him several times, I know his family and I've known him personally for six or seven years," Nik Nazmi said.

"Whether the video was doctored or someone else is impersonating Anwar, it does not explain anything. Identify who is in the video, lah. Even the IGP did not identify who it is."

'Crazy people with axe to grind'

Nik Nazmi, who is also the Seri Setia assemblyperson, said the police chief's statement does not change PKR's stand on the sex video.

"This doesn't change our stand on the whole shambolic episode - Anwar is not the person in the video," he said.

He said the video was concocted by "some crazy people with an agenda, an axe to grind".

"From the video to the sodomy trial and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission guy watching porn, people are going to think that Malaysia is oversexed or filled with perverts," he added.

Former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and Perkasa treasurer Shuib Lazim have admitted to banding together to release the video.

However, what the video successfully did was to put off people from politics, Nik Nazmi said.

"We tried to bring politics to a higher level. We tried to talk about our policies and the Buku Jingga.

"Now this throws people off politics. It's not even 18SX (a Malaysian censorship board classification for films with sexual elements), it's 80SX.

"This is not about politics and this should not be what our mainstream papers are about. It demeans public life and politicians," he lashed out in anger.

Meanwhile, PKR youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin (right) did not put much stock in the IGP's statement on the sex video's authenticity, saying that they had “expected” such a finding.

“The bigger question is, what happened to all the police reports lodged (against Datuk T)? Why is it that Datuk T have not been arrested?

“Why are the police quiet over what clearly are offences committed by the trio? We maintain that everything related to this sex video is politically motivated,” he said, claiming further that at least 30 police reports had been filed across the country against Datuk T.

Met at after the state assembly sitting in Shah Alam, Selangor Pakatan Rakyat chairperson Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said that the IGP should be clear when making such statements.

“He says it is authentic, but what is authentic? The video or the actor? And if it is authentic then what are the consequences?

“Taking the (MCA Chua Soi Lek leaked sex) video for example, the video was authentic and Chua had admitted to be the actor in the video. What has happened to him now?” he asked.

Abdul Khalid, who is also Selangor Menteri Besar, added that in any case the two sex video incidents are different as Anwar has vehemently denied that he is the man in the recording.

“Unless the IGP has evidence to say otherwise then (authenticity of the video) is not the issue,” he said.

By Regina Lee

Sex video clip genuine, says IGP

The special team investigating the case was in the closing stages of the probe.

KUALA LUMPUR: Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ismail Omar said today the sex video clip allegedly involving an opposition politician is genuine.

This is based on the report of experts who had used the clip to investigate the case, he told reporters.

Ismail said the special team investigating the case was in the closing stages of the probe and that the investigation papers would be handed over to the attorney-general soon.


The sex video clip, said to be of an opposition politician and a woman suspected to be a prostitute, was shown privately to selected journalists recently.

Police set up a team to investigate the case after Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who denied that he was the man in the video clip, had lodged a police report. -  Bernama


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The hidden camera video of the sex act was screened at Carcosa Seri Negara, Kuala Lumpur, on March 21, to a select guest list that included senior newspaper editors, and later shown to selected politicians.

The perpetrators of the screening of the pornographic video, a trio called Datuk T, later revealed themselves to be former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik, Perkasa treasurer-general Shuaib Lazim and a businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah, who is currently embroiled in a court case related to the Johor-Singapore 'crooked bridge'.

Police action on the Datuk T members remains elusive.

PKR's communications director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, meanwhile, has told Malaysiakini in response to Ismail's statement, "We acknowledge that it is not CGI (computer-generated imagery) but the question now is (who is the) actor in the video?"

Smut video, scumbag and Umno politics

What was a member of the Malaysian royal household, allegedly from Selangor, doing at a screening of the sex video at Shangri-la hotel?

The story surrounding the Carcosa smut video has been retold so many times by so many people. Before Carcosa there was Flamingo. Before Flamingo there was even a private viewing for five people at the Shangri-La hotel.

I think those five people at the Shangrila screenimg should be hauled up for questioning. At each of these viewings, the main protagonists were present – Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and Rahim Tamby Chik.

At the Shangri-La screening, there was another businessman, a member of an opposition party and a member of one of the royal households in Malaysia.

It seems each of these people was to be conditioned to pursue a specific agenda. This was to have been achieved by having each of these people believe that the male person doing the sex act is (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim.

The leading member of an opposition party was invited so as to give validation of the sex video.

The businessman – perhaps his role was to convince those people with whom he is closest. Rahim and Eskay – they are now the new paragons of virtue – the chosen ones to be the standard torch- bearers of the new morality.

It’s the role of the member of the royalty that is baffling. If the royal houses think they want to become involved in politics, please do so and expect the institutions to be attacked.

He is said to be a crucial link in BN’s effort to destabilise the Selangor government and kick out Khalid Ibrahim.

Khalid is to be replaced by someone more pliable to BN and Umno.

But first let’s focus on the video. We have not seen it, but let us agree that it’s a sex video.

Charge them

The producers of the video themselves said so – this is a video showing a person who is a leading opposition party leader in the act of engaging in sexual intercourse with a prostitute. It is therefore a pornographic material.

Why should the veracity of the smut video be established?

Why should we waste more public money and resources?

For the last 13 years, our country’s focus was transfixed to matters of the anus. It has been really “annus horribilis” for Malaysians.

As we shall show later, it will not be “annus mirabilis” for Umno if they think the misfortunes visited upon Anwar, either caused by others or brought upon by himself, are bonuses for them.

This is not a legal case yet – so it’s all politics.

Why should we offer protection to the three people who brazenly and smugly admitted they were behind the video?

I am also disturbed and hope others are too at the not too bright answer given by a top police officer to journalists who had asked if he was going to make any arrests. The top cop asked the journalists to tell him “to arrest on what charges”?

Well charge them with peddling pornographic material, for one. The whole issue has been politicised to a level of importance beyond what it deserves.

Anwar got away for the first time on technical grounds. That case and episode need not be reprised over and over again. Unless, the intention is politics.

Same here. The video is nothing but a tool for politics. The video hasn’t seen its day in court. So it has no legal significance yet.

Loyalty and friendship

If it does, the whole country will be thrown into a political cauldron once more. The sadder thing is, it involves basically Malays.

I am more interested to look at the moral issues there. To my mind, there is this question of loyalty and friendship.

Even among thieves there seems to be a code of honour.

The Eskay guy, some say, was a one-time masseuse with the national football team who ended up offering his services to political luminaries.

That’s how he got into intimacy with many leaders. Perhaps this was how he got close to Anwar in the first place. A close friendship developed between the two and Eskay wasn’t slow to leverage on the friendship he had with the nation’s number two.

It was Eskay who delivered the first cut. And the first cut is always the deepest, they say.

No matter what reasons Eskay gives to rationalise his decision to squeal on his friend or conspire to frame a friend, he should be treated as the leper that he is.

All Umno leaders must distance themselves from this kind of character.  He gives a new meaning to friendship and loyalty.

The smut video is all about politics at the moment. Eskay has an ongoing case with the contractor who was to build the crooked bridge.

He will receive his money soon as the contractor has been commanded with a decree to pay up lest the whole affair becomes messier.

Here is a challenge to Eskay. If Eskay has the interest of the nation at heart as he claims to have, then he should pursue the matter in open court.

Let all be in the open. Malaysians would like to know who else are involved in the crooked bridge deal.

Malaysians want to know the identity of not only the fornicators but also plunderers and conspirators stealing money from the public.

Let’s expose all this economic pillage and those behind the theft with the same vigour and pious motives these people associate the revelations of the sex video with.

By Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz - The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman and a columnist with FMT