KUALA LUMPUR: Police have opened an investigation paper against former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for allegedly issuing a slanderous statement against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Putrajaya police chief Assistant Commissioner A Asmadi Abdul Aziz said the investigation is being carried out under Section 500 of the Penal Code for slander.
"At 4.11 pm today, police received a report at the Putrajaya police headquarters by the political secretary of the Prime Minister regarding a video on the media conference by Tan Sri Mahiaddin Md Yassin (Muhyiddin) after he was charged at the Jalan Duta court, that went viral on social media,
"Initial investigation showed that the 11 minute and 11 second video is said to contain slanderous elements against the most powerful individual in the country's administration (Anwar)," said Asmadi in a statement.
He said the investigation is also being carried out under Section 233 of the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998.
Earlier, a police report was lodged by Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) deputy chief Muhammad Kamil Abdul Munim, who is the political secretary to the Finance Minister against Muhyiddin.
Kamil said the report was lodged so that the police would investigate and take action as it (the video) has invited negative speculation against the country's enforcement and judicial institutions.
He said the statement that was issued is an accusation and slander meant to create a negative perception on the prime minister.