KOTA KINABALU: It is unfair and illogical to associate the party with the Semporna man arrested for Sabah's largest drug syndicate, said Parti Warisan's Information Chief Datuk Azis Jamman.
Last month, the federal police Narcotics Department and the Eastern Sabah Security Command detained 10 syndicate members, including a "Datuk," in a special operation. Investigations revealed that the syndicate had been active since 2015.
"Just because he is from Semporna does not mean that Warisan is associated with it.
"It should not be assumed that any (criminal) coming from that district is automatically associated with Warisan just because the Warisan president is from Semporna," he said during a press conference at the party's headquarters here.
He expressed concern over the damaging impact of such baseless allegations on the party's reputation and the reputation of its members.
Notably, he mentioned Gerakan Kuasa Malaysia (G57) chairman Datuk Zulkarnain Mahdar, who had filed a police report investigating the alleged association of a syndicate with Warisan, particularly focusing on the funding of its Sepanggar division.
"I would like to make it clear that the funds used to assist people during the Covid-19 pandemic were from the federal government's RM300,000 allocation for each member of Parliament and from the state government via the Community Development Leader unit.
"He made the allegation based on information from 'someone' without verifying it with us, which is a serious offence.
"We have filed a police report and will serve a letter of demand to him at his latest address on Monday and through social media.
"The letter intends to demand a public apology or a retraction of his statement," said the former Sepanggar MP, adding that the legal team would consider seeking RM100 million for the reputation damages caused to the party.
The Sepanggar division chief said that he believed the authority would do what was necessary to investigate the syndicate.
Despite the allegations, he also clarified that he had not been in detention for the past few days.
Meanwhile, he said the party secretary-general would take legal action against other individuals who tried to smear the party's image by linking it to the drug syndicate.