INTERVIEW The sex video purportedly showing Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim engaged in sexual acts with what appeared to be a sex worker was the third such allegation the embattled politician had faced.

However, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, a mother of six, remains steadfast in her trust of her husband.

“You can say whatever, but I maintain it is not Anwar (in the video) and I stand by it,” she told Malaysiakini at her residence in Bukit Segambut on Tuesday.

“When I saw it, (I told myself) it was impossible that he would do this, (not) with the (second sodomy) case going on. He’s not stupid, not after going to prison, not after seeing how we suffered, and with the children growing up and all,”

Although confident that her husband was filial, Wan Azizah expressed fear that people would believe the allegations when the sex video first surfaced on March 21.

“I was afraid that if it looked authentic, people may believe. Lies can be believed. To me that’s the tragedy,” she said.

“For us Muslims we believe fitnah (slander) is a big sin. Not only do you get punished but your children and the generation beyond that.”

Court of public opinion

As the saga moved into the court of public opinion, the former opposition leader who resigned as Permatang Pauh MP in 2008 to make way for her husband’s re-entry into politics, could take some relief.

“These moves to pull him down won’t work, and I thank Malaysians, the people who can see through this. This I’m very grateful for,” she said.

Wan Azizah said that when she first heard about the video screening by one Datuk T, it was déjà vu all over again for the family.

“Of course, (I thought) ‘Oh God, not another one.’ And then they (friends) said ‘no’, you have to look, because they (Datuk T) called all the journalists to view it.

“It was like a ‘Mission Impossible’ kind of thing. Like spy versus spy, cloak and dagger. So already, my radar was up,” she related.

It was later revealed that Datuk T was a pseudonym for three people who masterminded the video’s release, namely businessperson Shazryl Eskay Abdullah, former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik and former Perkasa treasurer Shuib Lazim.

It’s all about politics

“They have this massive campaign (of) spreading pornography in the country, which is against the law - and involving journalists - and they got away with a very light sentence. So it goes to prove that it is all political,” she said.

“If an outsider can read that, what more the family. So it has made us want to fight back (even more). No other family would want to go through this.

“In Arabic, it is aib (disgrace) to your maruah (dignity), it’s my husband you are talking about. It’s the family’s dignity. We are together (on this).”

Quizzed on the public debate over the sex video, Azizah said this was what she was grateful for.

“I thank the people and Malaysians who can see through this. It was splashed in the news every day. It was incessant.

“Malaysian politics should rise above this and we (should) fight fair and square, on a level playing field and for the good of the country,” the PKR president said.

Despite having been sentenced for abetting and distributing pornographic material and were fined between RM1,000 and RM3,000, the Datuk T trio had nevertheless claimed moral victory .

Why not 110 percent?

Asked about Rahim's lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's assertion during the court case that experts had said the person in the video was 99.99 percent Anwar, Wan Azizah remained unconvinced.

“I was surprised they didn’t say it was 110 percent like some people say,” she quipped.

“Who are these specialists? It’s like the current (sodomy) case, they (the authorities) say they have this and that, but why are we not given the reports?

“In the current (sodomy) case, the (DNA) swabs (were not given) for us to verify - this is the same modus operandi...

“So how can you then verify that it is Anwar? For me, I can take one look and I can tell the differences. This is trial by media.”

Wan Azizah took a swipe at Shafee for warning her that she could commit hearsay by accusing the senior lawyer of seeking to be the next attorney-general.

She pointed out Shafee was the BN counsel who had challenged her victory in the 1999 Permatang Pauh election, and there could be a motive behind it.

Eskay a family friend

However, Wan Azizah admitted that Shazryl Eskay, one of the ‘Datuk T’ trio, was a family friend.

“We knew him because he was introduced to us (as a masseur) when Anwar fell off a horse (in the 1990s and) had a (bad) back. He came off and on.

“When Anwar came out of prison there was no more physiotherapy, he just came as a visitor. He offered himself as a friend,” she said.

And of course, Shazryl Eskay, she said, had asked Anwar to be a witness in the crooked bridge case but his lawyer CV Prabhakaran said there was no need, as an earlier witness had verified what Anwar had said.

“It is true Shazryl Eskay brought Datuk Yahya (Jalil) to meet him as Anwar was then the finance minister. But Anwar stressed that it came under the purview of the EPU (Economic Planning Unit) and it came under the Prime Minister's Department, and that was it.

“But why come up with allegations that he brought (Anwar) to Thailand? This is beyond me,” she said.

Asked to say what was the probable motive for Shazryl Eskay's action, Wan Azizah said she really didn’t know.

“That you really have to ask him,” she said.

Family remains resolute

Despite the betrayal and sex allegations that one would only expect in a Hollywood movie, this real life family remained resolute in their struggle.

“It’s my children’s dad you’re talking about, and it’s my husband you’re talking about, my family’s dignity. We fight so that no other family will have to suffer like this,” she said.

“When Anwar came out (from prison), he became stronger and I think God works in mysterious ways. I believe that God answers my prayers.

"So I beseech the Almighty that prison will not be in his life. These are my prayers and I hope they will be answered." 

This interview was conducted jointly with Hafiz Yatim and Salhan K Ahmad.

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