Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has demanded two news dailies  publish a former graft investigator’s SMS, to counter their reports alleging that the investigator was forced to exonerate Anwar of stashing RM3 billion in foreign accounts.

NONE PKR political bureau member R Sivarasa ( left ) said the letter of demand issued today to New Straits Times (NST) and Berita Harian also requested the mainstream dailies to “pay a suitable sum to be determined for the injury done” to Anwar’s reputation.

The newspapers have been asked to reply to the letter of demand within 24 hours, failing which Anwar will seek legal recourse.

On June 12, NST reported that a bank chief executive officer had confessed to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), the predecessor to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, that Anwar had instructed him to channel millions of ringgit into the accounts of certain individuals and companies.

The daily, in a follow up report published June 21 then quoted retired ACA investigation director Abdul Razak Idris saying that he signed the statutory declaration (SD) dated Nov 10, 2009 freeing Anwar of blame, on orders from the latter.

The letter of demand, sent by Edwin Lim Suren & Soh, stated that NST's report titled 'SD done on Anwar's order' and Berita Harian 's 'Anwar suruh sumpah' are "completely false, malicious and defamatory".

it demanded that the dailies publish an apology approved by Anwar and an undertaking that the article or similar reports would not be published. 

 Evidence in hand

At a press conference today, Sivarasa said they had evidence to prove that Anwar did not direct Abdul Razak to make the SD, clearing the latter of the wrongdoing.

Sivarasa said that Abdul Razak has communicated this to NST and Berita Harian , and a copy of the SMS was forwarded to PKR lawyers.

The SMS from Abdul Razak states:

"Saya pula bukan diarah oleh DSAI (Anwar) tetapi saya diminta oleh KP SPRM (MACC director-general) untuk elakkan beliau atau pegawainya disapina oleh DSAI (Anwar) sebagai saksi plaintif dalam civil suit terhadap NST yang didengar pada akhir Nov 2009."

(I was never ordered by Anwar but I was asked by the MACC director-general to prevent him or his officers from being subpoenaed by Anwar as witnesses for the plaintiff in the civil suit against NST at the end of November 2009.)

The ACA had initiated investigations in 1999 based on Bank Negara assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid's SD that Anwar, during his tenure as deputy prime minister, had some 20 master accounts containing RM3 billion in assets, shares and cash.

Anwar again rebutted the 13 year claim, in a press conference on June 12 where he showed Abdul Razak's SD.

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