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Anwar sues Mahathir for calling him a homosexual
Former Malaysian deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim has launched a lawsuit against one-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad for accusing him of being a homosexual.
Anwar Ibrahim and his wife |
Former Malaysian deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim has launched a lawsuit against one-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad for accusing him of being a homosexual.
Dr Mahathir said recently that he was forced to sack Anwar in 1998 to prevent mainly-Muslim Malaysia from having a homosexual leader.
Anwar was jailed for sodomy after his sacking but the conviction was overturned last year.
"I cannot have a person who is like that in my cabinet who may succeed and become the prime minister. Imagine having a gay prime minister. Nobody would be safe," Dr Mahathir told reporters.
Anwar said he was "shocked" to hear of the ex-prime minister's "defamatory" remarks, particularly after a court recently awarded him US$1.2 (C$1.39)million in damages over a book that aired the sodomy allegations.
"I will not allow this lie and slander to continue. Thus I have instructed my counsel to initiative legal action against Mahathir," he said in a statement.
"From the very beginning I have stressed that my sacking from the government and Umno is executed as part of a high-level political conspiracy," he said.
He said he had been vindicated by the High Court which found that the author and publisher of the book 50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Be PM had conspired with unnamed 'others' to destroy his reputation and career.
"Despite this, Mahathir continues his baseless accusations to divert attention from his misguided policies that have harmed and caused severe damage to Malaysia..."Anwar said, accusing Mahathir of human rights abuses.
Anwar, who was once seen as Mahathir's heir apparent, was jailed on sodomy and corruption charges in 1998 for allegedly conducting a sexual relationship with his official driver.
He maintained the charges were trumped up to prevent him from challenging then-premier Mahathir. In another legal victory last month, Anwar also won an apology from the former police chief who beat him after his arrest as well as undisclosed damages.
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