The government official who claims to be in a sex video purportedly with Malaysian Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali was released by police yesterday evening, with the minister and his political secretary also set to be called in to assist in investigations into the clips that have gone viral since Tuesday.
Mr Haziq Aziz was arrested just as he was about to leave for Manila on Friday evening and was sent to Hospital Kuala Lumpur yesterday morning for a medical examination.
His lawyer Ramesh Sivakumar said that Mr Haziq, the principal private secretary to Deputy Minister for Primary Industries Shamsul Iskandar Akin, is free to leave the country following his release.
"The investigating officer informed me Haziq will not be remanded as we had feared but is being released on police bail. If they need him to come back then he will return to cooperate," he told reporters. He said he did not know why his client was heading to the Philippines.
National criminal investigation chief Huzir Mohamed had said the 27-year-old "suspect" was detained to facilitate investigations into the distribution of obscene material, intent to provoke breach of peace, carnal intercourse against nature and abuse of communication networks.
After the clips of the two men engaged in sexual acts were released by anonymous phone numbers via WhatsApp on Tuesday morning - including to many journalists - Mr Haziq posted a Facebook video the next day alleging that it was recorded without his permission and that the other person in the clip was Datuk Seri Azmin, who is also Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president.
Mr Azmin dismissed the claim vehemently, denouncing it as a plot to end his political career.
Mr Haziq, a PKR youth wing leader from Sarawak, then claimed his relationship with the minister had lasted three years and that Mr Azmin had recorded them. He also said Mr Azmin's political secretary Hilman Idham had met him on Tuesday to pressure him to deny the authenticity of the video. He lodged a police report asserting the same.
This led to Mr Hilman filing his own police report, alleging that Mr Haziq had told him the videos were fake and that he was being used as a pawn in a plot against Mr Azmin.
National police chief Abdul Hamid Bador said yesterday that Mr Azmin would also be called up for questioning soon, while Mr Hilman said he had been asked to go in for questioning tomorrow.
"If there is an accuser, or someone who has been accused, of course we will call them to aid investigations. "So far, we don't have any clues as to who is telling the truth, who is not... whether the video is fake or not," he said yesterday at the Perlis police headquarters in Kangar.
The Cyber Crime Committee - made up of the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission - has made the case a top priority, amid growing tensions within PKR, a member of the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition.
Mr Azmin and those allied to him have implied internal sabotage, a claim that PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said had no basis.
Datuk Seri Anwar, who is supposed to succeed Tun Mahathir Mohamad as premier, has also said there is no need for action to be taken against either Mr Haziq or his deputy president.
A pro-Anwar group, Otai Reformis, has called on Mr Azmin to go on leave pending completion of the probe, something the minister has already brushed off.
