KUALA LUMPUR • A gay sex video implicating a Malaysian minister has been ascertained to be authentic, said national police chief Abdul Hamid Bador, although police cannot determine the identities of the two men in the clips.

Cybersecurity Malaysia conducted the verification after the police provided the agency with the video. "It found that the probability that the video is authentic is high," he said in a statement yesterday.

"(However), the result of the facial recognition test came back negative and (it) was unable to link the person in the video with the alleged individual."

Previously, Mr Abdul Hamid had said that police are exploring all angles in the investigation.

Yesterday, he said that police investigation into the matter showed the existence of an evil conspiracy masterminded by a leader of a political party aimed at shaming and sullying the reputation of a particular individual.

"The video was spread with the aim of sowing societal discord and was produced by a party who was paid hundreds of thousands of ringgit," he added.

Former political aide Haziq Aziz last month confessed to being one of the two men performing sexual acts in the video, and had claimed the other man was Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali.

Datuk Seri Azmin has denied this claim, and said it was a plot to destroy his political career.

The police have arrested nine people in connection with the case, including Mr Haziq and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Anwar Ibrahim's political secretary Farhash Mubarak.

Datuk Seri Anwar has denied involvement, saying that insinuations about a higher-up being the mastermind behind the clips are "baseless".