Screening sex video: Datuk T trio fined

Trio convicted for showing sex video involving Opposition Leader Anwar.

KUALA LUMPUR: The “Datuk T” trio who showed a sex video implicating Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to journalists were convicted by a magistrate’s court here today after all three pleaded guilty.

Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and Shuaib Lazim, both businessmen and the main suspects in the case, were found guilty of screening obscene video to the public, while former Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik was convicted of abetting the two in committing the crime.

Shazryl was fined RM3,000 in default three months in prison, Shuaib was fined RM1,500 in default two months in prison, and Abdul Rahim was fined RM1,000 in default one month in prison.

More than 300 supporters gathered outside the court lobby to show solidarity with the convicted, who argued their cause was to prove Anwar morally unfit to become a leader.

The supporters turned rowdy as the three exited the court after they accepted the verdict.
“It is a mission accomplished today and we are very happy that we have proven to the people through the judicial system of the country,” Abdul Rahim told reporters.

“Now it is up to the people to decide the destiny of the country,” added Rahim, who himself faced prosecution for sexual assault on a minor years ago.

The trio exhibited a 20-minute video clip allegedly showing Anwar having sex with an anonymous woman at a hotel to a group of journalists three months ago, ahead of a state election in Sarawak.

Police who investigated the case told the court today they had sought help from experts from an academic institution in the United States to verify the video clip, which was later found to be authentic.

Investigation also found the man featured in the video clip bore a striking resemblance to Anwar.

The trio demanded 62-year-old Anwar and his wife, the president of opposition party PKR, to step down from their posts.

Anwar, who has been married for more than 30 years, denied he was the man in the clip and condemned the act as a “scurrilous attack” against him.

- Agencies