Anwar sexual misconduct claims: Great-uncle says ex-staff member 'manipulated'

The great-uncle of Muhammad Yusoff Rawther claims the former staffer of Anwar Ibrahim has been manipulated by politicians.

This followed a purported statutory declaration by Yusoff (photo, above) claiming sexual misconduct by Anwar.

Mohideen Abdul Kader said Yusoff had never mentioned such an incident to his family, including his late-grandfather SM Mohamed Idris.

"Yusoff has been estranged from the family since his grandfather passed away early this year.

"Coming more than one year after the alleged incident, and two days before the PKR conference, I believe that Yusoff has been manipulated by some politicians to serve their own interests.

"I thought we had left behind the politics of sodomy with the arrival of new Malaysia but, sadly, it keeps cropping up again and again. I am confident that Malaysians will reject such gutter politics," Mohideen (below) said in a statement last night.

Yusoff had made public the purported statutory declaration at a press conference yesterday, a video of which was published on Facebook.

He claimed that he was the victim of indecent exposure, molest and a lewd proposal during the incident allegedly committed by Anwar on Oct 2, 2018, at Anwar's residence in Segambut.

Yusoff said the purported incident took place on the fourth day of the Port Dickson by-election campaign. Anwar was the Pakatan Harapan candidate and eventual winner of the by-election.

In the video, Yusoff said he had confided in former PKR central leadership council member Badrul Hisham Saharin, who suggested that he documents his experience under oath.

During the press conference, he also complained that his previous police report against Anwar's political secretary, Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, accusing Farhash of assaulting him at Anwar's office in Petaling Jaya on May 16, has been ignored.

Farhash had claimed that Yusoff was manipulated by Badrul Hisham, who is better known as Chegubard.

Meanwhile, in a statement today, former PKR deputy youth chief Dr Afif Bahardin called for a rejection of gutter politics.

"We strongly reject attempted dirty politics that are being played by some quarters with the spread on social media of a statutory declaration against a party leader," he said.

While Afif did not name anybody, the statement was a clear reference to Yusoff's allegations.

Afif said the people should instead focus on developing the economy and ensuring that the government's Shared Prosperity Vision becomes a reality.

Afif is aligned to PKR deputy president Azmin Ali. His statement comes after a meeting between Azmin and Anwar yesterday, at which concessions were made, including for the deputy president to officiate the PKR Youth and Women's congresses.