KUALA LUMPUR — Fear for his safety is what prompted Haziq Abdullah Abdul Aziz to come out in the open about his alleged relationship with a minister, the Sun reports on Wednesday (June 19).

The Santubong Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) youth chief said he was also afraid of what some quarters may be “capable of doing” to silence him.

“It was a risk, but I would rather be in the spotlight than suffer the same fate as Altantuya Shaariibuu,” he told the newspaper in an exclusive interview about his alleged affair with Malaysian economic affairs minister Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Altantuya, a Mongolian national who was a model and interpreter, was murdered in 2006.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and his associate Abdul Razak Baginda were implicated in the murder while two police special operatives – Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar – were convicted of the murder and sentenced to death.

Mr Azmin has repeatedly denied any involvement with Haziq and had claimed the video clip was the work of PKR insiders.

Haziq last week said he was the man in a video allegedly showing him having sex with Mr Azmin, which have been widely shared on social media.

He later lodged a police report to defend himself from accusations that he had a political agenda behind his confession.

The report lodged at the Kelana Jaya police station last Thursday was confirmed by Selangor Criminal Investigations Department chief Fadzil Ahmat to The Malaysian Insight.

Haziq had claimed he had had mulitiple sexual encounters with Mr Azmin over the past three years.

He had also called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate Mr Azmin, whom he said was unfit to lead.

The PKR deputy president, when asked if he knew Haziq, had said he only knew the 27-year-old Sarawakian “from afar” and highlighted the latter’s past involvement with Barisan Nasional before joining PKR after Pakatan Harapan won the general election last year.

Mr Azmin is also facing calls to take leave from official duties until police investigations into the sex clip are complete.

Last Friday, however, party president Anwar Ibrahim said no action would be taken against deputy president Azmin or Haziq to avoid worsening the situation.

Haziq and Mr Azmin have been questioned by police.

Police have formed a task force to investigate the case and CID chief Huzir Mohamad has said Haziq is being investigated for sodomy and distribution of obscene material.

Huzir said that Haziq will be probed for a total of four offences.

“He is being investigated under Section 377B for committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature; and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for the improper use of network facilities.

“He is also being investigated under Section 292 of the Penal Code for the sale or otherwise of obscene material, and Section 504 for the intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace,” the Bukit Aman CID chief was quoted as saying. THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT