THREE news portals have been accused of defaming Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob by “manipulating” a speech he made in Bera recently, with an aide lodging a police report today.

In the police report sighted by The Malaysian Insight, the prime minister’s political secretary, Mohammad Anuar Mod Yunus, said the three sites – Agenda Daily, The Malaysian Life and Dialog Rakyat – reported false and libellous statements aimed at discrediting Ismail.

“The three news portals have published a false report with the intention to tarnish his name.

“Agenda Daily in particular carried a report ‘Ismail Sabri bimbang jadi PM paling singkat, rayu jangan tarik sokongan’, which was then republished by The Malaysia Life and Dialog Rakyat.

“All three sites have manipulated what Ismail had said to reporters at an event in Bera, while there were no reporters from these portals at the event,” Anuar said in the report.

The police report was lodged at Dang Wangi police station at 2.15pm this afternoon.

At an event in Bera on Sunday, Ismail said the priority was to ensure political stability for the safety and well-being of the people.

Political stability, he said, was key to enabling the government to implement previous and ongoing plans to help those impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Yes, the government will fall if there are those who withdraw their support. That is a fact. If Perikatan Nasional (PN), or any party for that matter, including Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) or within Umno itself pull out their support, the government will collapse as we now only have a majority of four (parliamentary) seats,” he said in the speech.

Meanwhile, a police source confirmed the report had been made but did not comment any further. – January 31, 2022.