By Boo Su-Lyn
May 14, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

SHAH ALAM, May 14 — Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail hit out at those who say the main actor in a sex video circulating through Malaysia is her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, calling it slander that is “worse than murder”.

The PKR president defended her husband at a ceramah here last night after police said they will reveal the identities of those seen in the sex video only if they are required to do so by law.

“The man in the video is not my husband,” Dr Wan Azizah (picture) told a crowd of Malays at a village here last night.

“If I don’t recognise (him), who else can do so? If an accident happens (to him) at night, I’ll be the one to recognise him,” she said.

Businessman Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah performed the sumpah laknat oath last month by swearing in God’s name that Anwar is the man featured in the controversial sex video.

Shazryl took the oath on behalf of the “Datuk T” trio behind the sex scandal, who comprises him, former Malacca Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik and Perkasa treasurer-general Datuk Shuib Lazim.

Dr Wan Azizah warned that those who spread such a “lie” and their grandchildren would suffer the consequences of their “sin”.

“Don’t play around… This is a lie. It’s slander. This slander is worse than murder,” said the PKR president in front of the 200-strong crowd.

The doctor, who married Anwar 30 years ago, also pointed out that the physique of the man in the sex video was clearly different from her husband’s.

“In the video, with a stomach like that, it’s not him,” she said as the crowd laughed.

She had made similar remarks last month, pointing out that Anwar’s stomach was smaller than the stomach of the man in the video as Anwar had exercised when he was in jail.

She went on to criticise national leaders who, she said, insulted Anwar every day by calling him a sodomite.

“This is the country’s tragedy,” said Dr Wan Azizah.

In the late 1990s, then-deputy prime minister Anwar faced charges of sodomy and abuse of power.

Three years ago, Anwar faced a second sodomy charge brought against him by a former aide. The case is ongoing.

The opposition leader has accused Umno leaders of masterminding the latest sex scandal.

Dr Wan Azizah also hit out at a text message, which her daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar said she had received, containing a threat to kidnap the latter’s three-year-old daughter.

“What kind of human is this?” she asked.

Nurul Izzah said yesterday that she was warned against continuing to support her father, or else her daughter would end up sharing the same fate as Sharlinie Mohd Nashar.

Sharlinie, 5, was abducted in 2008 at a playground near her house in Petaling Jaya and remains missing.