I did not blackmail Anwar, says author Yahaya Ismail
Thursday, 20 Jun 20191:03 PM MYT
PETALING JAYA: The author of "Why Anwar should not be PM" denies that he ever blackmailed the PKR president.
Yahaya Ismail said his offer to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to buy the copyright to his book was a norm in the book publishing business.
He wrote that it was Anwar who first initiated contact to discuss politics with him in 1993, after he criticised Anwar's alleged immoralities despite championing Islam in a book.
"I was not paid by anyone to write the book (Why Anwar should not be PM).
"This is my own research. I write about politics, and I have written more than 50 political titles in the past 40 years.
"I have known Anwar since the 70s, but we are not of the same political views.
"When I met him in 1993, we talked from 11.45pm to 1.45am, and he was afraid I might expose alleged homosexual behaviour," said Yahaya in a Facebook post on Thursday (June 20) in response to a press conference by PKR MP Datuk Johari Abdul on Wednesday (July 19).
Johari accused him of blackmailing Anwar for "more than RM400,000" to not publish the book.
Yahaya said he wrote the book to prove to himself as a Muslim that Anwar did not have the right character to be prime minister.
"As is done in the publishing business, I gave a copy to Johari and Anwar to read and asked them if they wanted to buy the copyright of the book. I put that price on the book as I knew it would be a bestseller.
"The book is my copyright, and I have the right to publish it myself.
"If I publish it, and Anwar or Johari later say I slandered, they can sue me. What is the problem?
"I do not work with gangsters who blackmail politicians who have been in prison twice. I am not a mercenary who writes. Check my bank account and see if anyone has paid me to write," said Yahaya.
He added that if no one wanted to buy the copyright, he would publish it himself.
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Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/06/20/i-did-not-blackmail-anwar-says-author-yahaya-ismail/#OEsmHmYUEjpI9tPs.99
