KUANTAN, 26 FEBRUARY, 2012: Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) today said he hopes that irresponsible parties have not resorted to acts of libeling to vilify Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

He said this when asked to comment on the recent incident where Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) supreme council member Dr Badrulamin Bahron was reported to have been caught for ‘khalwat’ (close proximity) at a hotel in Kuantan yesterday.

“He (Badrulamin) already explained this matter. To me, do not use slander. I know that when he was attacked, it was just him (alone) in the room,” said Anwar when approached by Malaysian Digest during the Himpunan Hijau 2.0 rally at the MPK 4 field here today.

Badrulamin meanwhile in a statement last night has denied the allegations, claiming instead to be a victim of a plan to “trap and embarrass me”.

The Selangor PKR leader explained that he was trying to help a female acquaintance who claimed to be a victim of domestic violence at the time when religious officials arrived to arrest him.

“I believe this incident was a plan to trap and embarrass me,” said Badrulamin.

He explained that the woman had called him on Friday and said that she wanted to run away from home as she “feared her safety”.

Badrulamin (right) said he had advised her against it but the woman and her child then unexpectedly showed up at 2am yesterday, at the location where he was attending a two-day PKR meeting.

He said, upon seeing the woman and her child in distress, he decided to check them into a hotel room.

However, half an hour later, the woman’s husband came to the hotel with over 20 people and “surrounded and attacked” him while the husband “forcefully” dragged his wife and child away.

He said “the men who behaved like samsengs” only stopped beating him when the authorities arrived to control the situation.

Badrulamin said he was still not allowed to leave the room until about 20 minutes later when JAIP officials arrived to detain him.

- mD