An aide to domestic trade and cost of living minister Armizan Mohd Ali has filed a police report over an allegedly defamatory TikTok video linking the minister to the death of religious school student Zara Qairina Mahathir.
Ghazali Hajiji, who is Armizan’s political secretary, filed the report against the owner of the TikTok account handle “saka_merah7”, Berita Harian reported.
“I have lodged a police report regarding a TikTok post containing slander with malicious intent against Armizan, linking him to the unfortunate incident involving a student of SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha,” Ghazali was quoted as saying.
He said it was his responsibility to prevent such false claims from spreading and to issue a clear denial on behalf of Armizan, who is also the Papar MP.
“At a time when the late student’s family is facing immense grief, there is no need for any party to exploit the tragedy for political purposes by spreading falsehoods,” he said.
“Sabah’s political landscape is mature. We do not need to stoop this low. Enough is enough, we are better than this.”
He said a complaint has also been lodged with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
Yesterday, Sabah police chief Jauteh Dikun said Bukit Aman was reviewing the investigation into the death of Zara Qairina, who was found unconscious in a drain near her school hostel in Papar.
The 13-year-old student was found unconscious at 4am on July 16 after she allegedly fell from the third floor of the hostel.
