Madius who is accompanied by his lawyer Nelson Angang and UPKO leaders shows a copy of the police report he lodged.
KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau is fearing for his personal safety and that of his family.
The United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO) President said he had been threatened by people via telephone and WhatsApp who were angered by a digital post calling Madius a traitor and alleging that he had sold out his race for the sake of position.
Madius yesterday went to the Penampang district police station to lodge a report against the digital post as a precaution and also to ask the police to investigate the matter as well as find out the origin of the post.
“This is not the first time that I have been slandered via social media and I have lodged police reports in the past. This time the allegation is very serious because after the digital post went viral, I received threats via phone calls and messaging applications like WhatsApps.
“Some of the threats also targeted my family and I urged the police to investigate who is responsible for creating the digital post and making it viral as a result, inciting anger among the rakyat. This is very serious as it has threatened my personal safety and that of my family,” he said when met after he lodged the police report.
Madius wants police to carry out an investigation into the matter until those responsible are brought to court to face the consequences of their action.
The digital post that Madius wants the police to investigate.
“I hope that this act of slandering people will stop as it does not benefit anyone. This makes the rakyat angry and these are baseless accusations not only against me personally but also in my capacity as the Deputy Chief Minister. The allegations are unfair to me and the state government,” he stressed.
Madius disclosed that he was informed of the digital post at about 5pm on Monday, but did not really bother about it as he thought it was a joke.
But as the evening progressed, he began to receive calls from people threatening him, Madius said, adding that he also received messages via WhatsApp saying all sorts of things about him and his family etc.
“Obviously this particular digital message has created hatred and anger among the public towards me personally and towards the government. The message accused me of being a traitor, claimed that I am involved in the issuance of IC to illegal immigrants, collaborating with the Chief Minister… these kind of allegations.
“This is very serious and is not the first time, I believe this has gone viral right to the grassroots because people, strangers from as far as Kuamut, Kudat and Keningau have called me. I feared for my life as I can hear from the tone of their voice that they are very angry,” he stressed.
Madius said that the intention of those responsible was not known but what they did had really tarnished his reputation as well as that of his family and the state government.
When asked to comment about the issue of politics of hatred, Madius opined that it is not healthy.
“We are in politics, I am a politician, we have difference of opinions, this is normal in a democracy but when you go into this campaign of hatred especially if it is baseless, has no place in our society and we should not encourage it.
“Anybody who viral this sort of thing are equally responsible because if affects people’s lives and in this case my family and of course my reputation, the reputation of the government and people’s perception of the government is also affected,” he said.