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KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi has denied allegations that he insulted Malaysian security forces who fought during Kg Tanduo’s 2013 intrusion into Lahad Datu.
“I would never insult and never make fun of the security forces,” the Parti Warisan Sabah candidate told the Segama state bench.
He said the video showing a short clip of him allegedly insulting security forces in the intrusion was taken out of context as it did not show his entire speech.
“However, I would like to sincerely apologize if anyone, especially our security forces, feels insulted or hurt by that part of my speech,” he said in a statement here on Monday (September 21).
Mohamaddin is receiving backlash from social media users and other politicians after the video went viral.
He said that part of his speech was taken out of context as it was actually explaining the failure of the previous Barisan Nasional government to address the problem of undocumented immigrants.
He said he was also explaining the difficulties security forces faced in handling the intrusion that occurred due to Barisan’s alleged inability to solve the perennial problem of illegal entry into Sabah.
“I would never disparage, much less insult, our security forces who had put their lives at risk, and some who had given up theirs for the sovereignty of our nation,” Mohamaddin said.
He said that his entire speech should have been recorded and shared so that people fully understood what he was trying to say.
“I condemn the acts of whoever took only that part of my speech and distributed it, for obvious reasons to make Parti Warisan Sabah look bad,” he said.
“Therefore, I wish to emphasize that I never insulted our security forces who had served in the Tanduo intrusion,” Mohamaddin said.
Earlier on Monday, a video of Lahad Datu MP was widely circulated, saying that the 2013 shooting with Sulu militants in Tanduo was “just a show” to win votes and help Barisan win the 13th General Election.
In the video, he was seen claiming that military aircraft and tanks were deployed in Tanduo, some 37 km from the city of Lahad Datu, to fight the invaders, but instead destroyed the oil palm plantations.
Mohamaddin was also seen saying in the video that the only enemies the military had to fight were “chickens and dogs” and that the “show” had ended after the results of GE13 were announced.
He also claimed in the video that in his travels to the area, he had never encountered an invader attempting to claim Sabah as his own.
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