(The Malaysian Insider) - Hilmi Malek has confirmed his previous love affair with Selangor executive councillor Elizabeth Wong but denied ever leaking semi-nude pictures of her.
He told Kosmo in an interview published today that the compromising photos of Wong surfaced after his mobile phone went missing.
“I don’t know who leaked (the pictures). All I know is that the mobile phone was long gone by then,” he told the Malay-language daily in Batam, Indonesia.
Hilmi, who is still wanted by police for questioning in connection to the nude photo scandal, however, refused to say if he had taken the pictures.
He added that many media reports on the controversy were false.
The 36-year-old also denied that he ran to Indonesia soon after the photos went public because he feared for his life and said he left Malaysia so as to not make the situation more complicated.
“I didn’t run out of fear... I did not want to muddy up the situation. I also did not want to be turned into a political circus,” he said.
Hilmi, who may seek political asylum in Europe, added that he hoped the police would not charge him over the nude photo scandal.
“I wish to start a new life,” he said.
Hilmi resurfaced after three years of silence earlier this month following his arrest in Batam for allegedly possessing fake Indonesian identification documents.
Online news portal Detik reported on February 4 that Indonesian immigration authorities had detained a PKR member known as “Azmi Hilmi” when he tried to renew his counterfeit passport.
He is said to have entered Indonesia on February 15, 2009 on his Malaysian passport via Tanjung Balai international port in Karimun before travelling around the archipelago and eventually settling in Jakarta.
Malaysian police later identified the man as Hilmi after receiving confirmation from their Indonesian counterparts.
Hilmi is said to have told the Indonesian authorities his stay there had been funded by his family and PKR as it was not safe for him to remain in Malaysia.
