PUTRAJAYA - Rumour-mongers who spread fake news of government approval for a casino licence in Forest City, Johor, should be put behind bars, says Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

“I have never heard of such a proposal or anyone proposing such plans involving Forest City which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is said to have an interest in.

“The King had not once mentioned anything about such things... never once,” Datuk Seri Anwar said when launching the national-level Labour Day celebrations on May 1.

He questioned how such talk came about and said those responsible for such malicious rumours against the royal institution should be punished.

“What is this and where did it come from?

“These people should be the ones (taking my place) in my old cell in Sungai Buloh,” he said.

Mr Anwar was incarcerated in Selangor’s Sungai Buloh Prison in 2015 following a conviction for sodomy, which was widely viewed as a trumped-up charge. He received a royal pardon in 2018.

On April 29, Bersatu information committee member Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, claimed trial at the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur to two charges of sedition and defamation involving Malaysia’s King, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar.

Badrul Hisham was accused of publishing a seditious statement on his Facebook account at 12.15pm on April 6.

On April 30, he claimed trial at the Sessions Court in Johor Bahru after being charged with making seditious remarks against the King.

He was alleged to have made the remarks on his Facebook page at 6.30pm on April 26, regarding reports on discussions about a casino in Forest City. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK