The tourism and culture minister was referring to Rizalman’s brush with the law after testing positive for drug use at a club in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
“He is innocent until proven guilty, so why don’t you all give him a chance? He hasn’t even been charged yet.
“Don’t be so judgmental. Nobody likes to be in that kind of position, so we should allow him to explain himself,” Nazri said at a press conference after launching the Malaysia Smart Tourism 4.0 programme.
He then called for all quarters to let the police complete their investigation first before making any further comments or accusations.
Following the incident, a group of grassroots Umno leaders had pressed Rizalman to resign from his party and government positions.
He is also an independent, non-executive director of Amanahraya Berhad, a public trustee company.
Asked about Rizalman’s claim that he had been framed in what could be an act of sabotage from within Umno, Nazri said “anything is possible”.
Rizalman was caught in a joint raid by the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at De Vegas Club on Jalan Imbi about 2am on Monday.
Rizalman denied taking any drugs and questioned the results of the urine test.
He claimed he only had coffee with some friends while having a karaoke session and that no alcoholic beverages were served.
Rizalman: I was set up, didn’t take drugs, only drank coffee