AUTHORITIES in Malaysia normally take a tough line against pornography, fearing to offend the country's Muslim-Malay majority. Frank talk is also discouraged: radio stations opted to garble the lyrics to a popular Lady Gaga song, “Born This Way”, which urges tolerance of homosexuality. Normal rules do not seem to apply, however, when it comes to dishing the dirt on Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader.

He is currently on trial for alleged sodomy of a male aide, a virtual rerun of a lurid trial in 1998 that ended in a conviction. Now Mr Anwar has been linked to more hanky-panky, this time with a woman. In late March some Malaysian journalists were shown a video that purports to be of Mr Anwar having sex in a hotel room with a foreign prostitute. He strenuously denies that he was the man in the film and says his political foes have cooked up yet another smear campaign. The police have launched a criminal investigation into the steamy video, culled apparently from grainy closed-circuit television images.

The men behind the video say it demonstrates how Mr Anwar is unfit to lead Malaysia. A right-wing Malay group says he has insulted “Islam and the Malay race”. When a similar scandal erupted in 2008, over a video of a (non-Muslim) cabinet minister, Chua Soi Lek, romping with a prostitute, he quit in disgrace. The stakes are higher for Mr Anwar, given his ongoing sodomy trial and a base of Muslim voters. His fractious opposition is contesting a big state election in Sarawak on April 16th.

Mr Anwar's accusers have their own skeletons. One, Rahim Thamby Chik, was forced out in 1994 as chief minister of Malacca after he was charged with raping a minor (the charge was later dropped). As it happens, MrAnwar was the deputy prime minister at the time, and gave Mr Rahim his marching orders.