The Najib government is clearly in two minds over the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Four Corners’ documentary “State of Fear: Money and Murder in Malaysia” aired on Monday and widely shared on the Internet.
The first response to the ABC programme was from the Prime Minister’s Office, which said that the Four Corners documentary had confirmed the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s statement and the findings of Malaysian authorities that the money deposited into his personal accounts was a donation from a Saudi royalty.
“The investigations included forensic examination of every wire transfer,” said a government spokesperson in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday.
“Malaysian authorities also travelled to Saudi Arabia to examine documentation and interview members of the royal family, and the officials who administered the donation.
“As the leaked letter from Saudi Arabia states, the donation was a gift to the prime minister for promoting moderate Islam, and his leadership in combatting terrorism and extremism – such as by launching his Global Movement of Moderates initiative.
“The letter makes clear the gift was to be used as the prime minister saw fit; would be transferred directly or through the donor’s companies; and no benefit was expected in return.”
Journalist with Australian ‘Four Corner’s’ programme Linton Besser has dismissed speculations that a letter from Saudi prince Saud Abdulaziz Majid to Najib was planted by Putrajaya to exonerate the Prime Minister.
When contacted by Malaysiakini, Besser called such claims preposterous and stressed that the letter did not exonerate anyone.
Besser said: “If anything, it raises further and more difficult questions. The remittances we reported were associated with the letter pledging the money came from an altogether different person, from the personal accounts of someone calling themselves Prince Faisal bin Turki bin Bandar Alsaud.
“Meanwhile, who is this HRH Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud? And crucially, who is behind Tanore Finance and Blackstone? None of these questions has been answered.”
A few hours after the Prime Minister’s Office statement, the Foreign Ministry issued a separate statement that the ABC Four Corners programme was “one-sided” in attacking the accountability of the Prime Minister and the government system. Continue reading “Najib government in two minds over ABC Four Corners’ documentary “State of Fear: Money and Murder in Malaysia””
