Day: November 17, 2016

Prime Minister Najib Razak has expressed concern over an imminent physical clash between ‘red shirt’ and ‘yellow shirt’ protesters during the Bersih 5 peaceful rally in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

He said: “If one side wants to protest and the side that wants to protect the government is compelled to come out … but I don’t want any physical clash.”

The Prime Minister and the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar will be guilty of grave dereliction of duty if they fail to uphold the law to ensure peace and order and instead, allow the Red Shirts to go on a provocative rampage resulting in clashes and ugly incidents on Saturday.

The Prime Minister and the Inspector-General of Police could not be ignorant of Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, which was enacted to deal with exactly the type of situation which the Red Shirts have created – a counter-demonstration.

The Red Shirts are fully entitled to hold a counter-demonstration in support of Najib’s undemocratic and kleptocratic rule, but they are not entitled to threaten or provoke breaches of the peace and acts of violence. Continue reading “Prime Minister and Inspector-General of Police will be guilty of grave dereliction of duty if they fail to uphold the law and allow the Red Shirts to go on provocative rampage, resulting in clashes and ugly incidents on Saturday”

Grace Leong
Straits Times
Nov 17, 2016

DPP accuses defendant of downplaying ties with Malaysian tycoon

Former BSI banker Yeo Jiawei was so close to controversial Malaysian tycoon Jho Low that he slept at his apartment, flew on his private jet and even wore his clothes, a court heard yesterday.

The claims arose yesterday as Yeo’s previous testimony, including claims over referral fees he reaped and his relationship with Mr Low, came under intense scrutiny by prosecutors.

Yeo, who faces four counts of witness tampering, has repeatedly downplayed his close ties to Mr Low, who is under investigation here and elsewhere over money-laundering claims linked to scandal-hit Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Continue reading “Ex-BSI banker trial: Yeo Jiawei slept at Jho Low’s house, wore his clothes, says prosecutor”

By RICHARD C. PADDOCK
New York Times
NOV. 14, 2016

BANGKOK — An outspoken member of Malaysia’s Parliament was sentenced on Monday to 18 months in prison for publicly disclosing classified information from an official audit into a scandal-plagued government investment fund.

A lower court ruled that the lawmaker, Rafizi Ramli, was guilty of violating the Official Secrets Act by possessing and publicizing information from the document. Mr. Rafizi, who has served in Parliament since 2013, could also lose his seat and be barred from running for office for five years.

Rights advocates said the prosecution and conviction of a sitting member of Parliament for speaking publicly was unprecedented and was aimed at silencing one of the government’s most vocal critics. Continue reading “Critic of Najib Razak, Malaysian Leader, Gets Prison for 1MDB Disclosure”

The time has come for the Najib government to act with dignity, decorum and honour and end all pretences and charade over the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit to forfeit US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion of multi-billion dollar international kleptocratic conspiracy of embezzlement and money-laundering of 1MDB funds.

In its latest propaganda campaign to go into the offensive to counter the long-standing blaze of adverse international publicity over the 1MDB scandal, the government propaganda arm, the Special Affairs Department (JASA) of the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, has launched an initiative to reach out to university students both at home and internationally.

This surreptitious JASA campaign went to Australia last week to influence Malaysian students in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, but this was discovered by the Australian media, although Australian reporters were barred from the “private” 1MDB briefings organized by JASA which featured 1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda.

The Australian Business Review, in its report “Malaysia’s 1MDB in university hard sell” on Nov. 15, 2016, said Kanda when confronted by the media at the University of NSW refused to answer questions about “the alleged corruption, including the funnelling of hundreds of millions of dollars into the personal bank account of Mr Razak” and “was quickly ushered into a waiting car”.

The Australian Business Review, which said that a glossy 20-page booklet entitled “DoJ’s summons is questionable” was distributed at the JASA briefings, reported:

“The unsigned pamphlet also attempts to cast doubt that Mr Najib is the person referred to in DoJ court filings as ‘Malaysian Official 1’ and in the Malaysian media as ‘MO1’, and who is identified as the beneficiary of much of the brazen theft from 1MDB via an account at AmBank.

“’DoJ did not name MO1 because the complaint that was made did not contain information and evidence to link MO1 with any assets and criminal wrongdoing such as was mentioned in the report,’ it claims.

“But Malaysia’s Housing Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan in an interview with the BBC in September admitted Mr Najib was ‘MO1’.”

I call on the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Mohd Salleh Mohd Keruak to make public the JASA bookletentitled “DoJ’s summons is questionable” or is it a tendentious, scurrilous and disreputable publication which cannot stand public scrutiny and can only bring further shame and humiliation to the Najib government? Continue reading “Time to stop all pretences and charade – Is the Najib government admitting “MO1” is Najib or not?”