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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The manoeuvres behind Kompas apology

On Sunday, prominent Indonesian daily Kompas apologised to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for a report it published about him and his wife, Rosmah Mansor.

However, Malaysiakini has learnt that the subtle apology, buried in an interview with Najib, was a sudden change of mind by theKompas top management at the eleventh hour.

The scathing article, titled 'Istri PM Najib dan Cincin 24 Juta Dollar' (PM Najib's wife and US$24 million ring), published in the Aug 4 issue of Kompas, soon found its way into Malaysia's political circles on the Internet.

Among others, the article linked Rosmah with the controversial purchase of a RM24 million ring, and alleged that Rosmah's soon-to-be in-law, Maira Nazarbayev, was linked to the "Russian mafia".

Nooryana Najwa Najib and Daniyar NazarbayevMaira Nazarbayev, of Kazakhstan, is the mother of Daniyar Nazarbayev, who is engaged to Nooryana Najwa, the daughter of Najib and Rosmah (left).

The Kompas article described Rosmah as having "a life full of controversies", and linked her to Perimekar, the company alleged to have received multi-million ringgit in commission for the Scorpene submarine procurement.

According to the author, the dubious deal is one of the factors that led to the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.

Two Najib advisers sought apology

Realising the article could resurrect issues highly detrimental to Najib's reputation, two of Najib's informal public relations advisers - one of whom is associated with an Indonesian conglomerate - scrambled to do damage control.

najib razak and rosmah mansor 1Sources told Malaysiakinithat the apology demanded by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was initially rejected by the Kompaseditors who stood by the article, especially on the alleged underworld links of Maira, which have been widely publicised on the Internet.

The two advisers of Najib then proceeded to threatenKompas with a legal suit, but this too failed to subdue the influential Indonesian daily.

Kompas however agreed to give Najib the right of answer by sending its international editor, Jimmy Harianto, to interview Najib in Putrajaya last Thursday which would allow the prime minister to deny and rebut the allegations.

This explains the strong reactions from PKR leaders on Sunday on micro-blogging website Twitter after Umno Youth Khairy Jamaluddin claimed that Kompas had apologised for its "lies and fabrication", which Khairy had linked to PKR.

PKR leaders who have been following the issue, including communications chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's press secretary Eekmal Ahmad, immediately rebutted Khairy.

But both Nik Nazmi and Eekmal were taken aback less than one hour later when national news agency Bernama confirmed that Kompasdid indeed apologise to Najib on Sunday.

Obviously the duo was not aware of Kompas' last-minute reversal.

Apology made under 'extraordinary circumstances'


It was unknown why Kompas made a U-turn at the final hour, but the sources claim that the decision must have been made under "extraordinary circumstances".

However, the newspaper did not conspicuously publish a full apology - it was more like a 'half apology'.

The apology was buried in paragraph 10 on page 10 of the newspaper in a report entitled 'PM Najib Razak: Demokrasi Juga Terjadi di Malaysia' (PM Najib Razak: There is democracy in Malaysia too).

The article, an interview with Najib, quoted the premier as denying the allegations in the Kompas report, and was followed by a one-line apology that reads: "Over the said report, Kompas chief editor Rikard Bagun, on Saturday (Aug 20) in Jakarta, specifically sought to apologise to the government leader and his family."

NONEOther than publishing Najib's denial, the daily did not state that the allegations in its article are untrue, and neither did it retract the article, which can still be accessed here.

In Malaysia, the pro-government mainstream media in Malaysia trumpeted the apology, giving significant coverage in their publications yesterday.

Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia dedicated its front page to the apology, coupled with a photograph on page 4, showing Jimmy 'apologising' to a smiling Najib.

maira nazarbayevHowever, Malaysiakini understands that the alleged underworld link of Maira will continue to haunt the premier's family as Indonesian journalists who are upset over the Kompasapology will dig up unfavourable reports of Maira (right), which can be easily found in cyberspace.

"At the end of the day, Najib will become the laughing stock of the public in Asean - a prime minister whose in-law is a woman samseng(gangster)," said one of the Indonesian journalist.

Several attempts were made to contact Kompas editors on the apology, but none was available to speak to Malaysiakini.

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