Clare: Najib should sue, arrest warrant diversionary tactic

Sarawak Report Editor says the arrest warrant against her was not the crux of the issue but Najib being free to sue her for libel or prove that he has #Nothing2Hide

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, at the centre of a growing international storm over unexplained funds totaling RM2.6 billion in his personal banking accounts and the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, needs to do better than trot out the cliché “an activity detrimental to democracy” in issuing an arrest warrant against Sarawak Report Editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown.

That’s the response of the Sarawak-born Rewcastle who founded the UK-based whistleblower website to initially go after longtime Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud.

If the Prime Minister has nothing to hide in this matter and if the reports were false, said Rewcastle, there would be numerous more orthodox and far less disruptive methods of dealing with the matter (Rewcastle) than sacking the Deputy Prime Minister; sacking the Attorney- General, closing down the PAC and dismissing members of his Cabinet.

“He could simply have issued libel proceedings or he could have produced evidence (e.g. correct bank statements and transfer documents) that would have shown my reports to be untrue,” said Rewcastle.

“It’s they (the authorities) who are suppressing free speech and arresting people for questioning those in authority,” said Rewcastle in an email on the “activity detrimental to democracy” accusation against her.

“This action (arrest warrant) could hardly be more counter-productive on the part of a government that’s seeking to assure the world that it’s a sane democracy.”

She added that she was unclear on the substance of the accusations by Najib’s agents against her. “I am still unclear whether the agents of the Prime Minister are accusing me of ‘forging false documents’ or obtaining documents through ‘criminal leaks’,” said Rewcastle. “They have simultaneously accused me of both in the past few days.”

“They have been rounding up all sorts of senior investigators to try and find out who might have passed me such leaks.”

She stressed that “they need to make up their minds on this” and produce some substantive evidence on their other accusation: being part of some international plot intent on falsely accusing the Prime Minister of crimes for reasons unknown.

Rewcastle reminded that her action has been to publish information which some people in power do not like. “I am merely an investigative journalist who has been doing my job. I have unraveled one hell of an international scandal involving people in high places and the grand larceny of public monies.”

“It’s as simple as that — no plot and no vested interest. The interest of the public is my motivation and duty.”

Conversely, she said, the public are at liberty to reach their own conclusions over what has motivated the recent actions of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, who has spent the past few days, sacking, removing and arresting just about anybody who has been officially engaged in investigating the scandal.

“I have been reporting on the missing billions from 1MDB,” she said. “Moreover, he has not just attacked my blog and me, but also other reputable news organisations, closing down two papers in Malaysia.”

The Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has requested Interpol to turn down any Malaysian government request to issue an international arrest warrant against Rewcastle.

In a personal message to Interpol President, Mireille Ballestrazzi, and Secretary- General, Jürgen Stock, BMF director Lukas Straumann asked that Interpol “refuse to accept any Malaysian application to place Rewcastle Brown on red notice”.

The Malaysian step against an independent journalist, said BMF, was a desperate attempt by a Prime Minister to abuse an international organization for his political survival. “It should not be condoned by a respectable multilateral organization as Interpol.”