UNDUE FURORE OVER A TRASHY RAG CALLED SARAWAK REPORT

Sarawak Report’s allegation that Shafee received RM9.5 million from Najib is not going to alter the facts of the case.  

KS Lee

Since the news alleging that Senior Lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, received RM 9.5 million from Prime Minister Najib Razak, the Opposition has been in a state of fevered excitement.

As usual, Sarawak Report does not give any concrete evidence to support the allegations.

Clare Rewcastle Brown is often hailed as a ‘whistleblower’ by her paymasters and supporters. She is more of a poison pen for hire. Paid the right sum, she will willingly write whatever demanded; a liberal mixture of half truths and outright lies, a manufacturer of fake news. She, however, is the ultimate weapon of the Opposition.

READ: I was offered $2.7m for stolen data: Ex-PetroSaudi employee Xavier Andre Justo on the 1MDB saga

Malaysians would not have forgotten the Xavier Andre Justo fiasco. Brown was the intermediary for the Opposition and its supporters to negotiate with Justo to buy the data Justo had stolen from Petro Saudi, which was supposed to contain data regarding 1MDB, for $3 million. The money was never paid to Justo though there were a number of meetings between Justo, Brown and Tong Kooi Ong and the editor of one of his newspapers – Mr Ho Kay Tat. Justo was played out by Tong and Brown.

From the negotiations, between Brown and Justo about the method of payment smacked of money laundering.

Unfortunately Justo was arrested in Thailand where he was hiding in a luxury bungalow belonging to Tong.

Upon his arrest, Justo spilled the beans implicating Brown, Tong and many members of the Opposition.

Having been caught out, Brown launched on a irrational tirade describing the Thai Police as corrupt, Singapore as a sin city and colluding with the Malaysian government. She also accused Switzerland of being partisan.

Clare Brown works for Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the attempt to oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak

Justo also revealed to the Police names of Opposition leaders e.g., Sufi Yussof, special aide to Mahathir. Sufi has been Mahathir’s aide since 2000.

Justo is also supposed to have named former Batu Kawan Umno deputy divisional chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan, Matthias Chang, DAP lawmaker Tony Pua; all of whom of course denied they were involved.

All the players in this fiasco have been unmasked. Chief among whom appears to be Mahathir.

Not only was Mahathir’s diabolical scheme scuttled but the continued unverified and fake allegations by Sarawak Report has not only backfired but much to Mahathir’s humiliation has only served to help Anwar Ibrahim. Despite all the hand shaking and hugging between the two, most of us know it is only ‘wayang kulit’. Dislike between the two runs deep and  is being kept hidden for political expediency.

No more fortunate is Tong who is said to be wandering around Europe. Unscrupulous Brown is giving Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland a wide berth for fear of being arrested.

Now coming to Anwar Ibrahim who will obstinately clutch at any straw to find a cause to get out of prison. It is worth remembering that Anwar and his lawyers attempted to postpone his earlier Sodomy appeal 67 times, most probably after hearing Shafee would be prosecuting. All the objections put forward by lawyers against Shafee appearing as prosecutor were rejected by the court.

It is interesting to note that Shafee was appointed Prosecutor for this case by the then attorney general, Abdul Gani Patail, who has now become the darling of the Opposition.

Clare Brown cheated Xavier Justo of the promised US2 million

Sarawak Report’s allegation that Shafee received RM 9.5 million from Najib is not going to alter the facts of the case.

Raja Petra Kamarudin has in his article on 7 June 2017 in Malaysia Today colourfully and graphically explained why Anwar was found guilty of sodomising his aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan. So I need not traverse that area again. The crux of the case hangs on the fact whether Anwar ‘did it or not’?

The Bench was of the opinion that Anwar did it.

Whether Shafee received money from Najib is immaterial here. Sarawak Report has not given evidence why the money was paid, if at all.

If Najib had paid the judges to influence the outcome of the case; it would have been a different matter.

Anwar’s team has to prove the money was given as an inducement, which would be an uphill task.

Why was Anwar found guilty? The weight of evidence was against him. Anwar certainly did not try to help himself by refusing to take the witness stand because he feared Shafee would tear him to shreds on cross examination. Secondly, he refused to provide a sample of his sperm to the court. Though he boasted he had 12 witnesses, none were produced in court. Even his wife did not appear to speak for him. Therefore, he  could not provide a convincing alibi.

Going to court and doing the same will only bring the same verdict. Clearly this is known to his legal team who are currently appearing in poor light!

I know that lawyers are bound by ethics to advise their client if there are no good grounds to re-open the case. Maybe they had advised against doing so but Anwar adamantly insisted on proceeding.

The Bar Council should look into the matter and ensure that Anwar has been duly advised. If not the lawyers should be censured. If the case does go to court I am sure the Bench would censure the lawyers!

The Bar Council for once should be objective instead of acting as a mouth-piece for the Opposition.