MalaysiaNow editor Abdar Rahman Koya will be questioned by police again on Thursday over a mineral exploration licence scandal in Sabah involving businessperson Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak.
Rahman said this is the second time he is being questioned in regards to the exposé. This latest round of questioning, he said, was prompted by a police report lodged by Farhash.
He was previously grilled by police on Aug 12 after Sabah Mineral Management (SMM) Sdn Bhd lodged a report over the same scandal.
In a statement today, Rahman said he will continue to exercise his constitutional right to refuse to answer police questions and continue to protect his sources.
Last month, MalaysiaNow published a series of exposés alleging that SMM - a Sabah GLC - had granted a mineral prospecting licence to a company co-owned by Farhash.
Farhash is a former aide to Anwar Ibrahim when the latter was the opposition leader.
Both Farhash and SMM denied MalaysiaNow’s allegations.
However, SMM later revealed it had given a conditional nod to the businessperson’s company to apply for a prospecting licence, but this was cancelled after the company failed to submit the required documents.
Rahman said today that on top of the police investigation, Farhash has also filed for an injunction against MalaysiaNow from further reporting on the matter, as well as a defamation suit seeking RM10 million in damages.
He said the injunction application will be heard tomorrow.
“The police questioning, the defamation suits, and the application to gag MalaysiaNow are all part of a harassment of journalists, a trend that has been on the increase in tandem with a series of pretentious statements in defence of media freedom from government leaders.
“As the editor of MalaysiaNow, I refuse to bow to this harassment,” he said. - Mkini
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