Ramkarpal: Najib should sue WSJ since AG has exonerated him

The MP cannot see any reason the Prime Minister would not take this necessary action unless he was not confident with the findings of the Attorney-General.

KUALA LUMPUR: The question that arises now was whether the Prime Minister was prepared to commence legal proceedings against the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in light of the Attorney-General’s statement on Tuesday which has effectively exonerated him from any wrongdoing, said Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh.

“The Prime Minister ought to commence legal proceedings against WSJ in the public interest as the matter has come into the international light and has had a negative impact on the country.”

By suing WSJ, the Prime Minister would be able to showcase the evidence which points to his innocence as claimed by the AG, which would surely be to his benefit, added Ramkarpal. “I cannot see any reason the Prime Minister would not take this necessary action unless, of course, he was not confident with the findings of the AG.”

As this issue has attracted international attention, reiterated the MP, the Prime Minister should not sit back and do nothing about the said WSJ allegations. “If the AG’s investigations show insufficient evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the Prime Minister, there ought to be little difficulty in suing WSJ, whether locally or in the United States, as surely, any defence by WSJ would fail since the Prime Minister was merely an innocent recipient of a generous donation according to the AG,” pointed out Ramkarpal in a statement.

He conceded however that the confirmation by Attorney-General Mohd Apandi Ali that billions had been donated to the Prime Minister via his personal accounts by the Saudi Royal family, without consideration, has been met with suspicion and skepticism.

In July last year, the Wall Street Journal had reported the flow of RM2.6 billion into the Prime Minister’s personal bank accounts through entities linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), citing documents sourced from government investigators. It also published an opinion piece on the matter.

The Prime Minister subsequently threatened to sue WSJ by taking the unprecedented step of first seeking clarification from WSJ which was not surprisingly met with a response from Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of WSJ, that such clarification was unnecessary as the articles of WSJ spoke for themselves.

The Prime Minister did not, however, commence legal proceedings in the United States against WSJ purportedly on the grounds that he was unlikely to obtain appropriate amounts of damages as he was not a popular figure there and neither were any legal proceedings commenced locally.