Opposition politicians blamed for uninvited presence of Four Corners TV crew at news conference.
PETALING JAYA: Opposition politicians have been blamed for an Australian news crew turning up uninvited and behaving rudely at a news conference for A. Santamil Selvi, the widow of PI Bala, and deliberately placing her under stress.
Ramesh Rao of the Pertubuhan Minda dan Social Prihatin Malaysia organisation, who organised the press conference, reportedly said the Australian television reporter and camerman had been trespassing in his office when they attended the press conference.
Selvi had read out an apology to the prime minister, Najib Razak, and his wife Rosmah Mansor and family for alleging that Rosmah had caused her husband’s death in 2013, soon after returning from exile in India.
Her late husband, P Balasubramaniam, a private investigator hired by murder victim Altantuya Shaariibuu, had caused a sensation with disclosures implicating Najib and an associate, Razak Baginda, in relationship with Altantuya. He later retracted his statement and fled with his family to India.
In a statement today quoted by Star Online, Ramesh had said members of an Australian news agency had attended the press conference without permission and had behaved rudely.
The two were reporter Linton Besser and cameraman Louis Eroglu of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s flagship weekly Four Corners current affairs programme.
They had flown to Kuching yesterday where they were arrested last night after attempting to ask questions of Najib while he was at a walkabout on an official visit to Datul Ehsan mosque at Kota Sentosa.
Ramesh said today their presence was due to an attempt by Opposition politicians to heat up the press conference with provocation that was irrelevant to the apology read by Santamil, according to Star Online.
Selvi has accused politicians of PKR of having failed to meet their promises to her family. She had claimed they told her to ask the Barisan Nasional if they could make a better offer.
Ramesh was quoted as saying that the Australian reporter had “purposely put Selvi in a stressful situation which later (caused her to) behave emotionally, to become angry, and to leave the press conference”.
He said that although Selvi had answered the reporter’s questions, he had continued to repeat the question until the situation became chaotic.
Ramesh questioned why the foreign media had not questioned the behaviour of opposition politicians who, he said, had not fulfilled promises to take care of her and her children, especially with their education fees.
He said Selvi’s presence at the news conference had been to ask for financial assistance for her children.
Santamil and her three children have filed a suit against Najib, two of his brothers, and others for forcing the family to live in exile in India from 2008-2013.
Those named in the suit were Najib’s brothers Ahmad Johari and Mohd Nazim, a senior member of the Bar, Cecil Abraham and his son Sunil, a commissioner of oaths, Zainal Abidin Muhayat, and another lawyer, M. Arunapalam.
This Rao fellow was the one who arranged for the press conference and he blames the opposition? He's a con man trying to earn side income through the miseries of others. Remember how he flopped badly with the Lester fellow, making such a big fool of himself and Lester.
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