After Malaysiakini, red-shirts to rally against Bar Council

The red-shirts will hold a “mega” demonstration to demand that the government shut down the Bar Council.

This is following the Bar Council's admission that it received funds linked to American billionaire George Soros for its operations.

Red-shirts leader and Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunos said the Bar Council was being "remote controlled" by Soros to try and topple the government.

However, he said no date had yet been set for the demonstration as they were seeking advice from their lawyers over their plans.

"We are planning a mega rally against the Bar Council which thus far has not benefited Malaysians one bit, and has openly opposed the government.

"What they have done is clearly controlled and monitored by Soros to ensure the democratically-elected government is toppled," he said in a voice message to the media.

Although the Bar Council had said it was not illegal to receive funds from Open Society Foundations (OSF), Jamal said it was a "heinous act" because Soros had "almost made Malaysia bankrupt".

In 1998, then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad blamed currency speculation by Soros as the cause for the economic crisis.

"So receiving funds from OSF is a betrayal against the Malaysian people," said Jamal.

Jamal's announcement came after police stopped about 700 red-shirts from entering Malaysiakini's office in Petaling Jaya, last Saturday.

The red-shirts claimed the portal was undermining parliamentary democracy by receiving grants from OSF.

Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan said all editorial decisions are made by the website's journalists, and it is "impossible" for outsiders to interfere.

Malaysiakini editors also told Jamal this when he arrived at the news portal's office last Thursday with about 100 red-shirts, demanding an explanation over the news portal's funding.

He threatened to "tear down" (runtuh) the news portal's office on Saturday by bringing 20,000 demonstrators, but the threat did not materialise.

Protestors on Saturday had also dumped bags of rubbish in front of the news portal's office. Four were arrested for this and released on police bail.- Mkini