Najib’s lawyer: No instruction to file suits on foreign reports

With the opposition having urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in Parliament to file suits against the foreign media for reports linking him to losses in 1MDB and the seizure of the luxurious yacht Equanimity owned by Jho Low, his lawyer said there has been no instruction to institute legal action.

Mohd Hafarizam Harun said this when asked, on the sidelines of a court case in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, whether Najib intended to file suits against reports published in the Indonesian magazine Tempo and other reports and short documentaries on 1MDB aired by United States-owned CNBCand British Broadcasting Corporation.

Hafarizam replied: "I have not received instructions."

Yesterday, DAP’s Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching, while addressing a debate on the royal address in Parliament, asked whether Najib would file suits against the foreign media, since he has a habit of suing critics and media organisations locally.

Teo wondered whether Najib was more gracious to his foreign critics.

"Is he refraining from taking action because he is a gracious leader? Does he not have the heart to take action against the foreign media?

"No! He had filed defamation suits against PJ Utara (Tony Pua), Pandan (Rafizi Ramli), Malaysiakini, Harakah and even former MCA president Ling Liong Sik,” she said.

The Kulai MP also waved an enlarged copy of Tempo’s latest cover, featuring a caricature of businessperson Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, aboard the superyacht Equanimity, which she said was an example of recent foreign media reports that Najib should have responded to, if it were true that they contained elements defaming him.

“So I would like to ask why he (Najib) dares to sue PJ Utara, Pandan, Malaysiakini and others but does not dare to file legal suits against The Wall Street Journal, Tempo, The Economistand MSNBC?,” asked Teo, referring to a list of foreign media outlets that had recently published reports or comments critical of Najib.

'Avalanche of accusations'

PKR's Bayan Baru MP, Sim Tze Tzin, similarly said Najib should respond to the “avalanche of accusations” from media outlets around the world before Parliament is dissolved.

“I have done my research… there are 20 other foreign media outlets that reported on 1MDB recently,” Sim said yesterday, in unveiling a roll of 16 A4-sized paper sheets the length of his entire body and more, printed with the names of all the media outlets.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing with regard to 1MDB.

It was also previously reported that when WSJ came out with reports on 1MDB three years ago implicating Najib, Hafarizam also said he had not received any instruction to act or a file suit against the US daily.

Hafarizam's law firm had sent a letter of demand to WSJ in July 2015, following its report on RM2.6 billion entering into Najib's personal accounts, but the firm since then has not been instructed on whether to take action against the US financial daily.

This followed the lawyer's query on whether WSJ would use the 'Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Speech Act' if a suit was filed.

The Act makes it difficult for the jurisdictions of other countries to enforce judgments in the US. -Mkini