Let's get WSJ writer arrested over 1MDB drama - DAP MP ‘defends’ Najib

In criticising the Anti-Fake News Bill, a DAP lawmaker has urged the government to take steps to get the main author of the article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) which started the ball rolling on the 1MDB drama.

“His name is Tom Wright and I understand he is based in Hong Kong.

“He must be one of the biggest purveyors of fake news who must be put behind bars at all costs together with those responsible to have bestowed on him an award at the Society of Publishers in Asia (Sopa) Awards 2016 as 'Journalist of the Year' for exposing the 1MDB scandal in the said article,” said Ramkarpal Singh in a media statement.

Continuing with his sarcasm, the Bukit Gelugor MP asked: “How could they have done such a thing?”

Ramkarpal said it was unthinkable for Wright and others to have suggested that according to investigators, substantial 1MDB funds are believed to have ended up in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's' accounts.

He pointed out that 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda recently confirmed that 1MDB never paid a cent to the private accounts of the prime minister.

As for Najib still not suing the WSJ and Wright (photo), Ramkarpal said this was understandable given the prime minister's tight schedule.

“I have no doubt that if he did, Arul would be up there on his list of witnesses to testify on oath in court that 1MDB money never went into Najib’s accounts which would demolish and shut WSJ up for good,” he added.

However, the DAP MP said Arul must seriously consider convincing Najib to sue these “WSJ rascals once and for all” since the 1MDB CEO possessed the necessary information to do so.

“He would certainly be doing the country a favour if he did as we are sick and fed up with all the lies being spewed the world over by these irresponsible parties.

“While we are at it, why not get our chaps from Bukit Aman, since they seem to have so much free time on their hands, to also pay a visit to the author of an article in The Economist titled, 'Malaysia’s PM is about to steal an election'..,” he added.

Proving 'maliciously'

As for the Anti-Fake News Bill, which the opposition claims is to shield Najib over the 1MDB scandal, Ramkarpal noted how the word “knowingly” has been replaced with “maliciously”.

In other words, the lawyer-turned-politician said an offence is said to have been committed regardless of whether an offender knew what he or she published or republished was fake news as long as it can be shown that such publication or republication was done maliciously.

“What constitutes 'malice' is not defined in the said Act which raises valid concerns as to its application.

“For instance, would a Pakatan Harapan supporter who shares an article produced by WSJthat is critical of the prime minister and BN government on his Facebook page be considered to have acted maliciously?

“In the absence of a clear definition of what amounts to malice, a judge who is a staunch BN supporter might think so but not necessarily a judge who is sympathetic with the Harapan cause as the question would be a purely subjective one.

“What if a person claims that he had no idea that the contents of the said WSJ article was fake? What if he strongly thought its contents were true before he shared it on Twitter?” he asked.

Since knowledge has been removed as a prerequisite of the offence of creating and/or publishing fake news, Ramkarpal said, it is irrelevant if a person truly believed what he or she shared on Facebook or Twitter was true.

“As such, it matters not if you believe US attorney-general Jeff Sessions when he said the 1MDB scandal was 'kleptocracy at its worst' or his predecessor Loretta Lynch's claim that 'a number of corrupt 1MDB officials treated this public trust as a personal bank account to satisfy their astonishing greed'.

“Most of all, don't even think of sharing WSJ’s many articles which claim that the prime minister might be implicated in the 1MDB scandal on social media as our attorney-general had cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing in relation to the 1MDB scandal in January 2016.

“You are all wrong to even think for a moment that the claims of the personalities referred to above are anywhere near true or implicate the prime minister in any way because our AG has absolved the prime minister of any such wrongdoing which suggests such international reports are false,” he added.