Asia Times stands by Tok Mat interview, releases audio recording

Asia Times journalist Nick Kochan has defended his interview with Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan following allegations that his report took Mohamad’s statement out of context.

“We stand by our reporting,” he said on Twitter, along with a link to download audio recordings from the interview.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Kochan confirmed the recording was authentic and said Mohamad was aware the recording was being made.

“I would not normally release such an audio (recording), but Tok Mat has sought to dispute the accuracy of the article. Readers can listen to the audio and judge for themselves,” he told the news portal when contacted today, referring to Mohamad by his moniker.

He said Mohamad made several important points during the interview, such as former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak should get a fair trial and serve time in jail before getting the pardon he desires.

“I gave Tok Mat a platform, and he was clear in his message about his concerns with respect to the behaviour of the former prime minister,” he said.

The audio files posted online comprise three separate recordings totalling about 75 minutes. The contentious portion of the interview takes place 23 minutes and 40 seconds into the second recording.

An excerpt of this portion of the interview, based on the recording, is as follows:

Interviewer: Will you feel sorry if Mr Najib goes to jail?

Mohamad: Of course, as a friend, I feel sorry, but everybody has to... you have to face whatever…

Interviewer: Pay their dues?

Mohamad: Pay your dues, isn’t it? If you want pardon, you have to go through the process. You have to go inside first. You cannot pardon before you go through the process; that is wrong. That is absolutely wrong.

Interviewer: To be pardoned without the process?

Mohamad: Yeah.

Interviewer: And the process requires some time, then...

Mohamad: Yeah. A lot of Umno leaders, prominent leaders, last time, Datuk Harun Idris, the chief minister of Selangor, the most powerful at the time, he had to serve. Mokhtar Hashim, he had to serve. Everybody has to serve before you get the pardon, simple as that. There’s no two ways about it.

Interviewer: So, no special treatment?

Mohamad: No special treatment. That’s why now, when people say: “Oh Umno, when they’re in power, they will pardon, they will drop the case.” But now the prime minister is from Umno, but Zahid’s case is still on. That’s why the campaign by Pakatan Harapan during the Malacca and Johor state election, they said: “Oh, don’t vote for Umno because if Umno win in Johor, all the cases of the court cluster will be dropped”. But what do Johor and Malacca got to do with that? Nothing. Maybe they said that because they had done it before because the court case was in progress, and they dropped the case. Lim Guan Eng’s case was dropped.

Earlier, Asia Times published an interview with Mohamad that quoted him saying that Najib should not expect special treatment from an Umno-led government if he is jailed for his 1MDB-related corruption charges.

Instead, the former premier must serve time in prison before he can seek pardon, he was quoted as saying.

The report co-authored by Kochan and Nile Bowie was published under the headline “Umno’s No 2 thinks Najib should go to jail”.

However, Mohamad later reportedly told Free Malaysia Today that the report had taken his comments regarding Najib out of context.

“What I said was that Najib must get a fair trial. If he is found guilty, then he has to face the consequences, but as we know, his (SRC International) case is not over yet. It is at the Federal Court. But he must get a fair trial,” he reportedly said. - Mkini