On Sept 11, 2017 a year before his ouster as prime minister, Najib Abdul Razak penned an article in The Star titled “Democracy and free speech alive”.
Two days later, I challenged his assertions. In an open letter, I asked: “True, but let’s not forget that the government suspended the licence of The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily for three months. Why was this done?
“Your Home Ministry claimed that the two publications’ reporting of 1MDB was ‘prejudicial or likely to be prejudicial to public order, security or likely to alarm public opinion or is likely to be prejudicial to public and national interest’.
“But which article or articles? Both publications have been subsequently vindicated by the publication of various facts and figures provided by law enforcement authorities in Singapore, the United States and Switzerland.”
Has any journalist in the recent past been cited for publishing false news? Yes, there were arrests of journalists and suspension of publishing permits but not for publishing fake news, it was for publishing the truth.
Yesterday, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil launched the Code of Ethics for Journalists and declared that “there is no absolute freedom for any individual or organisation to publish false statements. In this context, the existing laws are sufficient to safeguard public peace.”
Agreed. But who are the proponents and perpetrators of fake news?
It has been the government, its officials and ministers who have in the past created fake news. Here’s a list which is not exhaustive.
Lies and denials
The mother of all fake news was created by none other than Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when he declared in August 2015 that he had met the chief investment officer and wealth trustee of the Arab family which transferred RM2.6 billion to Najib’s account.
"When I asked them why they donated US$700 million to Malaysia, they said, 'Malaysia is not the only country we are channelling our money to. There are many more friendly Muslim countries we are donating to.'
"They want Umno and BN to continue ruling the country," Zahid told delegates at the Sri Gading Umno division annual meeting.
But the proceedings in court show otherwise - the claim was a figment of his own imagination.
Then, when the Wall Street Journal published details of monies transferred to Najib’s account, the then-urban wellbeing housing and local government minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan was in his element.
“I am aghast at a foreign report quoting an ‘unnamed investigator’ and claiming that 1MDB funds were transferred into prime minister Najib’s accounts. I am shocked by the WSJ’s wanton allegations.
“If they were dead serious about the authenticity, the reports should have named the sources. Quoting ‘unnamed investigator’ as a basis of a very defamatory report, it has sunk to the level of gutter journalism of Sarawak Report.
In July 2016 when the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released details of its forfeiture suit, the lies and fake news went on overdrive.
The government and its ministers continued churning out lie after lie to cover up the wrongdoings.
Then attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali had this to say: “We would like to express strong concerns at the insinuations that have been made against the prime minister of criminal wrongdoing.
“At no point in the civil claims is the prime minister named as a defendant or has been alleged to have committed any criminal wrongdoing.
“We also note that there has been no evidence from any investigation conducted by any law enforcement agency in various jurisdictions that show that money has been misappropriated from 1MDB; and that there have been no criminal charges against any individual for misappropriation of funds from 1MDB.”
Even Najib’s press secretary at the time, Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad, chimed in with his take.
He remarked that the government was concerned with the "unnecessary and gratuitous naming of certain matters and individuals" in DOJ civil forfeiture suit filing.
This, he said, was only relevant to "domestic political manipulation and interference" and suggests a "motivation that goes beyond the objective of seizing assets".
It just did not stop there and then, communications and multi-media minister at the time, Salleh Said Keruak, took up cudgels.
“1MDB has been the subject of unprecedented politically motivated attacks, the objectives of which were to unseat a democratically elected head of government.
“So many of the allegations, like Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s remark that RM42 billion had gone missing, were later proven false – in this case by the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee.”
Enter the jewels
Even Rosmah Mansor offered her imagined gigantic reaction to the DOJ findings.
“To spread their dirty campaign, (the perpetrators) use social media as their primary weapon to confuse and influence the minds of the people.
“The people who are slandered continue to be victims and society is frightened by false claims,” she said in a speech during an event at the Defence Ministry in Kuala Lumpur.
Tunku Aziz Ibrahim, a former special adviser to a UN secretary-general, also questioned the findings claiming there was a total lack of communication with 1MDB in regard to the filing.
In his article published by the now-defunct Malaysian Outlook portal, Tunku Aziz questioned the method used in obtaining information, which he described as a “modern-day wonder”.
“How could anyone conduct a thorough and professional investigation without seeking and obtaining information from primary sources such as 1MDB officials and other relevant authorities, including Malaysian law officers?”
Not to be left behind, the cheerleaders for Najib, the BN Backbenchers Club said BN claimed that the US$27.3 million (RM116 million) pink diamond, allegedly acquired using stolen funds and gifted to the wife of Malaysian Official 1, does not exist in the DOJ third civil forfeiture suit on 1MDB.
Instead, it claimed the jewellery was a creation of Malaysiakini. It also went on to name the prime minister's wife Rosmah.
The piece de resistance was delivered by then (and still is) Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said when she tabled the Fake News Act in 2018.
Fortunately for us, it was repealed a year later. Interestingly, I have gone through the archives and not a single person was charged during that period.
Wrong target
I have little doubt that any journalist worth his salt would indulge in the spread of fake news.
Conversely, what Fahmi and company should be wary of are keyboard warriors, cyber troopers and guns for hire who have their respective agendas and are rewarded to boot.
Every time a politician, a government official or a minister puts his or her foot in the mouth, the fallback has been “I was misquoted” or “my remarks have been taken out of context”.
Now, having shown much fake news they perpetrated, shouldn’t we have a code of conduct for them and let the journalists do their jobs? - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.