Puteri Umno lodges police report over ‘Sarawak Report’ 1MDB article
(Bernama) – Puteri Umno on Saturday lodged a police report against the ‘Sarawak Report’ news portal over an article which it claimed was aimed at defaming and discrediting the reputation of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Its chief, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (pic), said the article on the controversial issue of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds seemed intended to influence the people.
“The article is clearly an attempt to defame and discredit the reputation of Datuk Seri Najib (Tun Razak) and his leadership, which we believe is malicious and foul.
“Puteri (Umno) calls for a thorough investigation against those who published the defamatory article,” she told reporters after lodging the report at the Masjid Tanah police station here.
Mas Ermieyati claimed that the article quoted sources which did not show sound proof, and this had a negative effect on Malaysians and people elsewhere.
As such, she called on all quarters to take immediate action to stop defaming the prime minister and creating confusion among the people.
In Bangi, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said he supported any move to take legal action against The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) which had run a similar article on 1MDB, claiming that about RM2.6bil had been channelled into the personal bank accounts of Najib.
“I believe the prime minister has the right to take legal action if he desires to do so,” Khairy told reporters at the Youth for Integrity Feature Series at Universiti Tenaga Nasional.
Najib’s political secretary Datuk Muhammad Khairun Aseh told the ‘Sinar Harian‘ Malay-language daily yesterday that the article was tantamount to criminal defamation and that the prime minister would take legal action against the WSJ.
The Prime Minister’s Office had said in a statement on Friday that the allegations were a continuation of political sabotage and that certain individuals were trying to tarnish the government and remove a democratically elected prime minister.
