NGO man fears for his life and family’s after alleged 1MDB ‘exposé’
(The Star) – The president of a little known non-governmental organisation (NGO), who lodged a police report for Lester Melanyi over alleged fact-tampering by Sarawak Report, is now claiming the Opposition is threatening him and his family.
On Sunday, Ramesh Rao Krishnan Naidu (pix) of Pertubuhan Minda dan Sosial Prihatin Malaysia dodged questions from the media over how he met Lester and what led to the supposed exposé over an alleged plot to falsify information on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Ramesh, however, spoke candidly about how Pakatan Rakyat members were allegedly out to get him by claiming that they were behind a parang-wielding attack of his home and had made up a fake Facebook account under his name, where he had allegedly insulted notorious Indian and Malay gangs, and other Indian castes.
“Three weeks before this, while we were meeting internally over the 1MDB issue and collecting documents, my house was attacked by five Indian men. I have a video in my handphone. But until now, no action.
“And after the announcement on the former Sarawak Report employee, another accusation has come out on Facebook of me insulting Gang 18, 08 and others. I have gotten a lot of calls, 600 messages that are quite threatening. They threaten me, using private numbers and public phones.
“I am a leader of an NGO. I help people regardless of race and religion. Why would I say something like this? It’s not logical,” he said, adding that he could no longer walk among Indians without protection after the accusations.
Though he did not have proof, Ramesh placed the blame squarely on Pakatan, which he claimed had thrown accusations against him since GE13, and was perplexed why the police had yet to take action.
“This is the modus operandi of the Opposition to weaken those that go against them. They are distracting people from the issue. They want to make me worried.
“Why hasn’t the police done anything? I have all the proof. Weird,” he said.
Following the purported fake posting on the account, which he claimed was no longer available online, Ramesh said that he was fearing for his life and the safety of his family.
In his report, Ramesh, a former DAP member, claimed that Lester contacted him via SMS on June 3, identifying himself as a Sarawak Report editor, who was allegedly responsible in publishing false information in articles on its website.
Ramesh flew to Kuching a week later to meet Lester at a hotel, where the ex-editor allegedly confessed to being directly involved in falsifying facts on 1MDB, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, her son Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, businessman Jho Low and former Sarawak Chief Minister Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud.
He claimed that Lester said this was part of an objective to discredit the Prime Minister and the Barisan National government, under the code name “Mission to criminalise Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak & 1MDB”.
Ramesh’s police report also claimed that Lester was reportedly used by Clare Rewcastle-Brown, who runs Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak, to spread false news on the website to purportedly smear Najib’s “good name”.
Lester claimed to have received a monthly salary of RM6,000 from Brown to reportedly edit facts made up by her and another British national who produced “fake email, fake agreement, fake picture design” so that the style of reading was “Malaysianised” before it was published on Sarawak Report.
Ramesh’s report also claimed that all this was done under the direction of Opposition leaders and that Lester had allegedly met one of them in London to discuss ways to discredit Najib.
Sarawak Report has denied all allegations made in the NGO leader’s report, saying that Lester had never worked for its website while Opposition leaders have also denied the supposed exposé.
