Home Ministry may work with Scotland Yard in Sarawak Report probe, Ahmad Zahid says
(Malay Mail Online) – Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today said Malaysian authorities may work with Scotland Yard in its probe on Sarawak Report’s (SR) editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, following the whistleblower site’s extensive coverage of the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fiasco.
The home minister said Putrajaya is currently looking at pressing charges on Rewcastle-Brown if they discover any proof of misreporting.
“Even though the freedom of speech is celebrated here in Malaysia, however any information that is altered or forged cannot be accepted. What more if the online news by Clare Brown has bad intentions,” Ahmad Zahid said in a statement.
“If there is any criminal element by Clare Brown, the bilateral ties in the exchange of confidential information between Britain and Malaysia are already present.
“The Home Ministry will work together officially with the British government via Wisma Putra, if there is any ‘prima facie’ to take legal action on Clare Brown,” he added.
Ahmad Zahid said the Malaysian police already has a “good working relationship with Scotland Yard”, and claimed it will make it easier to pursue the case including extraditing Rewcastle-Brown if necessary.
He also claimed that the British government would not condone any attempt by a British citizen to interfere in the political affairs of another country.
“Just as the principle of sovereignty is respected among countries, surely the British will not agree to any of its citizens to interfere in internal affairs of another country,” Ahmad Zahid said.
Last Sunday, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) confirmed it had ordered all internet service providers in Malaysia to block access to SR’s website, pending a multi-agency taskforce’s investigation into 1MDB.
Pro-government groups have criticised Rewcastle-Brown and the UK-based SR for allegedly interfering with Malaysia’s domestic affairs.
Umno minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan cited a so-called confession by Sarawakian former journalist Lester Melanyi, who claimed in a series of online videos that SR had conspired with the Malaysian opposition to forge documents on 1MDB to implicate Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the financial debacle.
Sarawak Report, however, stood by its reports and said it is considering pressing charges of criminal libel against Abdul Rahman after the latter labelled Rewcastle-Brown as “scum”.
