Who are the conspirators?
A Jalil Hamid, New Straits Times
On the day British Prime Minister David Cameron was in town for an official visit, United Kingdom-based blog Sarawak Report chose to pull a fast one by publishing a purported draft charge sheet against Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
It was another cheap political stunt by the left-wing blog, fronted by former journalist Clare Rewcastle-Brown, to deceive ordinary Malaysians and smear the prime minister. Even pro-opposition news portal Malaysia Chronicle fell into the trap by publishing the crap.
Rewcastle-Brown’s latest gambit in her incessant attacks on Malaysia proved to be a pack of lies, with Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali and his officials within hours knocking it down, labelling it as false. They said the draft was never written or issued by the A-G’s Chambers.
In the first place, the credibility and the veracity of reports carried by the website have been in great doubt following the recent arrest of Swiss national Xavier Andre Justo in Thailand over alleged extortion and blackmail of his former employer.
Rewcastle-Brown, the Sarawak-born Briton, has been on the offensive since she founded the website, initially against former Sarawak chief minister Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud and lately against Najib.
The charge sheet episode seems to support the story how the Malaysian government is being targeted by perpetrators and foreign media: that a series of relentless criminal leakages of documents and blatant fabrication of documents are firmly pointing to a political conspiracy at work to unseat the prime minister.
The evidence is abundantly clear. The unauthorised release of confidential bank statements, leaks in corporate dealings and investigations into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) affairs, and the tampering and doctoring of emails and company documents are proof that these actions are deliberate.
The charge sheet issue happened two days after Najib reshuffled his cabinet by naming home minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the new deputy prime minister to succeed Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was dropped along with four ministers. The government also replaced the attorney-general and the Special Branch chief last week.
The appointment of Najib loyalists in the cabinet and key government positions would strengthen the prime minister’s hand in dealing with major economic, political and financial challenges.
Further changes could be on the cards, including changes in key Umno positions at the party headquarters and state liaison chiefs. Some top-level reshuffle involving key government entities and government-linked companies is also being planned.
With his eyes firmly on leading Barisan Nasional into another electoral win in the next general election, Najib has to have the full trust and confidence of his team, both at the federal and state levels, in carrying out the mandate.
In the wake of Muhyiddin’s departure, an audio clip that purportedly carried the voice of Najib’s ally, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, as concurring with Muhyiddin’s stance on the 1MDB issue went viral. The Negri Sembilan menteri besar has vehemently denied that his voice was used in the one minute and 54- second recording.
“Allegations that the recording was made using my voice are baseless. I have nothing to do with the recording, which is a diabolical attempt to pit me against leaders in Umno and the government,” he said.
Apandi, responding to the purported charge sheet incident, made it clear that the Special Task Force investigation had not been completed. “So, it is not legally possible for charge sheets to be drafted in advance,” he said. He added: “These alleged charge papers, therefore, indicate that there is a conspiracy to topple a serving prime minister by criminalising him, and that the methods include doctoring and criminal leakage.”
Sarawak Report had published a draft of the charge sheet purportedly done by former A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail against the prime minister and a former managing director, who was arrested by a government special task force and later freed on bail, and Nik Faisal Ariff Nik Othman Kamil.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has said its investigation into SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former 1MDB subsidiary, had yet to be submitted to the A-G. “We reiterate that our responsibility is to conduct investigations into corruption cases and is not aimed at bringing down any parties, including the government,” it said.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has not ruled out the possibility of a conspiracy to topple the prime minister undemocratically. Khalid has said the police had been asked by the then A-G on July 8 to conduct a full probe into allegations that bank documents were leaked to foreign nationals. He said officials of the Special Task Force and Bank Negara Malaysia were also being investigated over the alleged leakage of classified documents. Such criminal acts raised national security implications, he added.
Khalid said the leaking of banking information — whether doctored or otherwise — could result in multiple offences under the Financial Services Act 2013, the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 and Official Secrets Act 1972.
Under Section 124 of the Penal Code, anyone who directly or indirectly commits an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy faces between 10 and 20 years in jail. These include those who print, publicise, sell, issue, circulate or reproduce any document or publication detrimental to parliamentary democracy.
A massive police investigation is under way and those conspirators involved in activities that are “detrimental to parliamentary democracy” could be hauled up and charged by the A-G under Section 124 of the Penal Code.
Who are these conspirators? Time will tell.
