Justo’s lawyer revealed ‘untampered’ 1MDB documents, claims Ramesh
(The Star) – Ramesh Rao Krishnan Naidu claims that he has seen the “untampered” documents relating to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The Pertubuhan Minda dan Sosial Prihatin Malaysia president said he was granted access to the documents through former PetroSaudi International executive Xavier Andre Justo’s lawyer, Worrasit Piriyawiboon.
“We are not making this up. We have seen the original documents and the tampered ones as published (in several reports),” he said here, Saturday.
Ramesh said the alleged tampering involved dates, names, figures and houses, among others. He, however, stressed that he could not reveal more details as the documents were part of Justo lawyer’s appeal affidavit.
Ramesh said he was shown the documents during a three-day visit to Bangkok, Thailand with his lawyer Zakwan Hafiz Ahmad Ansari on Tuesday.
The trip, he said, was their own initiative to “assist the Malaysian police in their investigation:”
On Oct 23, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said he would send his officers to Bangkok to interview Justo after permission was granted to them following a meeting between Malaysian and Thai police.
Ramesh, however, said he had yet to hear of any development from the police.
“That’s why we took these initiatives to meet Justo’s lawyer so it would be easier for the police to conduct their investigation,” he said.
Based on the meeting with Worrasit, Ramesh said he was told that Justo was “100% willing” to meet with Malaysian police.
Ramesh said he felt compelled to pursue the matter as he was the one who lodged a police report for journalist Lester Melanyi over alleged fact-tampering by the Sarawak Report news portal.
The 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 Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s “good name”.
“I am hoping that the police would continue their investigations on Justo and Clare.
“I would also like to challenge those who believed anything that was published on Sarawak Report as authentic to make a public apology,” Ramesh said.
On Oct 14, Justo appealed against a three-year prison term handed down by the Bangkok South Criminal Court on Aug 17 for blackmailing his former employer, PetroSaudi International.
Among the reasons for the appeal was that Justo did not tamper with the documents he obtained from PetroSaudi International and that it was his first offence.
His lawyer had said that any damage to the image of the Prime Minister was because of the activities of third parties who doctored or tampered with the documents that they received from Justo.
He maintained that Justo had not tampered with the documents.
