Authorities’ action on 1MDB scandal brings relief to Sarawak Report founder

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Clare Rewcastle-Brown. Bernama file photo

 

IPOH:  The founder and editor of the Sarawak Report, Clare Rewcastle-Brown today said  that she was hugely relieved after former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was charged in court over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Rewcastle-Brown, who exposed the 1MDB multibillion-dollar scandal,  said she was relieved because the authorities finally took control of the case after two years.

“I am relieved now. I am hugely relieved that the Malaysian authorities are now taking control of this case after two years of refusing to take on the case.

“They’re obviously in a better place to get a thorough investigation (done),” she told reporters after the Sarawak Report Book Launch and Talk here, today.

Asked if her 528-page ‘The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose’ book would be banned in the country, Rewcastle-Brown noted that she was aware of that as some might think it would prejudice the trial of the 1MDB case.

“I’m sure Najib’s lawyers will try to gag any report, including my book now on the basis that some kind of contempt or prejudice will be involved in the trial.

“The court rightly ruled that the arguments don’t hold water on contempt. The contempt laws are there to prevent media coverage influencing jury trials. But this is not a jury trial, therefore the laws are not simply applied.

“I’m sure the judges are professional lawyers and they know how to come to a conclusion based on the evidence put before them in the trial and not something written by a journalist,” said Rewcastle-Brown

The Sarawak-born Briton pointed out that the case is of enormous public interest in Malaysia and the people should not be left in the dark.

“It is not acceptable for the whole thing to be kept silent for several years while  the court case continues, especially when the excuse is not relevant,” she said.

On Thursday, Najib was charged for the third time in about three months over money laundering offences over RM2.6 billion allegedly siphoned from 1MDB funds. – Bernama