Multimedia and Communications Minister Salleh Said Keruak yesterday claimed that the US Department of Justice announcement yesterday is nothing more than a treasonous ploy by Pakatan Harapan to enlist the help of foreign powers to intervene in our domestic politics.
In the same blogpost Salleh claims that this latest (and third) DoJ filing is to distract attention away from Pakatan Harapan which, according to him, is teetering on the brink of self-destruction.
I’m not certain if he is aware but, last I checked, Pakatan Harapan does not control the US DoJ. In fact, even the US President himself does not control the DoJ.
So I think Salleh should cease slandering the opposition and spend more time explaining why – if the claims made in the DoJ filing are untrue – Putrajaya still has not sent a protest note to the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur or summoned the US Ambassador to Malaysia to explain.
In actual fact, I think Salleh’s incoherent reasoning, coupled with Najib’s Press Secretary’s choice of words, reveal that Putrajaya is in panic mode. How can they not be, when courts in several jurisdictions including in Switzerland and Singapore have successfully prosecuted, indicted, and even subjected lifetime bans on individuals found guilty of involvement in the 1MDB financial scandal. Only in Malaysia has absolutely nothing been found.
This latest DoJ filing therefore is a closing in on all those exposed to 1MDB, including MO1 and his wife. And lest we forget, the aim of the civil forfeiture is to return the money stolen back to the Malaysian people.
(As an aside, since Rahman Dahlan has confirmed that PM Najib Razak is MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1 or MO1, by basic logic it would make Rosmah Mansor the ‘wife of MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1’ who allegedly received a 22-carat pink diamond pendant and necklace worth USD 27.3 million from people named in the DoJ filing. Refer to page 100 of this DoJ filing document.)
So where do we go from here? It is clear that Malaysians demand the truth – about what really happened in 1MDB; about the billions of ringgit allegedly siphoned by certain individuals; about those diamonds and other expensive things bought allegedly using billions stolen from the Malaysian people.
Jho Low and those involved in this scandal must be brought to face the courts in Malaysia. The Attorney General must allow and facilitate the process of justice in order to arrive at the truth. Lawmakers must make a stand.
Let Putrajaya be in panic mode. Let the People rise. GE14 is near.
Fahmi Fadzil
KEADILAN Communications Director
17 June 2017