KUALA LUMPUR: The government should take legal action against the Sarawak Report if they had published false reports regarding 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) instead of issue a warrant of arrest against its editor, said DAP’s Teresa Kok.
“To this day, the government has not been able to explain at all why it cannot take the necessary legal action if Sarawak Report has fabricated lies,” said the Seputeh MP today.
This follows the statement made yesterday by Bukit Aman CID director Mohmad Salleh that the police have obtained an arrest warrant against Sarawak Report founder and editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown for activities “detrimental to parliamentary democracy under Section 124B and 124I of the Penal Code.
“We will proceed with the application to place her on the Aseanapol Wanted List as well as the Interpol Red Notice,” he said.
Teresa said that the previous blocking of the Sarawak Report had given rise to the general impression that the government had done so because it could not rebut the accusations made.
“Again, the same question that must be asked today is why was an arrest warrant given for Clare Rewcastle-Brown instead of legal action if Sarawak Report had really published false reports and statements?” she asked.
In her response to the news of the arrest warrant out against her, Rewcastle said that there were numerous more orthodox and far less disruptive methods of dealing with the matter than sacking the deputy prime minister; sacking the attorney-general, closing down the Public Accounts Committee and dismissing members of his Cabinet.
“He could simply have issued libel proceedings or he could have produced evidence (e.g. correct bank statements and transfer documents) that would have shown my reports to be untrue,” said Rewcastle. “This action (arrest warrant) could hardly be more counter-productive on the part of a government that’s seeking to assure the world that it’s a sane democracy.”
“Can any Cabinet member convincingly rebut Rewcastle’s argument?” asked Teresa.
She also said that Prime Minister Najib Razak should know that blocking Sarawak Report and the subsequent application for an arrest warrant by the police for Rewcastle have not been in his best interests as they will not solve his woes over the 1MDB-related allegations.