The Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Jailani Johari stated in Parliament that “..the Government views that other than the information that has been verified by the Government, all other information is deemed as fake news,” when he wrapped-up his Ministry’s debate of the Royal address on Wednesday last week.
Yet yesterday, the Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Dato’ Seri Salleh Keruak assured foreign correspondents in a meeting that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filings on 1MDB won’t be considered fake news.
“You can quote them, what did they say, based on the filings. It is not considered fake news. It’s their views. Like DOJ, you quote them, what they said,” he said.
Hence the question arises as to who is telling the truth? Who is giving fake news? The Deputy Minister in Parliament or the Minister to the foreign correspondents?
The US DOJ has clearly stated that more than US$730 million originating from 1MDB has found its way to the personal bank account of Dato’ Seri Najib Razak between 2011 to 2014.
The US DOJ also clearly stated that the proceeds of these laundered funds were used to purchase the US$27.3 million (RM110 million) 22-carat pink diamond for the Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. It was also used by Jho Low to acquire the RM1 billion luxury yacht, Equanimity which has since been confiscated by the Indonesian and United States authorities.
According to the US DOJ, the same funds were used to acquire art masterpieces worth hundreds of millions of ringgit each. Overall, the US DOJ claimed that more than US$4.5 billion or RM18 billion have been misappropriated from 1MDB.
However, all of the above grave charges have not be ‘verified’ or even acknowledged by the Malaysian government. In fact, both the Najib administration and 1MDB claim, without providing any substantive evidence that no money was lost. This means that by the Datuk Jailani’s definition provided in Parliament, the allegations carried in the US DOJ report are all ‘fake news’.
However, Dato’ Seri Salleh Keruak told foreign correspondents that they can continue to report how the Prime Minister has plundered 1MDB to fund a life of luxury for his family and cronies, directly contradicting his own Deputy.
Is there more than it meets the eye? Perhaps both the Minister and Deputy Minister are telling the truth or at least half-truth?
Perhaps the law is only intended to persecute Malaysians, in particular critics from the opposition and the civil society who are outraged by the detailed findings exposed by the US DOJ charges. Hence, Tony Pua, Rafizi Ramli and everyone else who travels the country to showcase how the corrupt Najib administration has plundered the nation will be charged, found guilty and imprisoned for up to 10 years for propagating these purported “fake news”.
On the other hand, the foreign correspondents would be left undisturbed in carry their reports because the overwhelming bulk of Malaysians presumably do not read foreign news reports?
There can be no further proof need to demonstrate that the fake news bill is being rushed into Parliament, carrying outrageous penalties is being targeted at critics of the kleptomaniacs running this country. The piece of legislation runs counter to all principles of democracy and natural justice and must be rejected at all cost.