Financial weekly wants police probe on whether blogger received 1MDB money

The Edge Weekly, a financial daily in Kuala Lumpur urged the police to probe if controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin or RPK received 1MDB money.

The weekly paper on its portal was referring to allegations by a former minister in ex-PM Najib Razak’s cabinet that the latter was behind a series of attacks against his family.

This happened after the minister resigned from the government.

The paper today (Aug 13) says RPK’s response to the ex-minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah’s statement that the blogger played a role in attacks against the politician is an admission of guilt.

Husni resigned as finance minister II in June 2016 and told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 8 he was victimised and RPK played a role in the attacks against him.

RPK he says published the minutes of meetings of a company which employed Husni’s son. This is considered a violation of the confidentiality of the discussions at the meeting.

Husni’s son was laid off after the incident. But the attacks against Husni did not stop there. A local Malay daily published a report on the ex-minister’s alleged involvement in a sexual harassment case.

Husni also told the court former prime minister Najib Razak “was behind” the attacks on him by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin.

The Edge Weekly report says regardless of who uttered the word ‘attack’ against Husni, the blogger, by his own admission stated from whom he took orders.

The blogger admitted in an Aug 9 public post that he stopped attacking Husni upon Najib’s instructions.

The weekly says, “Given Husni’s claim that the attacks (in October 2016) came after he had questioned in parliament a US$1 billion investment by 1Malaysia Development Bhd in Aabar Investments PJS Ltd, it is now the duty of the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to question all parties and look into bank accounts to determine if the blogger received any payment for the role he played.

“With the assistance of their foreign counterparts, the Malaysian authorities can get to the bottom of the matter and determine if any laundered proceeds from 1MDB were used to cover up the truth.”

RPK runs the once-prominent Malaysia Today blog which started as a pro-Anwar Ibrahim online space attacking the Barisan Nasional regime. But the blog later changed its focus, attacking the then Pakatan Rakyat opposition instead. -/TISG