High Court judge Abu Bakar Jais in his controversial ruling yesterday that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is not a public official or public officer has detailed his grounds for the judgment in his 31-page decision.
Justice Abu Bakar said Najib’s lawyers argued that in initiating the suit, former Umno leaders Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Anina Saadudin must first prove the offices that Najib occupies – as prime minister, finance minister, BN chairperson and Umno president – are all public offices.
“The defendant maintained he is not a public officer and therefore cannot be liable for the tort of misfeasance in public office,” the judge said in throwing out the suit.
Najib, he noted, also contended there is no fiduciary duty owed by him as PM, finance minister, BN chairperson and Umno president to the plaintiffs.
“There is no mutual trust and confidence placed between the parties for a fiduciary relationship to exist,” Justice Abu Bakar said.
The public appointed Najib and the public pays Najib.
In return, Najib on assuming office swore to serve the public faithfully and honestly.
He was given a position of immense trust in charge of the nations finances, which the judge acknowledges he may have abused.
Yet this judge has opined that Najib is nevertheless not accountable to the public and that there is no duty of trust nor any obligation not to betray his terms of office, as would pertain to a teacher, parking officer or judge.
This law officer has decided that Najib is above the law and that democracy is about electing which dictator you want to have steal from you next – your money and your liberties included.
Malaysia needs to elect a government that will reform this despersate situation.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has clarified reports that social messaging app WhatsApp group administrators might face legal action if they fail to prevent the spread of false information in the group.
“MCMC would like to explain to the public that all conversations in any group messaging applications like WhatsApp, WeChat, Viber, Telegram and such, are private.
“Investigations will only be initiated if there are complaints against the contents shared in that group.
“Hence, the public, whether they are the group administrator or member, should be careful in spreading news in their groups so that it does not become a case of spreading false information,” MCMC said in a statement posted on its Facebook page today.
The commission reminded that disseminating false information is a crime under the law, such as Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998.
We may be pretending to be getting ready for a free and fair election, but watch what you say!
This is because ‘spreading false news’ includes any ‘derogatory’ or ‘insulting’ remarks about the government in your private chat rooms!
Anyone who claims, falsely, for example, that Najib is the most unpopular Prime Minister ever, will follow Tony Pua and others into the police station to explain remarks that threaten to overturn a democratically elected government.
Because, whilst you have the democratic right to elect your government, the said government does not offer you the democratic right to over throw it!
Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi has refuted claims that 1MDB has to make “double payments” to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC).
Puad also claimed that 1MDB will not assume the principal payments on two bonds, guaranteed by both 1MDB and IPIC, which contradicted statements by both companies…
‘1MDB can sue IPIC’
He also noted that IPIC and 1MDB will hold further negotiations on the payments 1MDB had made to “certain entities” to find a common resolution on how to foot the US$3.5 billion principal payments on the bonds which will mature on 2022.
“If there is no resolution between IPIC and 1MDB, 1MDB has the right to take legal action against IPIC on the payment of US$2.5 billion it made to Aabar BVI, before the bonds mature in 2022,” he said
……
Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani has disclosed the existence of a letter confirming that Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (BVI) is a subsidiary of International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) even though the Abu Dhabi firm denies this.
“As far as I am concerned, based on records provided by 1MDB to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) prior to the settlement agreement, Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (BVI) is a subsidiary of IPIC.
“A fact which was confirmed by the Registrar of Corporate Affairs of the British Virgin Islands by its letter dated Aug 11, 2016,” he told Malaysiakini.
The minister’s disclosure led a source familiar with the issue to question why the Malaysian team chose to opt for a settlement, when it had such strong evidence.
In an astonishing development and within only 24 hours of the joint IPIC/ 1MDB announcement of an ‘amicable settlement’ being registered on the London Stock Exchange, two of Najib’s closest ministers have backtracked on the essentials of that agreement!
Except, nothing is any longer surprising in Malaysia, where ministers are running round like headless chickens trying to defend the indefensible over the thefts from 1MDB.
It has been internationally recognised that the settlement as announced represented a total cave-in by 1MDB and an effective admission that no money was ever paid by Malaysia to Abu Dhabi. After all, the terms of the settlement will be that Malaysia pays back the $1.2 billion bail out of 1MDB made last year and will take over all the remaining payments on the $3.5 billion it borrowed back in 2012.
This was despite previous, unsubstantiated claimes that 1MDB had paid IPIC $3.51 billion in supposed deposits for a guarantee on those borrowings. It is now clearly demonstrated how in fact that money was stolen by conspirators linked to Najib Razak’s proxy at 1MDB Jho Low (the conspirators included the Head of IPIC at the time, who is now jailed).
However, Najib’s monkey ministers, who don’t like being shown up are now sounding off that IPIC did get the money and still owes $2.5 billion after all! They claim documents (which they still have not substantiated) prove their point. And now they are suggesting that Malaysia is going to tear up the agreement and SUE ABU DHABI!
Malaysia needs to rid of itself of these embarrassing representatives!
The settlement between 1MDB and the Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) has derailed the US Department of Justice (DOJ) civil suit to seize more than US$1 billion in assets allegedly purchased using funds siphoned from 1MDB, said an Umno leader.
“This arbitration settlement has weakened the US DOJ civil suit and claims that 1MDB’s funds were stolen,” said Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zakarshi in a statement today.
Mohd Puad is also the director-general of the Information Ministry’s Special Affairs Division (Jasa).
The settlement announced yesterday will see 1MDB pay IPIC US$1.2 billion, as repayment after IPIC covered interest payments on 1MDB bonds in June 2015.
The bonds, valued at US$3.5 billion, were issued in 2012 to finance 1MDB’s energy unit – 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited and 1MDB Energy Limited. Both bonds are due by 2022.
1MDB was supposed to pay IPIC US$3.5 billion for guaranteeing the bonds but IPIC said it never received payment.
1MDB said it had paid Aabar BVI, a British Virgin Island registered entity with an almost identical name as IPIC’s subsidiary. IPIC said it is not linked to Aabar BVI.
Won’t touch taxpayer’s funds
This portion of the dispute will be further negotiated in “good faith” between the parties, IPIC said in its filing to the London Stock Exchange yesterday.
“The parties have also agreed to enter into good faith discussions in relation to payments made by 1MDB Group to certain entities,” it said.
Meanwhile, Puad said the settlement shows that 1MDB will be able to pay its debts without touching taxpayers’ funds.
This is through monetising the “investment units” redemeed from the Cayman Islands and held in a Singapore bank via 1MDB’s subsidiary Brazen Sky Limited, which is reported to be worth US$940 billion.
“These obligations will be met by 1MDB, primarily via monetisation of 1MDB-owned investment fund units. 1MDB is pleased to confirm that a first tranche monetisation of approximately US$50 million has been received, in cash,” 1MDB said yesterday.
The Prime Minister’s Office said 1MDB will cash out all of its “investment fund units”.
Puad said this shows that the “investment units” have value, and are not worthless as earlier claimed by the opposition.
Whatever qualifications were achieved by Mohd Puad Zakarshi, they plainly did not demand logic.
Because, the settlement by 1MDB doesn’t undermine the DOJ case, to the contrary it confirms it. Period.
If 1MDB had really paid $3.5 billion in ‘guarantee deposits’ to IPIC, as Najib continues to laughably claim, then Malaysia would never have lost the arbitration case and been forced to pay back the $1.2 billion that IPIC later bailed them out with.
Instead, the court would have pointed out that the bail out was just a third of the up-front deposit and IPIC would actually still have over $2 billion of 1MDB’s money left.
This is not what has happened. The settlement involves an agreement by 1MDB to pay back the bail out money and to take over the responsibility for the remainder of its debts.
It is therefore a concrete admission by Malaysia that it could not prove its claims that it had deposited a single cent let alone billions with IPIC.
And that means that the money trails supplied by the DOJ investigations, showing instead that all the money was siphoned off into a bogus BVI account to pay for Jho Low, Rosmah and Khadem Al Qubaisi’s fun and frolics, has been confirmed by the settlement and not weakened.
It is plain as daylight, yet this Minister of Disinformation is attempting to say the opposite. How stupid does he think people are in Malaysia?
He is also asking people to believe that the payment is going to come from the ‘monetisation’ of non-existant ‘units’ that 1MDB also doesnt have, because all the PetroSaudi money was funnelled into another off-shore company (Good Star Limited) and stolen as well.
Puad says we should believe his story because the PM’s office said it (just like they said IPIC received money which it didn’t).
So, who is going to believe this illogical and mendacious fellow when he goes on to say that Najib won’t be touching taxpayer’s funds to repay the debt?
Is there a single voter who believes that?
Weathering the Storm:
Jho Low, a Malaysian financier suspected of playing a key role in an alleged looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, sent friends this New Year’s greeting.
“2016 was the Perfect Storm; but the calmness and resolve
of our Captain, led his loyal Sailors whom placed their lives
with utmost trust in his leadership weathered the storm…”
“When the wind could not blow away their joint resilience,
the storm eventually passed, and the Captain simply adjusted
their sails effortlessly and continued their destined journey…”
“The men and women that came out of the storm were not
the same men that walk in. Through struggle, they established
new strengths they never knew they collectively had…”
“The very moment they were brought to their knees, and
their world was about to fall apart; their Captain’s exemplary
leadership guided them to safety; and through this experience,
they achieve a new level of humility, nobility and higher
intelligence ready to set sail for greater achievements
in 2017 for their people!”
[Today, March 22nd is the birthday of Kevin Morais]
Jho Low ought to have kept his trap shut over New Year. Silence was golden as he hid all those previous months.
This message was always going to get passed on to the press and now he will face questioning from prosecutors as to whom he meant by this sage Captain, who was in charge of him and everyone else as they managed the biggest heist in history?
The world of course knows the answer. It is none other than the self-proclaimed “Bugis Pirate”, Jho Low’s ‘Big Boss’, the Crime Minister Najib Razak!
Crawling flattery is never pretty for others to behold and in this case it certainly wasn’t sensible either.
Malaysians will moreover be furious to see how this band of conspirators are praising themselves and their boss prematurely, in the expectation of having got away scott free, whilst Kevin Morais (whose birthday ought to have been celebrated today) and Hussain Najadi suffered horrible deaths associated with this crime and the rest of the country are forced to pay back thousands of ringgit per family to fund the cavorting and excesses of the likes of the Lows.
Komas programme manager Lena Hendry was fined RM10,000 or ordered to spend a year in jail by a magistrate’s court in Kuala Lumpur today for screening the documentary on the Sri Lankan civil war titled ‘No Fire Zone’ four years ago.
Magistrate Mohd Rehan Mohd Aris said he made the decision after considering the mitigating factors.
Hendry paid the fine later in the afternoon.
Earlier in court, she was ordered to pay the fine by today. This was after her lawyer New Sin Yew asked for a deferment for it to be paid tomorrow.
Hendry was found guilty on Feb 21, for screening the documentary at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Chamber of Commerce Hall at Jalan Maharajalela in Kuala Lumpur, at 9pm on July 3, 2013.
She faced up to three years’ jail or a fine not exceeding RM30,000, under Section 6(1)(b) of the Film Censorship Act, 2002.
Malaysia and indeed the Sri Lankan Government pay vast sums for PR and related services, usually from third-rate ex-British journalists, each year.
Yet for just RM10,000 Lena Hendry has achieved not just national but world-wide publicity for a film about a subject that deserves to be known about, but which Sri Lanka would rather cover up.
What’s more she has internationally further exposed the hypocrisy and corrupt thuggishness of Najib Razak’s own government in the process.
Thankfully, the judges showed more sense than government prosecutors, by commuting her punishment to a fine. However, also in the process they revealed how Malaysia’s primitive legal system still allows for one punishment for the rich and one for the poor.
If Lena could not put her hand immediately into her pocket to find that RM10,000 (a small sum for any BN party aparachik) she would have been cast into jail for a year for showing that film. Friends will doubtless assist in this case, but such disgusting discrimination against the already impoverished will dismay all decent people.
Malaysians need to check on every news article spread by the opposition especially with the 14th general election approaching, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
He said if the people were deceived by the opposition’s propaganda, the country’s future would be gravely affected if they make the wrong choice in the election.
“In a dynamic political environment people are exposed to changes and they may make their decisions based on inaccurate information. The vulnerability of the people can adversely affect the government.
“We see this happening not only in our country but also in developed countries like for example when the United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union.
“The decision was made based on the Brexit campaigns which were supported by false and misleading information which eventually changed the history of the United Kingdom. The people are now remorseful over their decision but nothing can be done about it,” he said.
Najib Razak ought not to attempt to speak for the British people, whom he sweepingly describes as “remorseful” based on no factual evidence.
This is in itself an example of the sort of “fake news” tactics by propagandists, which he pretends to deplore.
He should also be mindful that the other sweeping victory associated with the Brexit trend is that of Donald Trump, whom he is presently trying to suck up to in the misguided hope that the new president can quash investigations into 1MDB.
Najib should appreciate that most Malaysians are now wearily aware, after years of BN’s own state propaganda, as to the sources from where they are most in danger of receiving fake news, namely their own government-controlled media.
Nonsense stories about how the money stolen by the Prime Minister from 1MDB was a donation from an Arab royal remain top of the list of fake news that these outfits are tasked with trying to convince the people with.
So, Sarawak Report has its own warning, which is that people should avoid electing proven thieves, liars, thugs and all round criminals back into power, because such people are dangerous for a nation’s health and well-being, especially when they are in charge.
Saudi Arabian King Salman Abdul Aziz Al Saud’s visit to Malaysia has put to rest the opposition’s slander regarding the RM2.6 billion donation for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
“Previously, there was a leader who said that even a mad Arab would not give such a colossal sum. But the presence of King Salman is sufficient to prove Najib was telling the truth that the RM2.6 billion was a donation from the Saudi royal family.
“I am certain the donation was given based on Najib’s efforts and achievements in upholding Islam in Malaysia and globally,” academic Hanafiah Harun told Umno Online.
The associate professor at UiTM said if it was true that Najib had slandered the Saudi royal family to cover up his wrongdoings, King Salman would not have set foot in Malaysia.
The royal family, he pointed out, would not have been silent on the matter either.
“So it is clear that all the issues which emerged regarding the RM2.6 billion were cooked up by outsiders, which the opposition in Malaysia disseminated to soil Najib’s credibility,” he added.
Hanafiah said the opposition continued to harp on the matter despite the prime minister having repeatedly explained it.
Unfortunately for Najib, no one can seriously believe this anymore, so he should quit trying to pretend these various huge sums were ‘gifts’ (illegal in themselves).
Why has this toady academic failed to mention the brave Malaysian soldiers, who are presently in Saudi Arabia helping fight its wars?
What thought does this flunky give for the axiety of their families back home?
This was the reason for the Saudi King’s visit and let us hope that Najib’s efforts to suck up to the Middle East does not lose Malaysian lives.
Meanwhile his statement “the presence of King Salman is sufficient to prove Najib was telling the truth” of course lacks logic or explanation.
When other leaders visit Malaysia it is not because they gave Najib a billion dollars and when he visits other countries it is not because he gave the leader a billion dollars.
Unfortunately for Najib, this is one of the world’s biggest corrruption cases, so yes, not only will the opposition continue harping on about it, but so will global law enforcers who are busy closing in on the RM2.6 bn …. and indeed all the additional payments that have now been identified going into Najib’s accounts from SRC, Blackstone Asia (BVI) etc….
A 19-year-old labourer convicted on 14 counts of insulting the Johor crown prince last year has failed to reduce his two years detention sentence at the Henry Gurney correctional institute in Malacca.
The Court of Appeal today unanimously dismissed Muhammad Amirul Azwan Mohd Shakri’s appeal. The teenager from Tumpat, Kelantan had already spent four months at the institute and another three months in jail.
Justice Mohd Zawawi Mohd Salleh, who led the panel dismissed the appeal brought by lawyer Hassan Karim, to have his sentence remitted to a bond of good behaviour or that his parents pay a personal bond for good behaviour.
“We are unanimous and think that the High Court is lenient and right in changing his sentence from jail to spending time at the institute. The appeal is dismissed,” said the judge.
A TV comedy series in the UK called Spitting Image was very popular in the 90s. Mostly it poked fun at the Royal Family, sometimes in a very harsh way.
The Royal Family did not respond. In fact, their institution has come out all the strnger for showing patience and forebearing in the face of cheap and childish insults. It is hugely popular, although people discuss its weaknessses.
To slam a nobody boy in jail for two years, by contrast, for some kind of written insult, smacks of thin skinned, defensive arrogance on the part of a family born by chance into a position of prvilege.
Of course it is not they but toadying judges and officials who are behind this, but they are doing no long term favours to the family they are trying to suck up to.
Excessive deference to monarchs is nearly always a mask for the real power mongers who hide behind them. Traditionally European kings would keep their ‘fools’ to crack jokes and chide them and remind the court that a king too is only human.
A string of graft charges against civil servants is a reminder that those in government must not take away what rightfully belongs to the people, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
Speaking at the Prime Minister’s Department monthly assembly in Putrajaya today, Najib said the cases highlighted wastage by officials which would reduce public confidence in the government.
“What the MACC has done this past few days reminds us about wastage. About taking away the rights of the rakyat.
“Don’t take away the rights of the rakyat. It belongs to them.”
Is Najib now utterly self-deluded or is he cynically correct that Malaysians will lick the boots of the man who lashes them?
He believes he can steal their money; toss them some back to gain their votes and then punish and preach at others, who try to follow his example on a smaller scale.
Perhaps Najib does not understand the anger of people treated in this way?
His opinion of his countrymen must be very, very low. However, he should watch it, because these sentiments tend to be mutual.