Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been subjected to gross injustice of trial through the media and he was 'convicted' in a court of public opinion - not on evidence but based on mere allegations, Salleh Said Keruak says.
Those who have slandered Najib owe him a huge apology, the communications and multimedia minister said in a blog posting today, adding, "Of course, we know this will never happen. "
Salleh said since The Wall Street Journal went to the street with its headline, "Malaysian investigators believe money flowed to Najib's accounts" amid the 1MDB probe on July 2, 2015, Najib has been subjected to a barrage of attacks by the local and foreign media.
In short, it was trial by media and Najib was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion due to this media onslaught, he said.
"And he was being treated as guilty, until and unless he can prove his innocence, which was precisely what Mahathir Mohamad said."
Salleh said the so-called revelation of WSJ on July 2, 2015, also triggered the setting up of a Special Task Force, the purpose of which, according to the announcement, was to investigate the allegation that Najib had stolen US$700 million or RM2.6 billion of 1MDB's money and had transferred it to his personal bank accounts.
He said according to what WSJ said, the investigation had started before July 2, 2015, and was not the result of WSJ's 'expose' on that date.
"And The Wall Street Journal confirmed it was in possession of documents related to that probe (which means the investigation had already been launched before 2nd July 2015 if there are already documents related to the probe).
"This in itself sounds very suspicious because The Wall Street Journal said its 2nd July 2015 report is based on the investigation, while the official statement from the Special Task Force is that it was set up to investigate The Wall Street Journal 's 2nd July 2015 'expose'.
"So which came first? And if The Wall Street Journal 's 2nd July 2015 came first and the launch of the Special Task Force came after, as what we are being told, this would mean The Wall Street Journal was given documents that were not based on any investigation but were planted to slander the Prime Minister."
Which 'probe' was WSJ referring to?
Salleh added that on July 4, 2015, the attorney-general said that he had just received the documents regarding the investigation and on July 8, 2015, it was announced that a Special Task Force had been set up to investigate the allegation.
"So where did
The Wall Street Journal
obtain its 'evidence' from, and which 'probe' are they referring to?
"At that time Malaysians should have already smelled a rat."
Salleh said WSJ was actually quite vague about the whole issue but due to the manner the report was crafted, it was made to appear like a crime had been committed.
In short, he said, WSJ said it does not really know what happened but then its stories thereafter, as well as the stories from others, give an impression that it knows precisely what happened.
"Now, The Wall Street Journal says the money was not from 1MDB after all but was a donation from Middle Eastern sources. And that appears to also be the basis of the recent ABC special report.
"Even Mahathir no longer talks about stolen money but a donation and he is shifting the issue from where the money came from to how the money was spent."
