Lawyers acting on behalf of Prime Minister Najib Razak have sent a letter of demand to official PAS newsportal Harakahdaily for commenting on a New York Times article questioning the source of Najib’s wealth.
The Harakahdaily piece, an op-ed parsing the NYT piece implicating local billionaire Jho Low in US real estate corruption, was titled Dana 1MDB biayai syarikat filem Riza Aziz? (Bhg 2) (“1MDB funds used to bankroll Riza Aziz’s film studio? (Part 2)”), and was published on the site on February 19.
Riza Aziz is Najib’s stepson, one of the owners of Red Granite Pictures, the production company behind Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning The Wolf of Wall Street, and according to Louise Story and Stephanie Sual of the NYT, a close associate of Low.
Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak served the letter on Najib’s behalf to Harakahdaily managing editor Dr Rosli Yaakop and the portal’s editor-in-chief, Taufek Yahya, yesterday.
The letter claims that the article was libelous and mala fide.
It added that the allegations contained in the article were completely baseless, unfounded and very serious, and harboured ill-intent to smear and jeopardise Najib’s good name and reputation.
The letter also demanded Harakahdaily to stop publishing further defamatory statemens pertaining to the issue contained in the article within 48 hours from yesterday.
It further called for Harakahdaily to issue an unconditional apology and to remove the op-ed from its site, also within 48 hours from yesterday.
Najib’s lawyers promisedlegal action should the demands not be met.
Speaking to reporters today, Najib himself defended his actions to sue the Pakatan Rakyat newsportal.
“Because they have defamed (my family), I have to sue them or demand they retract what they said in Harakah,” he said, as quoted by The Star Online.
“What was reported in Harakah was defamatory and completely untrue. They did not show evidence. So it is my right to defend myself and my family.”
More on CoconutsKL:
Local billionaire Jho Low is the subject of a New York Times expose on real estate corruption
PM Najib’s brothers say their father was a principled, frugal Prime Minister
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