REPORTED BY CHANNEL NEWSASIA
"I am just the latest victim in an extraordinary series of recent events in Malaysia," says the London-based founder of investigative journalism site Sarawak Report.
[RELATED: BREAKING / SWISS NATIONAL GIVEN 3-YEAR JAIL TERM FOR 1MDB-LINKED BLACKMAIL – "A report published last month in Singaporean daily the Straits Times claimed that Justo had affirmed that the businessman and Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the editor of the Sarawak report, wanted to use the data to “bring down the Malaysian government.” He also said that his interlocutors had evoked the possibility of “modifying the documents”, which Rewcastle-Brown has denied. The country’s anti-corruption agency later said the $700 million was donations, effectively clearing Razak of wrongdoing." – FultonCounty.COM, August 17, 2015]
"I am just the latest victim in an extraordinary series of recent events in Malaysia," says the London-based founder of investigative journalism site Sarawak Report.
LONDON, August 5, 2015 –
The founder of alternative news site Sarawak Report Clare Rewcastle Brown describes an arrest warrant put out for her as an "irrational" move on the Malaysian government's part, done entirely for "domestic consumption".
Malaysian police announced the arrest warrant on Tuesday (August 4), on the basis that Ms Brown is involved in "activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy" and for the dissemination of false reports which is an offence under the Malaysian penal code.
Ms Brown, the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said she does not think Malaysian authorities have a chance of extraditing her.
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[RELATED: BREAKING / INTERPOL SAYS NO TO MALAYSIA'S RED NOTICE REQUEST – Sources, August 29, 2015]
[RELATED: BREAKING / INTERPOL SAYS NO TO MALAYSIA'S RED NOTICE REQUEST – Sources, August 29, 2015]
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The Sarawak Report website was recently blocked in Malaysia, for posing a "threat to national stability", following reports that claimed Prime Minister Najib Razak had up to US$700 milllion deposited into his personal accounts from state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). A Special Task Force probe concluded that the money deposited in Mr Najib's accounts was from donations and not from 1MDB.
Below is Channel NewsAsia's interview with Ms Brown.
Q: What was your reaction to hearing of the arrest warrant?
Ms Brown: Somewhat surprised. It seems very irrational and counterproductive to issue these sorts of threats that can’t be carried through.
Q: Why do you say that they can’t be carried through?
Ms Brown: Well, because I don’t think that they would ever get this petition through a court in a normal democracy like the UK, which is where I am. They are trying to arrest me for some kind of action against democracy, which is ironic given that it is the Malaysian government which has been taking actions against democracy by silencing free media and closing down my blog and indeed several newspapers and arresting a number of people who have done nothing more than raise some perfectly valid issues.
I don’t think they have got a chance in hell of extraditing me from the UK.
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[RELATED: TOPIC / UK CRIMINAL LAW ACT 1977 – "1A– Conspiracy to commit offences outside the United Kingdom, August 11, 2015][RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES – "III. “SIMILAR, BUT DIFFERENT.”; II. “WHICH ONE IS IT?”; I. "NOT TRIABLE IN THE UK.”, August 16, 2015]
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[RELATED: BREAKING / SWISS NATIONAL GIVEN 3-YEAR JAIL TERM FOR 1MDB-LINKED BLACKMAIL – "A report published last month in Singaporean daily the Straits Times claimed that Justo had affirmed that the businessman and Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the editor of the Sarawak report, wanted to use the data to “bring down the Malaysian government.” He also said that his interlocutors had evoked the possibility of “modifying the documents”, which Rewcastle-Brown has denied. The country’s anti-corruption agency later said the $700 million was donations, effectively clearing Razak of wrongdoing." – FultonCounty.COM, August 17, 2015]
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[RELATED: CURRENT / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S INTERVIEW ON CHANNEL NEWSASIA REGARDING THE WARRANT FOR HER ARREST – "The Prime Minister has now finally had it announced through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that that was not anything to do with 1MDB money, which actually certainly I and I don’t know of any investigative reporters who said it was." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Channel NewsAsia, August 5, 2015][RELATED: SENSATIONAL FINDINGS! PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK’S PERSONAL ACCOUNTS LINKED TO 1MDB MONEY TRAIL - MALAYSIA EXCLUSIVE - Sarawak Report, July 2, 2015]
[RELATED: CURRENT / JUSTO AND THE EDGE MEDIA GROUP – "Yes, we misled [Justo]. But that was the only way to get hold of the evidence to expose how a small group of Malaysians and foreigners cheated the people of Malaysia of US$1.83 billion (S$2.5 billion)." - Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and Ho Kay Tat - The Straits Times, July 24, 2015]
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[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES - "2– Fraud by false representation; (2) A representation is false if— (b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading." - UK FRAUD ACT 2006, August 16, 2015][RELATED: EPISODES / DRAMATIS PERSONÆ–WHO'S WHO OF CLARE BROWN – "Therefore, it was only after strikingly similar financial information [from Cullen Johnson] was submitted in a court hearing related to Abu Bekir’s divorce and then printed in all the Malaysian media, that we too subsequently quoted what the Malaysian media reported had been said in court." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Sarawak Report, January 10, 2015]
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Q: What is your response in terms of actions - will you be taking any actions in response to this warrant being issued? Will you need to talk to UK authorities? What do you do next?
Ms Brown: I’m besieged by media interviews at the moment, so I am going to be talking about Najib Razak on a very wide platform - so in a way, he could not have done anything more counter-productive than to provide me with that platform to discuss some of the issues that are causing considerable alarm at the moment in Malaysia.
I am just the latest victim in an extraordinary series of recent events in Malaysia - the Prime Minister sacked his deputy, sacked his Attorney-General, closed down the Public Accounts Committee; he has gone round arresting a whole lot of senior law enforcers investigating a very very concerning financial scandal in Malaysia and really everybody in Malaysia is asking: "Why?"
Well I am not sure if he is accusing me of forging documents or having criminally obtained documents, because obviously he can’t accuse me of both. I have been accused of both by him and his supporters but really they have to decide which they are going to charge me of, and Malaysians are left scratching their heads.
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[RELATED: CURRENT / THE CHARGES AGAINST CLARE – "6. The Code is amended by inserting after section 124A the following sections:
Activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy– 124B. Whoever, by any means, directly or indirectly, commits an activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to twenty years; Dissemination of false reports– 124I. Any person who, by word of mouth or in writing or in any newspaper, periodical, book circular, or other printed publication or by any other means including electronic means spreads false reports or makes false statements likely to cause public alarm, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years." – e-Federal Gazette - Laws of Malaysia, Act A1430, Penal Code (Amended) 2012), August 5, 2015]
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[RELATED: BREAKING / SWISS NATIONAL GIVEN 3-YEAR JAIL TERM FOR 1MDB-LINKED BLACKMAIL – "A report published last month in Singaporean daily the Straits Times claimed that Justo had affirmed that the businessman and Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the editor of the Sarawak report, wanted to use the data to “bring down the Malaysian government.” He also said that his interlocutors had evoked the possibility of “modifying the documents”, which Rewcastle-Brown has denied. The country’s anti-corruption agency later said the $700 million was donations, effectively clearing Razak of wrongdoing." – FultonCounty.COM, August 17, 2015][RELATED: CURRENT / JUSTO AND THE EDGE MEDIA GROUP – "Yes, we misled [Justo]. But that was the only way to get hold of the evidence to expose how a small group of Malaysians and foreigners cheated the people of Malaysia of US$1.83 billion (S$2.5 billion)." - Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and Ho Kay Tat - The Straits Times, July 24, 2015]
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[RELATED: CURRENT / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S INTERVIEW ON CHANNEL NEWSASIA REGARDING THE WARRANT FOR HER ARREST – "The Prime Minister has now finally had it announced through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that that was not anything to do with 1MDB money, which actually certainly I and I don’t know of any investigative reporters who said it was." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Channel NewsAsia, August 5, 2015][RELATED: SENSATIONAL FINDINGS! PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK’S PERSONAL ACCOUNTS LINKED TO 1MDB MONEY TRAIL - MALAYSIA EXCLUSIVE - Sarawak Report, July 2, 2015]
[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES - "2– Fraud by false representation; (2) A representation is false if— (b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading." - UK FRAUD ACT 2006, August 16, 2015]
[RELATED: EPISODES / DRAMATIS PERSONÆ–WHO'S WHO OF CLARE BROWN – "Therefore, it was only after strikingly similar financial information [from Cullen Johnson] was submitted in a court hearing related to Abu Bekir’s divorce and then printed in all the Malaysian media, that we too subsequently quoted what the Malaysian media reported had been said in court." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Sarawak Report, January 10, 2015]
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[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES -"11– Obtaining services dishonestly. (2) A person obtains services in breach of this subsection if– (a) they are made available on the basis that the payment has been, is being, or will be made for or in respect of them, (b) he obtains them without any payment having been made for or in respect of them or without payment having been made in full, and (c) when he obtains them, he knows– (i) that they are being made available on the basis described in paragraph (a), or (ii) that they might be, but intends that payment will not be made, or will not be made in full." - UK FRAUD ACT 2006, August 16, 2015][RELATED: BREAKING / BUSINESSMAN AT CENTER OF MAJOR MALAYSIAN CORRUPTION SCANDAL IS JAILED IN THAILAND – “I did pursue [Justo] doggedly to get the material. In the end he surrendered it for free." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - The Telegraph, August 17, 2015]
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Q: The Special Task Force concluded that these monies transferred into the PM’s account were donations. What did you make of those conclusions?
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[RELATED: BREAKING / SWISS NATIONAL GIVEN 3-YEAR JAIL TERM FOR 1MDB-LINKED BLACKMAIL – "The country’s anti-corruption agency later said the $700 million was donations, effectively clearing Razak of wrongdoing." – FultonCounty.COM, August 17, 2015]
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Ms Brown: A month on, and one might say several arrests, sacking and dismissals on, the Prime Minister has now finally had it announced through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that that was not anything to do with 1MDB money, which actually certainly I and I don’t know of any investigative reporters who said it was, he is saying that was just a donation, an anonymous donation and really Malaysians are asking: "Who donated and where did the money go? Is it correct that the Prime Minister should have been secretly donated US$700 million?"
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[RELATED: SENSATIONAL FINDINGS! PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK’S PERSONAL ACCOUNTS LINKED TO 1MDB MONEY TRAIL - MALAYSIA EXCLUSIVE - Sarawak Report, July 2, 2015][RELATED: CURRENT / JUSTO AND THE EDGE MEDIA GROUP - "The Edge had earlier this week handed over all evidence concerning its allegations that Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, and PetroSaudi cheated the Malaysian public by using 1MDB as a front. Yes, we misled him. But that was the only way to get hold of the evidence to expose how a small group of Malaysians and foreigners cheated the people of Malaysia of US$1.83 billion (S$2.5 billion)." - Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and Ho Kay Tat, July 24, 2015]
[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES - "2– Fraud by false representation; (2) A representation is false if— (b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading." - UK FRAUD ACT 2006, August 16, 2015]
[RELATED: CURRENT / CLARE AND CULLEN–THE DO-SI-DO – "Therefore, it was only after strikingly similar financial information [from Cullen Johnson] was submitted in a court hearing related to Abu Bekir’s divorce and then printed in all the Malaysian media, that we too subsequently quoted what the Malaysian media reported had been said in court...Here is the full story of what happened and readers should indeed prepare for a truly ugly tale, involving theft, hacking, dirty PR and smear tactics. It all began when shortly before the general election in 2013 my mobile phone was pickpocketed at night in my home street in London. On this phone were my skype and gmail messages." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Sarawak Report, January 10, 2015]
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Q: Do you recognise that it is easier for you to do this job here now than it would be in Malaysia?
Ms Brown: I have been accused of interfering in Malaysia and one of the reasons I have felt justified in concentrating on so many of the subjects around Malaysia that I have done is because so many Malaysian journalists and other Malaysians have said: "Thank goodness you’re able to print this because we can’t."
There is maybe an illusion that there is a free media in Malaysia. There is not a free media in Malaysia, and I think what you’re seeing at the moment - the closure of respected business publications who have also been covering this enormous scandal, missing billions from the public development fund, just shows how little freedom of the press there is in Malaysia so that is partially why I’m doing it.
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[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE'S CONTRADICTIONS - THE FORKING OF THE TONGUE – "Chong and Yong stated that during the run-up to the May 20 election, while the English-language media acted almost entirely as a mouthpiece for the state's long-governing National Front constituent parties, the Chinese-language media "provided a surprising amount of coverage" for opposition candidates." - US Embassy Source–Wikileaks, October 2, 2006]
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[RELATED: CURRENT / JUSTO AND THE EDGE MEDIA GROUP – "Datuk Tong is a Malaysian businessman who owns The Edge Media Group, while Mr Ho is the publisher and chief executive." – The Straits Times, July 24, 2015]
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[RELATED: BREAKING / SWISS NATIONAL GIVEN 3-YEAR JAIL TERM FOR 1MDB-LINKED BLACKMAIL – "A report published last month in Singaporean daily the Straits Times claimed that Justo had affirmed that the businessman and Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the editor of the Sarawak report, wanted to use the data to “bring down the Malaysian government.” He also said that his interlocutors had evoked the possibility of “modifying the documents”, which Rewcastle-Brown has denied. The country’s anti-corruption agency later said the $700 million was donations, effectively clearing Razak of wrongdoing." – FultonCounty.COM, August 17, 2015]
[RELATED: CURRENT / JUSTO AND THE EDGE MEDIA GROUP – "Yes, we misled [Justo]. But that was the only way to get hold of the evidence to expose how a small group of Malaysians and foreigners cheated the people of Malaysia of US$1.83 billion (S$2.5 billion)." - Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and Ho Kay Tat - The Straits Times, July 24, 2015]
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[CURRENT / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S INTERVIEW ON CHANNEL NEWSASIA REGARDING THE WARRANT FOR HER ARREST – "The Prime Minister has now finally had it announced through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that that was not anything to do with 1MDB money, which actually certainly I and I don’t know of any investigative reporters who said it was." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Channel NewsAsia, August 5, 2015][RELATED: SENSATIONAL FINDINGS! PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK’S PERSONAL ACCOUNTS LINKED TO 1MDB MONEY TRAIL - MALAYSIA EXCLUSIVE - Sarawak Report, July 2, 2015]
[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES - "2– Fraud by false representation; (2) A representation is false if— (b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading." - UK FRAUD ACT 2006, August 16, 2015]
[RELATED: EPISODES / DRAMATIS PERSONÆ–WHO'S WHO OF CLARE BROWN – "Therefore, it was only after strikingly similar financial information [from Cullen Johnson] was submitted in a court hearing related to Abu Bekir’s divorce and then printed in all the Malaysian media, that we too subsequently quoted what the Malaysian media reported had been said in court." - Clare Rewcastle Brown - Sarawak Report, January 10, 2015]
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Q: With this warrant having been issued, will you ever be able to go back to Malaysia?
Ms Brown: I’m sure as long as Najib Razak is Prime Minister, I would be ill-advised.
Q: And how does that make you feel?
Ms Brown: I’ll live. I’ll continue to write about Malaysian issues and I’ll continue to interest myself in these matters - but you know, there are plenty of people in Malaysia who are suffering far worse than me as a result of these undemocratic actions that have been taken by the government at the moment. There are people in jail, there are people who have been arrested and not given their rightful access to legal representation. I’m not going to start feeling sorry for myself that I’m not allowed to be there too.
Q: And to return to where we started on the warrant itself being issued - how do you believe that reflects on the government of Malaysia?
Ms Brown: I think it is going to show the government of Malaysia up as being perhaps not quite under control at the moment actually. It’s such an irrational action, the rest of the international community is going to ask what is it that I’ve done that is detrimental to democracy, that’s the charge I’m facing. It’s an Orwellian charge, it is not a crime that exists in real democratic countries.
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[RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES – "1A– Conspiracy to commit offences outside the United Kingdom. (7) Conduct punishable under the law in force in any country or territory is an offence under that law for the purposes of this section, however it is described in that law." - UK CRIMINAL LAW ACT 1977, August 11, 2015][RELATED: FOCUS / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN'S IGNORANCE OF HER OWN COUNTRY'S LEGAL CODES – "III. “SIMILAR, BUT DIFFERENT.”; II. “WHICH ONE IS IT?”; I. "NOT TRIABLE IN THE UK.”, August 16, 2015]
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I think the Prime Minister has given up worrying what the rest of the world thinks about this action. I think this is purely for domestic consumption. I have had a lot of Malaysians ring up and say: "Clare, are you scared?" And I say, "I’m not scared, this isn’t about intimidating me, this is about intimidating his own domestic population."('"I'm not scared": Sarawak Report's Clare Brown on arrest warrant for her in Malaysia.' - Channel NewsAsia, August 5, 2015)
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The NINE QUESTIONS Blog will return with more facts.
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The NINE QUESTIONS Blog will return with more facts.
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