As of today, Malaysia's leading business and investment newspapers are off the stands. The government suspended publication for three months, charging that reports into a widening scandal involving the Prime Minister could lead to political mayhem and economic instability. More from Neal Conan, in today’s Pacific News Minute.
The Edge Financial Daily, the Edge Weekly and a separate publication called the Sarawak Report have all been suspended after reports into 1MDB, a government owned development fund that's heavily in debt. A week ago, the Edge reported that 1MBD executives, a Saudi Oil Company and a prominent financier named Jho Low conspired to defraud the country of 1.8 billion dollars. Earlier this year, the New York Times reported on that financier's relationship with Prime Minister Najib Razak, members of his family and 1MBD. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that 700-million dollars had been diverted from 1MBD to private accounts controlled by the prime minister, who is also head of the 1MBD board.
1MDB denies the charges. The Prime Minister says he's the victim of a smear orchestrated by his political opponents. Yesterday, in a post on Facebook, a government minister named Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan questioned the authenticity of the sources in the Edge story and raised ties to an alleged plot to topple the government. "The government," he wrote, "has the obligation to protect the nation and the people from political mayhem and economic instability."
On the Edge Website, publisher and chief executive Ho Kay Tat wrote, "This is nothing more than a move to shut us down in order to shut us up."
