Najib Razak supporters say news site an ‘agent for foreign powers’ after grant from George Soros-backed fund emerges

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Hundreds of pro-government protesters in Malaysia have demanded the closure of independent news portal Malaysiakini, rallying against what they said was a foreign-backed attempt to usurp the prime minister, Najib Razak.



Dressed in red shirts, the demonstrators chanted “close down Malaysiakini” outside the company’s offices in Petaling Jaya, near Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday in a largely peaceful gathering that lasted several hours.

Police prevented the group of about 500 people from entering Malaysiakini, an organisation that has reported extensively on a corruption scandal that has engulfed Najib.

1MDB: The inside story of the world’s biggest financial scandal | Randeep Ramesh Read more

Amnesty International said the calls to close Malaysiakini were “the latest instance of the right to freedom of expression coming under attack in the country”.

Jamal Yunos, a member of the prime minister’s ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party, led the rally and vowed to “tear down” the offices. But after several hours in the street, the protesters left.



The demonstration was organised after documents leaked last month by whistleblower site DC leaks suggested Malaysiakini had received funds from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), set up by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rally leader Jamal Yunos said money from a foundation set up by George Soros was being used to influence the upcoming election. Photograph: Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images

Soros is regarded with deep suspicion in Malaysia following accusations he deepened the devastating 1997-98 Asian financial crisis by selling the Malaysian ringgit short.

And Jamal said the OSF money was directed at influencing the next general election.



“Our demonstration today is very important for Malaysians so that we don’t allow Malaysiakini to be an agent for foreign powers,” he added.

OSF said it was non-partisan and proud to have supported civil society in Malaysia during the past decade. While it denied accusations it was supporting attempts to overthrow Najib, it said in a statement its grants were to “support justice, accountability and democratic practice around the world”.

Malaysiakini’s editor-in-chief, Steven Gan, said his portal had received a grant from OSF but it was very small. The bulk of Malaysiakini’s shares are owned by Gan and his co-founder, Premesh Chandran, he said. Twelve percent are owned by Malaysiakini staff, he added.

“When it comes to outsiders or even Malaysiakini shareholders influencing our editorial policy, that is completely impossible,” Gan said at a media conference. “Even I would it find it very hard to control the editorial policy of Malaysiakini.”

The leak said Malaysia’s biggest civil society group, Bersih, which seeks to reform the electoral system in Malaysia, had also received money from the foundation.

OSF said over 2011/2012 it provided small grants to Bersih, a coalition of about 80 non-governmental organisations tackling corruption.

Bersih, whose members wear yellow, have planned a rally for 19 November that will again call for Najib to step down over the graft allegations. The pro-Najib red shirt movement also has plans to rally that day, leading to concerns about potential clashes.

The Najib scandal emerged in July 2015 when media reports said investigators had found that nearly US$700m (£450m) from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund was transferred into the prime minister’s bank accounts.

The administration and its supporters have cracked down on the media and civil society groups, attempting to silence criticism of Najib’s alleged involvement

Najib, who founded 1MDB, has strongly denied any wrongdoing. In July, US prosecutors filed civil lawsuits alleging that 1MDB had been defrauded of more than $3.5bn. Najib was not mentioned as involved.



Although protest leader Jamal is a prominent member of UMNO, there was no indication the government organised the attempt to close Malaysiakini.

Malaysiakini editor Gan said Jamal had a right to hold a peaceful assembly. But he added: “Let them have their say. But they should also respect the right of others to speak their minds, too.”

Last month, the New-York based advocacy group Human Rights Watch released a report saying the government actions have signalled an ever-broadening crackdown on freedom of expression and assembly in the country.



The 40-page report, titled “Deepening the Culture of Fear: the Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Malaysia”, documented the government’s recent use of vaguely worded laws to criminalise peaceful speech and assembly.

“As Prime Minister Najib’s political fortunes fall, Malaysia’s intolerance of critical speech seems to rise,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Malaysia’s future as a rights-respecting nation shouldn’t become hostage to defending the Najib government’s reputation.”</s>The concerns emerge from a deep-seated distrust of the Chinese among Malaysia's Malay-Muslim majority, who form the support base for the ruling United Malay National Organisation (UMNO).

Najib was quick to dismiss the concerns after concluding his six-day visit to China.

"Some have scaremongered that Malaysia is being sold off. This is absurd and absolutely false," Najib said in a statement on Friday, insisting the projects will be owned and run by Malaysians.

The deals include Malaysia's first significant defense deal with China, an agreement to buy four Chinese naval vessels.

Najib's visit followed that of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who announced his country's "separation" from the United States and signed agreements and loan pledges worth an estimated $24 billion with Beijing.

UMNO leaders expect Najib to brief them soon so the party can start allaying any fears about China's rising influence in Malaysia, said Shahidan Kassim, a senior member of the party's supreme council and a federal minister.

"All of this has its pros and cons, but in UMNO we must have a policy statement on this," he told Reuters.

Ethnicity and religion are sensitive issues in Malaysia, where Muslim Malays form a little over 50 percent of the population of 31 million. Ethnic Chinese make up about 25 percent and ethnic Indians about 7 percent.

Malaysia's ethnic Chinese have long been a scapegoat for the Malay community, with UMNO leaders pointing to ethnic Chinese economic dominance to unite Malays and keep a firm grip on political power.

Last year, ethnic ties became strained under the weight of two opposing demonstrations largely split along racial lines. A 'Malay pride' rally blocked off Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur in a show of strength following an anti-government rally dominated by Malaysian-Chinese. Najib's government summoned China's ambassador over his remarks ahead of the "Malay pride' rally.

Clashes are expected again this year as thousands of anti-government demonstrators plan to protest in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 19, calling for Najib to resign over the money-laundering scandal linked to Malaysian state investment fund, One Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

A member of UMNO's policy-making Supreme Council, Irmohizam Ibrahim, said Najib's deals with China have stoked concerns among party leaders.

"We're expecting the prime minister to address these issues at our next Supreme Council meeting," Irmohizam told Reuters.

"We will then need to go down and explain to the grassroots that ... the deals are purely for the economy and trade," said Irmohizam, who also serves as Najib's strategic director in the party.

Malaysia's opposition is questioning the China agreements but for different reasons, saying it is tilting the country toward Beijing.

"Malaysia's economic dependence on any single nation is unreasonable and will affect the country's freedom and geo-political strategy and foreign policy," jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said in a statement issued from prison.

Najib is planning elections in the second half of 2017, a government source has told Reuters.

The investments from China could help the prime minister pump-prime Malaysia's economy before then. A 2017 national budget Najib announced last month calls for only a modest spending rise, amid a continuing slump in commodity prices.

Senior UMNO leaders and urban Malays, however, are uncomfortable that Chinese money will drive the development of strategic assets, according to James Chin, director at the University of Tasmania's Asia Institute.

Chin says the Malay elite welcomes Chinese investment in purely commercial deals such as property purchases, but are more wary about agreements such as a 55 billion ringgit ($13.11 billion) deal for the Chinese to develop a rail network.

"The problem with these deals is that they are seen as selling the country's golden jewelry," Chin said.

Ties between Malaysia and China reached a high point last December when Beijing came to Najib's rescue with a $2.3 billion deal to buy 1MDB assets, helping ease concerns over its mounting debt.

Relations with Washington became strained after the U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits in July implicating the prime minister in the money-laundering probe at 1MDB, the advisory board of which Najib chaired until recently.

China and Malaysia agreed to enhance naval cooperation, after sealing the deal to buy four Littoral Mission ships, fast patrol vessels that can be equipped with a helicopter flight deck and carry missiles.

Malaysia, along with three other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei - are among the countries contesting territorial claims with China over the South China Sea. China claims nearly the entire body of water as its territory.

Najib said last month the disputes should be resolved through dialogue with Beijing.

Duterte during his visit persuaded the Chinese to let Philippine fishermen operate around a disputed shoal, before declaring his unhappiness with Washington over its criticism of his lethal antidrug campaign.

ASEAN, meanwhile, has struggled to come up with a unified position on the South China Sea disputes at its meetings.

"ASEAN will not go away... but increasingly the idea of the multilateral track will be downgraded as now we see a swing from two key claimants to a more bilateral approach," said Euan Graham, director of the international security program at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think-tank.</s>Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak congratulated U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying the Republican victor had appealed to Americans who wanted to see the United States less embroiled in intervention abroad.

“His appeal to Americans who have been left behind – those who want to see their government more focused on their interests and welfare, and less embroiled in foreign interventions that proved to be against US interests – have won Mr Trump the White House,” Najib said in a statement.

Najib said he looked forward to continuing a partnership with the United States under Trump’s presidency. -Reuters
Protesters in Malaysia attempt to shut down the Malaysiakini newspaper which has been at the center of opposition towards Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.