Utusan Malaysia defends Datuk Seri Najib Razak after allegations of 1MDB funds were pumped into his personal accounts. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, July 5, 2015.
The broadsheet's editors, writing under the pseudonym Awang Selamat, advised its readers that the fasting month required Muslims to be especially patient.
"At this stage, have confidence in Najib that he will defend himself and prove he is in the right and is a victim of allegations," wrote Awang Selamat.
Awang Selamat said Malaysians should allow the authorities to investigate the claims, and not react hastily to it.
He cited Chapter 49, verse 6 of the Quran, which states that any information from an evil-doer must be investigated thoroughly, as it may cause harm to people due to ignorance and ultimately result in feelings of regret.
Awang Selamat also took a swipe at Malaysiakini, saying that the portal was attacking the country's Muslim leaders with the report.
He said Malaysiakini was taking advantage of WSJ's report after the portal failed to topple the government in the 13th general election.
"All the readers' negative responses are played up sensationally like a pornographic film, while the positive responses are ignored.
"Awang has always distrusted Malaysiakini, it has little credibility. So it is not surprising if the portal aggressively continues to threaten the Muslim-led government we have."
He added that the WSJ report was just another challenge to Najib, as leaders were easily subjected to personal attacks, slander, allegations and misunderstanding.
On Friday, the business daily said investigations into the debt-ridden 1MDB had allegedly uncovered billions of ringgit pumped into Najib's personal accounts.
In their reports, both WSJ and whistleblower site Sarawak Report had quoted documents from the 1MDB probe by the Malaysian government, with Sarawak Report claiming that the Attorney-General was also aware of the information.
The documents allegedly showed US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) was moved among government agencies, banks and entities linked to 1MDB, which finally ended in the prime minister's personal accounts at the AmPrivate Bank in Kuala Lumpur, in five separate deposits.
WSJ said the largest transactions were deposits of US$620 million and another one for US$61 million between March 2013 and February this year. The first transaction was done two months before the 13th general election.
Sarawak Report said RM42 million had gone into Najib's accounts from SRC International Sdn Bhd, the Finance Ministry-owned company that had taken a RM4 billion loan from the Retirement Fund Incorporated.
The latest transaction, the reports said, was in February this year. The documents show that SRC International had transferred RM10 million into an account under the name of “Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Bin Hj Abd Razak” at the AmPrivate Bank.
Najib has blamed the WSJ report on former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has become Najib's fiercest critic in recent months.
In a post in his Facebook page on Friday, Najib said the attacks began when he refused to implement Dr Mahathir’s personal demands, adding that Dr Mahathir then “created a crisis” by recklessly claiming that RM42 million was missing from 1MDB.
"I believe Tun, working hand in glove with foreign nationals, including the now discredited political attack blog Sarawak Report, is behind this latest lie,” he said.
He denied the report, which claimed that some US$700 million of 1MDB funds, were transferred to his personal account before the 2013 general election.
This is the first time Najib has been directly linked to 1MDB's woes, as the company sits on a RM42 billion debt. He is also chairman of its advisory board.
- TMI
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