By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, Sept 7: Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (Dapsy) has urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate whether Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang’s alleged payment of RM1,422,980 to Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown entailed any elements of corruption.
According to Dapsy Kuching chief Michael Kong Feng Nian, Dapsy Kuching secretary Anthony Chin has filed a report with SPRM today, which was done in response to a recent viral video in which Rewcastle-Brown is seen confirming that she received the large payment from Abdul Hadi.
Kong claimed that the payment came from Abdul Hadi as part of an out-of-court settlement for the defamation action the latter filed against Rewcastle-Brown in the United Kingdom.
“The gist of our report was for the authorities to investigate the source of funds and whether there were any elements of corruption involved in this large sum.
“Should the authorities find that the funds are from legal sources, then the big question is whether any income tax was paid for this amount?
“These are all very pertinent questions to be answered because this involves a party leader who enjoys ministerial privileges and represents Malaysia on an international level by virtue of being the Special Envoy to the Middle East,” he told reporters today after submitting the report to SPRM here.
Kong, who is also a special assistant to Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen, went on to say that it was important that Abdul Hadi explained how he was able to come up with RM1.4 million to settle such a matter as he represents Malaysia.
“Hopefully, the authorities will look into it, answer to the people, and provide clarification,” he added.
In 2019, it was already widely reported that Rewcastle-Brown admitted to receiving RM1.4 million as out of court settlement for a defamation case filed by Abdul Hadi against her in a United Kingdom court.
However, no information was provided about Abdul Hadi’s funding source.
It was reported that Abdul Hadi had sued Rewcastle-Brown over a 2016 Sarawak Report article alleging that former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had channelled RM90 million to top PAS leaders in order to secure support for the 14th General Election. — DayakDaily
