KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 20: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will only appear to be guilt-ridden if access to whistleblower site Sarawak Report remains blocked, the DAP has said.

Is blocking Sarawak Report an admission of guilt?

Blocking access to the website will only succeed in informing all Malaysians and the world that Najib isn’t as transparent as what he appears to be, said DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang.

Lim in a statement today urged Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to stop banning Sarawak Report as a mean of damage control.

“I do not think many Malaysians access the Sarawak Report, and MCMC is doing Sarawak Report a great favour by publicising Najib and MCMC’s fear of the Sarawak Report contents.”

“For his best self-interest, Najib should immediately direct MCMC to stop blocking access to Sarawak Report or he is transforming 1MDB scandal from a local into an international scandal,” the Gelang Patah MP added.

The commission on Sunday announced that it will be blocking access to Sarawak Report on grounds that the news portal has published “unverified information” on 1MDB that could be harmful to the nation. However, a check by The Rocket found that the website is still accessible.

In February, the London-based whistleblower site claimed that it had access to thousands of emails and documents pertaining to 1MDB. It has since been relentless in its exposes of the dealings behind the state-owned investment fund, which is some RM42 billion in debt.

Two weeks ago, an exposé from Wall Street Journal (WSJ) accused Najib of embezzling US$ 700 million (RM 2.6 billion) of 1MDB funds and transferring it into his personal AmBank account. Since then, Najib has said that the attacks upon him are political sabotage, and that it is the work of former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The blocking of Sarawak Report however, is the first ‘damage control’ move that the government has taken since the controversy first emerged. 

However, Lim said that the move would more likely have the opposite effect, and believes that such online censorship is a tell-tale sign of Najib’s fear against the Internet.

“One does not fear lies and falsehoods but only the truth,” he said.

“My advice to Najib is to allow common sense to prevail, that blocking access to Sarawak Report is not going to end his 1MDB woes but the opposite, plunging his credibility and legitimacy to even unimagined depths, which is not good for him as Prime Minister and for the nation as well,” said Lim.

Meanwhile, DAP assemblywoman Yeo Bee Yin also condemned the MCMC’s move, and concurred with Lim that is looks like an ‘admission of guilt’ by Najib.

Blocking sites sets a dangerous precendent, said Yeo

“Whether the websites are blocked temporarily or partially, such practice sets a dangerous precedence for Internet freedom in Malaysia. It seems to us that Putrajaya has increasingly abused its power in Communication and Multimedia Ministry to restrict the dissemination of news that are not in favour of the ruling government,” she said.

She also said the government needs to be ‘reminded’  that there is “no way to hide in the age of internet”.

“If Putrajaya insisted that there is no wrongdoing involved in their handling of 1MDB, then they should use the internet to clarify the dissenting opinions. Sheepishly blocking websites implies only one thing – admission of guilt,” she added.