KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 — Malaysians still deserve to know the truth of Sarawak Report’s (SR) allegation of PAS accepting RM90 million from Umno, despite the case being settled out of court, said the National Patriot’s Association (Patriot) today.

Its president Brig-Gen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji said that the allegations were serious and beyond mere accusations due to evidence submitted by the online portal in the form of an alleged audio recording of PAS central committee member Nik Abduh Nik Aziz talking about receiving RM2 million from Umno.

“Malaysians are anxious to know the truth of the matter because the money paid out is allegedly derived from the 1MDB fund. Members of PAS who have donated to the party’s legal fund for Hadi Awang should also be interested to know the truth.

Advertisement

“This case is beyond mere accusations from both Clare Rewcastle-Brown and Hadi Awang. At stake is the integrity of the criminal law and the millions of young minds who will be wondering if corruption and dishonesty is a way of life in modern society,” he said in a statement here today.

Patriot urged anyone with knowledge of the case to file reports with the authorities.

“Even if there is none, the police and the MACC should also start investigation on their own,” he added.

Advertisement

Mohamed Arshad said that the out of court settlement between PAS President Hadi Awang and SR editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown recently did not provide any closure to Malaysians.

“Even though the case will not be adjudicated, the allegations by Brown that the RM90 million paid to leaders of PAS remain. This includes a purported audio recording of Nik Abduh talking about receiving RM 2 million from Umno, produced as evidence by Brown and has not been contested by Hadi Awang.

“The allegations by Brown include extravagant spending of PAS leaders how they purchased expensive cars and houses. Leaders of PAS have positioned themselves as pious, righteous and pure, and even promising a path to heaven to party members for their support,” he said.

On February 2, PAS unexpectedly announced that Abdul Hadi had settled his defamation suit against SR and Rewcastle-Brown out of court, with no order to costs and with both bound to confidentiality.

He filed the suit in 2017 over a 2016 article alleging that several PAS leaders received RM90 million from former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in order to covertly support Umno and Barisan Nasional ahead of the 14th general election.

PAS has been mocked over the out-of-court settlement but has insisted that it still obtained a moral victory despite SR continuing to carry the offending article on its website.

The party had also asked the members to donate to a fund amounting to RM3 million to meet the cost of the legal suit against SR for which they had already paid close to RM2.5 million.