Malaysian whistle-blower, lawyer charged with 'sabotage'

A former member of Malaysia's ruling party and his lawyer, detained over their efforts to expose the USD 700-million graft allegations against Prime Minister Najib Razak, were today charged with attempting to "sabotage" the country's banking and financial systems.
Khairuddin Abu Hassan, a former leader in Razak's ruling Malay party, and his lawyer Matthias Chang Wen Chieh were charged at the Magistrate's court with committing the offences at five countries: France, the UK, Switzerland, Hong Kong (China), and Singapore, the New Strait Times reported.
Magistrate Siti Radziah Kamarudin did not grant bail to the accused detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) act (Sosma).

They could be jailed for up to 15 years if found guilty.
Hassan was arrested in September after launching an international campaign to expose the allegations that USD 700 million was mysteriously transferred to Razak's personal bank accounts.
Razak faces calls to explain massive sums of money allegedly missing from a state-owned development company he founded. He has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Hassan's lawyer, Chang, was arrested last week over his suspected involvement in the international campaign. They were charged with attempting to "sabotage Malaysia's banking and financial services sector."
Former prime minister Mahathir Mohammad and several other politicians criticised the arrest and prosecution.

Speaking at a press conference, Mahathir said it was "an abuse of the legal process." He also demanded that Khairuddin and Chang be released immediately.
"The authorities should give a guarantee that no one will be detained under Sosma merely for expressing their views, criticism and taking actions as prescribed under the country's laws and constitution," he said.
"Any calls for a change of government is part and parcel of the democratic process," said Mahathir, Malaysia's longest serving prime minister who ruled the country for 22 years.
Hassan today vowed to continue with the campaign.
"We will fight Najib until the end. I will make sure Najib's hands are in handcuffs," Khairuddin was quoted as saying by the Malaysiakini news portal.

In a rare joint statement, Malaysia's nine state sultans said last week the failure to swiftly probe the allegations had created a "crisis of confidence" and called for a probe to be revived.