PART I
For the uninitiated, prima facie is the Latin term used by the legal fraternity for “a fact presumed to be true unless it is disproved”, and that “the plaintiff must produce enough evidence on all elements of the claim to support the claim and shift the burden of evidence production to the respondent”.
In other words, for an accusation to satisfy the prima facie condition, every aspect of that accusation must be amply presented. Only when the presented evidence is determined to be sufficient to shift the burden of proof to the defendant will there be a prima facie to begin investigations, which could eventually lead to a trial, and if successful, a conviction and eventual punishment, if any.
By this definition, it can be argued that the whole of Sarawak Report is an elaborate attempt at building up prima facie cases against:-
a. initially, the then Chief Minister of Sarawak, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud and his family, and currently;
b. the Government of Malaysia, with the ‘first defendant’ (interchangeably, ‘first respondent’) being the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, his family, and by extension;
c. the whole country.
By and large, when looked at from this angle, Sarawak Report is failing spectacularly in achieving any of these goals — at least as far as law enforcement and due processes are concerned.
[RELATED: BREAKING / SWISS NATIONAL GIVEN 3-YEAR JAIL TERM FOR 1MDB-LINKED BLACKMAIL — “A report published last month in Singaporean daily the Straits Times claimed that Justo had affirmed that the businessman and Clare Rewcastle-Brown, the editor of the Sarawak report, wanted to use the data to “bring down the Malaysian government.” He also said that his interlocutors had evoked the possibility of “modifying the documents”, which Rewcastle-Brown has denied. The country’s anti-corruption agency later said the $700 million was donations, effectively clearing Razak of wrongdoing.” — FultonCounty.COM, August 17, 2015]
[RELATED: CURRENT / CLARE REWCASTLE BROWN’S INTERVIEW ON CHANNEL NEWSASIA REGARDING THE WARRANT FOR HER ARREST — “The Prime Minister has now finally had it announced through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that that was not anything to do with 1MDB money, which actually certainly I and I don’t know of any investigative reporters who said it was.” — Clare Rewcastle Brown, August 5, 2015]
[RELATED: SENSATIONAL FINDINGS! PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK’S PERSONAL ACCOUNTS LINKED TO 1MDB MONEY TRAIL — MALAYSIA EXCLUSIVE — Sarawak Report, July 2, 2015]
[RELATED: CURRENT / JUSTO AND THE EDGE MEDIA GROUP — “Yes, we misled him. But that was the only way to get hold of the evidence to expose how a small group of Malaysians and foreigners cheated the people of Malaysia of US$1.83 billion (S$2.5 billion).” — Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and Ho Kay Tat, July 24, 2015]
END OF PART I
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ♥ ON THIS PIECE TO SPREAD THE TRUTH
Listen to Prima Facie — The Name of the Game on SoundCloud.
Originally published in whole at ninequestionsforsarawakreport.blogspot.com on August 2, 2015.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ♥ ON THIS PIECE TO SPREAD THE TRUTH
