7 Key Points & The Glaring Inaccuracies From Lester Melanyi’s Sarawak Report Video Exposés
It's Lester Melanyi's word against Sarawak Report and opposition lawmakers as he continues to release 'confession videos' alleging that the whistleblower site forged 1MDB documents to topple PM Najib Razak.
Cover image via The Star Online's YouTube
Lester Melanyi claims Tun M talked to Sarawak Report editor but could not provide evidence
Image via The Ant Daily
When contacted, however, Amy denied Melanyi's allegations, calling them "ludicrous" lies and that neither of them have evidence to back up his statements
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Image via Greater Malaysian
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Sarawak Report will be taking legal action against Umno Minister and New Straits Times
21 JULY: Lester Melanyi, who claims to be a former journalist of Sarawak Report, has released the second part of his video exposé over the whistleblower site's articles on 1MDB. Melanyi released Part 1 on 15 July, where he implicated some opposition lawmakers and the site as part of a conspiracy to taint and topple PM Najib Razak.
Image via The Star Online's YouTube
Key takeaways from Melanyi's video exposés so far:
1. Melanyi claims that he has been working with Sarawak Report since 2011 and has even spent time in London between 2012 to 2013. He also alleges that Sarawak Report and its sister organisation Radio Free Sarawak is funded by non-profit conservation group Bruno Manser Foundation (BMF).
2. Opposition lawmakers are involved in a scheme to discredit and topple current Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as well as DAP's Tony Pua and PKR's Rafizi Ramli are said to have contacted Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown to forge 1MDB documents to be used in news articles.
3. Melanyi has met former PetroSaudi International executive Xavier Andre Justo, who is currently being investigated by Thai police over blackmail allegations. Melanyi also believes that Justo did not blackmail PetroSaudi nor tamper with the documents he had allegedly stolen from his previous employer.
Xavier Justo (grey shirt) surrounded by Thai poliec during his arrest.
Image via omakkau.blogspot.com
4. Melanyi claims that Rewcastle-Brown has also met with Justo in London. Only 10% of the documents in his possession have been provided to Sarawak Report. The other 90% were fabricated by "the opposition people" with the help of a web designer.
Screencap from 'Lester Melanyi Reveals Truth About Sarawak Report & 1MDB: Part 2'.
Image via The Star Online's YouTube
5. The fabricated e-mails and agreements in regards to 1MDB were created by a web designer called James Steward Stephens, said to be working part time with the BMF and faked the documents under Rewcastle-Brown's instructions
Image via Sarawak Report
6. When questioned how he knew the documents were not real, Melanyi explained that he has been in constant contact with the web designer. He also said that he has been telling people about the fabricated documents from the very start.
Screencap from 'Lester Melanyi Reveals Truth About Sarawak Report & 1MDB: Part 2'.
Image via The Star Online's YouTube
7. Melanyi also claims that copies of Sarawak Report's articles are e-mailed to him before they are printed so he can edit them
Screencap from 'Lester Melanyi Reveals Truth About Sarawak Report & 1MDB: Part 2'.
Image via The Star Online's YouTube
Screencap from 'Lester Melanyi Reveals Truth About Sarawak Report & 1MDB: Part 2'.
Image via The Star Online's YouTube
Melanyi's video confession has gotten support by Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government minister Datuk Rahman Dahlan, who criticised DAP's Lim Kit Siang for doubting Melanyi's credibility and telling him to focus on the message instead of "shooting the messenger".
Rahman, who is also BN's newly-appointed strategic communications director, revealed the contents of a police report that was made after the confession video was released.
Image via The Rakyat Post
However, statements from the implicated opposition MPs, Rewcastle-Brown, a recently published article on Sarawak Report, and even Melanyi himself has poked more than a few holes in Melanyi's alleged confessions:
1. Nurul Izzah has rubbished claims that her father was involved in the "ridiculous" scheme. Tony Pua and Rafizi Ramli also denied having ever met or heard of Melanyi, let alone contact him about forging 1MDB documents.
Image via The Malay Mail Online
Image via The Malaysian Insider
Image via The Malaysian Insider
2. Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown has been quick to deny the "pack of lies" Melanyi has "peddled" in his confession videos. In fact, Rewcastle-Brown revealed that Melanyi had never worked for the site and even made public some e-mails between her and Melanyi to prove that he was not involved in the 1MDB exposé.
In one of Melanyi's emails he asked Brown if she was going to "topple Najib", referring to Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Image via The Malaysian Insider
Rewcastle-Brown said she was replying sarcastically to Melanyi when she spoke about "forging" the documents, which Melanyi had published and later cited in the police report.
Image via The Malaysian Insider
Image via Andrew Testa / New York Times
3. Rewcastle-Brown denies having met Justo in London, though she admits to have funded air tickets for Melanyi's travels to London. She also denies that Sarawak Report is funded by BMF, as claimed by Melanyi.
4. The web designer Melanyi accused of forging 1MDB documents is actually a senior station manager for Norwich-based bus company Abellio, James Steward. The photo used in Melanyi's video was lifted from a website where Steward was featured for giving a local talk on his actual job.
Image via Sarawak Report
5. Melanyi's claims that he receives advance copies of Sarawak Report articles has been debunked. Screenshots of "e-mails" he received are actually newsletters from Sarawak Report, which are received by over 7,000 people in the news portal's subscriber list.
LLester produced as 'evidence' the normal newsletter he received, because like 7,000 other people he had signed up.
Image via Sarawak Report
In a shocking revelation, Melanyi admitted to The Malay Mail Online that he has received money to expose Sarawak Report and its founder in forging documents to include in the news portal's exposé articles. However, he maintains his earlier claims.
Image via Sulok Tawie / The Malay Mail Online
The drama does not end here. According to Pertubuhan Minda dan Sosial Prihatin Malaysia's Ramesh Rao Krishnan Naidu, who lodged a police report for Melanyi and claims responsibility for the videos, there are two more parts that will be released in due time.
Image via The Star Online
