Malaysian authorities arrest whistle-blower who drew attention to 1MDB corruption allegations
Prime Minister Najib Razak under fire over allegations that more than a billion dollars went missing from overseas deals involving state fund 1MDB, which is now struggling under massive debts.
Malaysian police have arrested a former ruling party official who has travelled the globe to highlight corruption allegations against Prime Minister Najib Razak, his lawyer said yesterday, accusing the government of seeking to silence the whistleblower.
Khairuddin Abu Hassan was arrested by police on Friday after he was stopped from leaving for the United States where he was to meet with FBI officials, his lawyer Matthias Chang said.
He has been charged with plotting to "undermine parliamentary democracy", a vague charge that critics have said is open to government abuse.
"They want to stop him travelling and maybe to intimidate him," Chang said.
Najib's government has moved to quash further scrutiny of the revelation in July that nearly US$700 million was deposited into his personal bank accounts.
The government has called the money "political donations" from Middle Eastern sources but refuses to give more details.
Najib subsequently sacked his attorney general and deputy prime minister and made other personnel moves that appear to have stalled investigations.