Malaysia urged by Swiss NGO to freeze late Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud’s assets

Bruno Manser Funds calls for a probe into Taib’s bank accounts and other assets before his family members can appropriate them

Named after a Swiss activist who vanished in Sarawak in 2005, BMF has spent years campaigning against Taib’s logging activities in the state

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Sarawak chief minister Taib Mahmud (centre) arriving at the Sarawak state legislative assembly in Kuching on May 21, 2013. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:53pm, 22 Feb 2024Updated: 7:59pm, 22 Feb 2024

An environmental activism group named after a Swiss man who vanished in Sarawak in 2005 during a mission to defend an indigenous tribe from loggers has urged Malaysian authorities to freeze the assets of the late former Sarawak governor Taib Mahmud.

The Basel-based non-profit Bruno Manser Funds (BMF) was founded in 1991 by the Swiss rainforest campaigner and human-rights activist of the same name. It has spent years campaigning against Taib’s logging activities in Sarawak’s rainforest and wants Malaysia to reopen a probe into his wealth.

Taib, who died on Wednesday aged 87, had said over the years that the drive to establish vast palm oil plantations and infrastructure schemes was necessary for the renewal of the state on Borneo island.

Conservationists and forest dwellers say, however, that Taib’s economic measures caused millions of acres of rainforest to be wiped out, causing irreversible damage to Sarawak’s pristine natural environment.

In the process, the projects greatly boosted the fortunes of the vastly wealthy politician, who was estimated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to have assets worth over US$1 billion in the early 2010s.

In a statement, BMF Executive Director Lukas Straumann urges the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to immediately freeze Taib’s personal bank accounts and other assets before his family members could appropriate them.