I stand by my expose, says ex-Sarawak editor

KUCHING: Former Sarawak newspaper editor Lester Melanyi (pic) stands by his expose on Sarawak Report's alleged falsification of information on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to topple the Prime Minister.

"My conscience told me to act and speak up," he told The Star in reiterating the allegations that Sarawak Report had worked with opposition leaders in a mission to bring down Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Lester claimed that he had told several politicians about the matter but no one believed him except Pertubuhan Minda dan Sosial Prihatin president Ramesh Rao.

Ramesh lodged a police report on Wednesday and handed over a video confession by Lester alleging a conspiracy to criminalise Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak with regard to the 1MDB issue.

"I can't stand the lies. It's not fair for a man to go down because of lies. If it's because he's not popular, because of something else, fine. But you cannot bring down a person with lies," Lester said.

He said the video confession was made during a trip to Kuala Lumpur in June and claimed that he was not paid to do it.

"Ramesh did it (the video). I'm not denying that my trip to KL (and) hotels (were) all paid for and they gave me RM1,000-2,000 for my expenses. That's all. The term pay here is different," he said.

Lester also wanted to clarify that he was not a former editor of Sarawak Report as mentioned by Barisan Nasional strategic communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan in a press conference about the police report and video confession on Wednesday.

He said what he did was "localised" articles written by Sarawak Report to make them more understandable for Malaysians.

Lester also said he wanted to make clear that he played no part in the plot to oust Najib or in forging any documents on 1MDB.