PETALING JAYA: Former Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim played a crucial role in smearing the name of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) through whistleblower website Sarawak Report, claimed a former Sarawak Tribune editor.
Lester Melanyi alleged in a 3.48-minute-long video, that Sarawak Report founder and editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown arranged his meeting with Anwar and a “Latino” friend on two occasions in London last year.
“I met Anwar after the Sarawak state election.
“He called Clare to invite us for lunch ... so all the staff went for lunch with Anwar and his Latino friend.
“It was at a hotel and again for breakfast the next day,” he said, adding that Anwar had requested the food to be halal.
Lester said Rewcastle-Brown told him of the 1MDB plan in January this year.
“She told me that we have a very important mission for Anwar this time,” he said.
He claimed he was also instructed to do what two opposition leaders (whom he named) wanted done but he refused to go along with the plan.
“But what they showed me was some of the fakes I had to get from London, like e-mail and everything, because all these are created.
“I told her I didn’t want to be part of this scheme even if she loved Anwar so much,” he added.
He claimed Sarawak Report first focused on former Sarawak Chief Minister Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud before changing its focus to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Lester said he was employed by the Bruno Manser Fund in 2011 and was paid cash by Rewcastle-Brown while he was in London for 15 months between 2012 and 2013.
He claimed that part of his job was to gather information for the Sarawak Report and write reports for Radio Free Sarawak.
He said they communicated through e-mail but if there was an urgent matter, Rewcastle-Brown would call him.
When he returned to Sarawak, Lester claimed his salary was wired via Western Union under his brother-in-law’s name.
Lester’s video, titled Pendedahan Kerja Pemalsuan Dokumen #1MDB Oleh Sarawak Report, was uploaded on YouTube on Wednesday.
At the beginning of his video, Lester apologised for his slurred speech, saying he had suffered a mild stroke and had been on medication for the past three months.
On Wednesday, Barisan Nasional strategic communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan stated he had seen a video by a former Sarawak Report editor confessing to his alleged involvement in the purported forging of documents to smear the prime minister and 1MDB.
Rahman said a police report had been lodged and the video handed over to the police.
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