NGO calls for investigation into CIA letter

PETALING JAYA: The National Patriots Association (Patriot) has urged the authorities to immediately investigate the intelligence unit and the officials who appealed for the United States to support then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's administration.

Referring to a Malaysiakini report which revealed that a letter from the Research Division in the Prime Minister's Department was sent to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Gina Haspel five days before GE14, they urged an immediate investigation.

"All guilty persons should be seriously punished and set an example to all current officials in the Government, security forces personnel, and politicians, that such collusion with any foreign officials or government is considered treason,” said Patriot president Brig Jen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji.

The statement, issued on Friday (July 20), added that besides congratulating the new CIA appointee, the letter discussed internal security matters and foreign policy matters that should not have been shared, asking the United States to support the Barisan Nasional government in the event it won with only a narrow majority.

Mohamed Arshad also criticised the Najib administration for pandering to both sides of the conflict between two superpowers by tacitly supporting China's dominance in the South China Sea, while also declaring that Malaysia was pro-United States and supported its presence in the region.

In addition, Patriot called on the Government to investigate the “purported covert involvement of Cambridge Analytica” in previous Malaysian elections.

“It was fortunate that a month before the GE14, Cambridge Analytica got into trouble for mining illegal Facebook data of subscribers and had to wind down its business.

“As such, synchronised covert attacks aimed at spreading falsehood, in the run up to the election, diminished along with the strong suspect.

“The dark episode of the covert activities of Cambridge Analytica serves as lessons learnt for our men in the intelligence service, security forces, and those in national security,” added Mohamed Arshad.

Patriot also expressed its support of the Government's policy to preserve Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (Zopfan), and agreed that the Asean region should be free of large warships.