After another court case, Rafizi is now looking at a total of 5.5 years in jail. What’d he do?

[UPDATE: 07/02/2018] Rafizi sentenced to 30 months jail

*This article was originally written on 28 Jul 2017

The Sessions Court has sentenced Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli to 30 months in prison for leaking bank accounts related to the National Feedlot Corporation (Shahrizat’s infamous cows and condos company). If you remember, this was the first case that Rafizi exposed, and what followed was a string of other alleged corruption cases and underhand dealings, which the MP followed and exposed to the rakyat.

“Much of the RM250 million public money meant for poor farmers were eventually used to buy expensive condominiums and finance other businesses. It’s been 6 years and most of you would have forgotten it. Such is life – we move on.” – Rafizi shared on WhatsApp

The Court also sentenced Public Bank clerk Johari Mohamad to 30 months for helping Rafizi expose the accounts. Unfortunately, Rafizi and Johari are the only people punished for this case – none of the people involved in the scandal was ever prosecuted… and the RM250 million was never fully recovered, said Rafizi.

On top of that, the MP was sentenced to two 18-month jail terms under OSA for exposing a page of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) audit report. Scroll down to Point 2 to read more. So that’s 3 years, plus 30 months for the cow case, that’s a total of 5 and a half years.

With a double conviction, it seems unlikely Rafizi will be able to contest in GE14, said his fellow PKR lawmaker and lawyer N. Surendran. But the conviction should not have happened because they were exposing info concerning the misuse of PUBLIC FUNDS, Surendran added. Now the reason Rafizi didn’t get protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act, is coz he didn’t report the corruption through an enforcement agency, but went public, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

In spite of this, Rafizi does not regret exposing NFC to the rakyat. What he does need are more volunteers and contributions. If you’d like to help, you can make a contribution at here or to INVOKE Solutions Sdn. Bhd. account: 5622 0964 0698 (Maybank). If you’re overseas, you can wire it directly using the banking code MBBEMYKL 62209. Alternatively, you can buy their merch online.

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[UPDATE: 31/07/2017] (Scroll to the bottom of the page for story update)

A few weeks ago, Rafizi Ramli’s lawyers got a demand letter asking him to pay RM300,000 to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), the cow company that wasn’t very good at producing cows. Boo..err we mean moo. Anyway, if you remember, the PKR Vice President and Pandan MP exposed the company of “allegedly using gomen funds to gain loans to buy 8 properties at KL Ecocity” – a statement the High Court ruled as defamatory and therefore ordered him to pay money to NFC, he wrote on a Facebook post dated 26 July.

“Otherwise they threatened to commence a bankruptcy proceeding against me. My appeal against the verdict will only be heard in October 2017 and thus, unfortunately, I have to comply.” – Rafizi on his FB post

To refresh your memory, click here for a chronology of the events which began in 2011.

Rafizi is hailed for the exposes he’s done (like the MARA scandal in Australia, financial irregularities at Tabung Haji and 1MDB’s investments). Naturally this kinda work to combat corruption comes with risks, like being detained and investigated upon making a police report, and spending nights in the lockup. The biggest risk, however, is a lawsuit, said Rafizi.

“For every big expose we made, it is accompanied with at least one lawsuit. That explains why I have 12 running criminal and civil cases at the moment.” – Rafizi on his FB post

OMG 12?! We got in touch with Rafizi’s office and they gave us an excel sheet of all the cases. P/S, on NFC alone there are 2 lawsuits (including the one above) and 1 criminal charge. Here are the other 9 the MP is facing right now:

 

1. Sued for accusing Najib of plundering the nation to buy Rosmah bling bling

CASE: Civil | Defamation

WHO MADE NOISE: PM Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor

The PM and his wife sued Rafizi when he made a joke about Rosmah’s infamous diamond ring during a speech about oil subsidies. They allege that he alleged that government savings from the abolition of oil subsidies was stolen from the public and used to buy Rosmah a RM20 million ring. Watch the speech here. Defending himself, Rafizi said that his comments were just ‘good natured ridicule’, not that he was stating it as fact. In a lawsuit, he risks having to pay for damages. 🙁

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Ongoing. The High Court set 25 August for case management of the defamation, reported The Sun Daily.

 

2. Charged for exposing ONE PAGE in 1MDB’s audit report

CASE: Criminal | Official Secrets Act

WHO MADE NOISE: Government of Malaysia

April last year, the Pandan MP was charged with 2 offences under the OSA. One is for possessing page 98 of the classified 1MDB Audit Report, the second is for exposing it on March 28, reported The Star. For that, he was sentenced to 18 months jail by the Sessions Court. Must’ve been some super top secret page 😐

After that, he resigned as PKR’s Secretary General, plus he risked losing his seat as Pandan MP cos Article 48 of the Federal Constitution disqualifies a person from being MP for 5 years if he is jailed more than 1 year, or fined more than RM2,000. BUUUT Rafizi’s lawyer Gobind Singh Deo said he would not lose his seat yet because he still has the right to appeal.

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Ongoing. Rafizi has not served a day in jail because he is appealing against his sentence. The High Court has set the hearing for 9 August.

 

3. Sued by the army for alleging they have no money to pay retired servicemen

CASE: Civil | Defamation

WHO MADE NOISE: Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT)

The Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) sued Rafizi on 6 May over his allegation that it has no dough to pay retirement compensation to ex-servicemen. LTAT claimed that when he posted the defamatory statements in his blog and Facebook, it caused Malaysiakini to publish another defamatory statement about them on 24 March.

So at first they tried demanding that he retract the statements, apologise and pinky promise not repeat them, but the MP did not comply. Similarly, to his other lawsuits, Rafizi risks having to fork out more cash for damages. Dayum, exposés are expensive!

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Ongoing. The High Court fixed dates on 11 October and 18-20 December to hear the lawsuit.

 

4. Courts first fine and then acquit Rafizi of insulting Umno members

CASE: Criminal | Section 504 of the Penal Code

WHO MADE NOISE: Government of Malaysia

On 26 Jan 2016 Rafizi was charged with provoking a breach of peace (Section 504 of the Penal Code) when he insinuated that Umno Selangor members were behind the molotov cocktail attacks on churches. The Sessions Court fined him RM1,800 (which thankfully allowed him to escape disqualification as MP cos the amount is below RM2,000).

Nevertheless, the MP appealed and the High Court acquitted him because the prosecution had failed to prove intent. Besides, there was no breach of peace because nothing happened! Wheww, if Rafizi had been convicted, he risked getting a 2-year jail term and/or fine.

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Pending the Attorney General’s decision whether to appeal.

 

5. Reported to the police for exposing Tabung Haji

CASE: Criminal | Section 499 of the Penal Code

WHO MADE NOISE: Government of Malaysia

The PKR VP in February 2016 exposed documents that contradict Lembaga Tabung Haji’s denial that it provided a corporate guarantee totalling nearly RM1 bil to its troubled associate company TH Heavy Engineering (THHE). So Tabung Haji lodged a police report, which led to the cops asking him a couple of questions… nothing more. No arrests thankfully.

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Ongoing. Other than the cops questioning Rafizi, nothing happened. In a twist, former THHE CEO was charged for corruption, which Rafizi says proves his point. Until today, Rafizi is still exposing more stuff about Tabung Haji, such as its low returns for 2016.

 

6. Reported to police for claiming Syariah court judges take bribes

CASE: Criminal | Section 499 of the Penal Code

WHO MADE NOISE: Government of Malaysia

Syariah judges lodged a police report against the PKR VP for insulting the Syariah legal institution and courts on 8 May, reported New Straits Times. He claimed that bribery cases among Syariah court judges were higher than that of civil court judges. Aside from that, they want Rafizi to apologise or else they will take legal action.

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Investigation. Kuala Terengganu Police Chief confirmed that the case is being investigated under Section 499 of the Penal Code and if convicted, Rafizi could face up to 2 years imprisonment and/or fine.

 

7. Sued for alleging Zahid Hamidi’s link to shady a land deal

CASE: Civil | Defamation

WHO MADE NOISE: Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

Zahid Hamidi was Defence Minister when this 2013 incident happened. He filed a lawsuit against the Pandan MP for defaming him in a blog post which linked him to land deals in relation to carpet businessman Deepak Jaikishan. Zahid said the post meant that he misused public funds, particularly the contributions of army personnel in the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) to buy a disputed 80.94ha piece of land in Klang, Selangor.

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Lawsuit withdrawn. Zahid Hamidi withdrew the suit after Rafizi and him came to an agreement that Zahid was not involved in the dealing.

 

8. Sued for accusing Umno Youth Vice Chief for buying Mara property in Australia

CASE: Civil | Defamation

WHO MADE NOISE: Khairul Azwan bin Harun

Umno Youth Vice-Chief Khairul Azwan said the PKR VP alleged his involvement in the purchase and business dealings on Australian property, by a company wholly-owned by Mara Inc. Thrushcross Land Holdings Limited… which experienced a leakage of RM63 million! To read more about Mara Australian property corruption, read here. Khairul held a media conference to deny it and demanded apology, but he also sued Rafizi.

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Case dismissed. Fortunately, the KL High Court dismissed the lawsuit and ordered Khairul to pay Rafizi RM73,000 (these included RM23,000 Rafizi had spent to get documents from Australia).

 

9. Charged with organising the Blackout 505 rally

CASE: Criminal | Section 9(1) Peaceful Assembly Act

WHO MADE NOISE: Government of Malaysia

Fresh after GE13, Pakatan organised the Blackout 505 rally at Padang Merbok to highlight alleged electoral fraud to the public. Over 50,000 showed up. However action was taken against those involved – Rafizi, Seremban MP Anthony Loke, and Batu Burok assemblyperson Syed Azman Syed Ahmad. They pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 9(1) Peaceful Assembly Act, for not getting approval from DBKL (owner of Padang Merbok) to assemble.

HOW NOW BROWN COW: Fined RM1,950. And yep, it has been paid.

 

Our MPs risk a lot when they expose corruption

There are a lot of risks to be taken and sacrifices to be made whenever someone upsets powerful people. Rafizi has many times put his job, freedom and finances on the line. Look at the lawsuits Tony Pua got when he exposed 1MDB… not forgetting how Muhyiddin lost his position after criticising 1MDB too. As we write this article, Rafizi has one more expose up his sleeve, this time involving the new MRT and its connection to 1MDB.

Some people asked why he exposed the scandals himself instead of uploading it on Wikileaks or sending it to journalists to print? His answer was that there’s a lot of investigative work that has to be done to get the full picture and it was difficult for journalists to do so given their resources, and even if they did, they’d have to bear the legal risks themselves, so he decided to do it to keep media companies away repercussions.

The NFC scandal was so long ago and mostly forgotten, but until today, Rafizi is still paying the price for rattling powerful people’s cowbells – going up and down court rooms every month to deal with the legal aftermath.

“Do I regret getting myself into this? Not really. I have discharged my duty and I hope I have contributed to the rebuilding of our nation, in one way or another.” – Rafizi on his FB post

*[UPDATE] Rafizi needs to raise RM300,000 currently so if anyone is interested to contribute, you can do so online on INVOKE’s page or bank in to their account: INVOKE Solutions Sdn Bhd | Maybank (Account: 562209640698)