Malaysian protestors take to streets of capital to demand 1MDB arrest
Nearly a thousand protesters marched in the heart of the Malaysian capital on Saturday calling for the arrest of an unnamed high-ranking government official who US investigators say received US$700 million skimmed from a sovereign fund.
The student-led mass rally comes more than a month after US prosecutors filed civil lawsuits alleging that over US$3.5 billion was defrauded from state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
If we don’t speak out, who else will push them, the authorities, to arrest a criminal who has given us so much grief?
The lawsuits repeatedly referred to a high-ranking official, only identified as “Malaysian Official 1,” who received some of the misappropriated funds.
A source familiar with the US investigations has told Reuters that the unnamed official is Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Led by student representative Anis Syafiqah Md Yusof, the protesters marched towards Dataran Merdeka, or Independence Square, shouting “the people live” and “catch MO1,” referring to Malaysian Official 1 in the lawsuits.
The organisers had expected a turnout of 5,000.
“If we don’t speak out, who else will push them, the authorities, to arrest a criminal who has given us so much grief?,” Anis said in her address to the protesters.