PETALING JAYA - Political activist Badrul Hisham Shaharin, also known as Chegubard, has been detained at Dang Wangi district police headquarters over his post on alleged talks about the opening of a casino in Johor’s Forest City that was reported by Bloomberg.
In a statement, lawyer Rafique Rashid said investigations were being conducted under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.
He added that application for remand would be heard at the district police headquarters at about 8.45am on April 28.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and officials of Berjaya Corp (BCorp) and Genting Group have denied the Bloomberg report, which alleges that Datuk Seri Anwar had met Berjaya founder Vincent Tan and Genting Group chief executive Lim Kok Thay to discuss a casino licence for Forest City. The report also alleged that the casino would revive the US$100 billion (S$136 billion) property project.
Genting Malaysia said that neither the company nor Tan Sri Lim had participated in talks with the government about opening a casino in Forest City.
The company denied the claims made in the Bloomberg report on April 25 that Mr Lim was involved in discussions with the government last week on operating the casino.
It also urged all parties to immediately cease publication and dissemination of the misinformation, remove the claims, and to provide necessary clarification to the public to prevent further confusion.
“Genting Malaysia Bhd shall not hesitate to take further action deemed necessary to protect its interests and its stakeholders,” it said.
Mr Anwar also earlier confirmed that there were no plans to issue the country’s second casino licence to Forest City.
“Those who raised the issue of a casino licence lied. It is not true. That’s a lie,” he said.
The Prime Minister and BCorp have also denied the Bloomberg report.
BCorp said the article included “inaccurate information” that misrepresented its supposed involvement in discussions with the Prime Minister regarding the Forest City project.
It said its founder, Tan Sri Tan, had not participated in any such discussions and refuted the inaccurate claims presented in the article.
Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi also refuted the report. “The rumour is seen as an act of sabotage with an ill intention to taint the name of Forest City and Johor,” he said in a statement.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
