100s in Malaysia slam funding of local news portal by US financier
Hundreds of pro-government protesters in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur have rallied against a media group, demanding its closure over reports of being funded by a firm linked to US billionaire George Soros.
The protesters affiliated with a largely Malay group calling itself “Red Shirts” gathered outside the offices of popular Malaysiakini news portal on Saturday, alleging that foreign funding of the outlet was intended to influence the next general election with the objective of toppling Prime Minister Najib Razak's government, Reuters reported.
The controversy broke out after whistle-blower site DC leaks revealed documents showing that Soros-founded organization, Open Society Foundations (OSF), was financing local institutions to manipulate the outcome of Malaysia’s next general election scheduled to be called by 2018.
Malaysiakini and other organizations such as Bersih have been linked to funds received from the OSF. This is while Malaysiakini has claimed that the OSF funds were only used to produce more stories on the Malaysian state of Sarawak, and constituted a tiny portion of its revenue.
Dressed in red shirts, protesters chanted "close down, close down! close down Malaysiakini!"
"We don't want outside interference in our country," said Red Shirts leader Jamal Yunos, who is also a member of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party.
More than 100 riot police officers were deployed in and around the Malaysiakini offices.
According to the report, however, Saturday’s protest rally is expected to be overshadowed by another massive rally planned by the purportedly pro-democracy group Bersih on November 19, which will demand the ouster of Najib over corruption allegations.
Najib's administration has cracked down on the nation’s media in a reported attempt to silence criticism over his involvement in a money-laundering scandal at state investment fund 1MDB.
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