The Malaysian government hacked into websites that carried reports on the book ‘Money Logging: On the Trail of the Asian Timber Mafia’ by Lukas Straumann, the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) claims.
The book alleges corrupt practices on the part of former Sarawak chief minister and current Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud and his family in relation to the state’s timber industry.
A BMF statement issued yesterday says the US-based Environment News Service (ENS) reported that its websites were attacked for a report it carried on the book.
“Immediately following your press release announcing the book was transmitted, the ENS and World-Wire servers were severely attacked. Our security team traced the routing back to the Malaysian government. They managed to shut our servers down for about for two hours,” the statement said.
Straumann, who authored the book and is executive director of BMF, said the site attack is shocking as it is illegal.
“I am shocked to learn that the Malaysian government is resorting to illegal methods to prevent the truth on Taib Mahmud and his regime in Sarawak from spreading.
“We demand an explanation from the Malaysian government and a guarantee that Malaysian officials will not undertake any further steps to prevent the book from being internationally released and duly reported on," Straumann said.
The Taib family has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and Taib’s lawyer has acted to block the book from being sold. -M'kini
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