KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih 2.0 chairman Maria Chin opted to remain silent when questioned by the police over the Open Society Foundation (OSF) grant that it received.
Chin’s lawyer Farhana Abdul Halim said Chin reserved the right to answer questions if she was charged.
Farhana who joined Chin for an inquiry at the police headquarters in Bukit Aman here today, said the investigation was under Section 124(c) of the Penal Code. It was opened to establish if the coalition was attempting to undermine Malaysia’s status as a parliamentary democracy through its activities.
Police quizzed Chin on foreign funding during the inquiry, basing their probe on a The Malay Mail’s report on Oct 31, titled “Leaked Minutes Shows Planned Foreign Intervention in Polls”.
Farhana who is also a member of Bersih 2.0 steering committee said they “had nothing to hide and their audited accounts were available on their website and Facebook”.
Chin further maintained that the investigation and allegations heaped against them were “pure harassment”.
“So far we have been open and transparent over our accounts. There is no need to harass Bersih in this manner. It is mainly to stop our convoy and rally.”
“What is wrong with our agenda (of free and fair elections) that they have to harass us in this manner? It’s really unacceptable,” she claimed, purporting that Umno, politicians, ministers and the state itself had harassed them.
DCLeaks.com had revealed that Bersih, Merdeka Centre and Malaysiakini have been funded by OSF, a foundation established by controversial US business magnate George Soros.
A slew of police reports were lodged by politicians and NGOs over the past week urging investigations into the leak they alleged could implicate Bersih in attempts to topple the government.