(July 24): Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should answer allegations over 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) instead of suspending The Edge newspapers, which have reported critically on the state investment firm, electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 said today.

Bersih, or the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections, said Najib must first answer the allegations surrounding 1MDB, including claims that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) from entities linked to the fund were transferred to his personal bank accounts.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that the Malaysian government has no intention of allowing the truth to come out, and is instead only interested in protecting those in positions of power from facing public scrutiny," the Bersih steering committee said in a statement today.

It was responding to the Home Ministry's move to suspend The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily's publishing licenses for three months beginning Monday, over their continuous reporting about the 1MDB scandal.

Both publications are under The Edge Media Group, which announced the suspensions today.

"Bersih 2.0 again demands clear, direct answers from the prime minister on whether this money was deposited in his bank account and if this money was used to buy GE13 (13th general election)," the reform group said.

It called for a public disclosure on Najib's personal accounts, for his children's accounts to be frozen, for him to take leave from his post as prime minister and for findings of the special task force investigating 1MDB to be made public as soon as possible.

It also urged that the suspension be revoked and said that it stood in solidarity with The Edge.

Earlier this week, The Edge in its latest expose on 1MDB reported that several Malaysians and foreigners had schemed to cheat Malaysians of US$1.83 billion from 1MDB through the Petrosaudi joint venture in 2009.

Today, The Edge's owner Datuk Tong Kooi Ong, and its CEO and publisher Ho Kay Tat said they took information on 1MDB from former PetroSaudi International executive Xavier Andre Justo, but said that The Edge neither tampered nor paid for the information. – The Malaysian Insider