Umno has once again distanced itself from the incident involving the Red Shirts staging a protest outside Malaysiakini's office.
''It has nothing to do with Umno or me,'' said the party's information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa after attending the Selangor Umno information assembly here Sunday.
He also said that the protest was never discussed within the party.
''We have nothing to do with it and we have never discussed about this,'' he said.
On Thursday, the anti-Bersih group gathered outside Malaysiakini’s office, off Jalan Tandang in Petaling Jaya, with its leader Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos demanding an explanation by noon Saturday on reports that the news portal receives funding from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) founded by American hedge fund billionaire George Soros.
On Saturday, despite their threat to bring down Malaysiakini’s office, the Red Shirts’ protest ended peacefully due to the large presence of police who kept the crowd under control.
Jamal said the Red Shirts wanted to push the Government to shut down Malaysiakini as they were sure that the news portal was funded by foreign parties, adding that they did not want see any foreign interference in Malaysia.
Earlier last month, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the party was not involved with Red Shirt members who harassed journalists covering a Bersih 5.0 convoy in Kuala Selangor.
He also said that all Malaysians should live “in the spirit of unity and diversity”.
Source -The Star Online-
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