Revealed: Dossier by PKR-hired US consultant calls for US intervention, laments 'Islamic extremism'

While Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has stated that his party’s hiring of a foreign consultant in 2016 was solely to press for his release from prison, a detailed examination of a lengthy dossier prepared jointly by a Washington-based lobbyist and a senior PKR leader shows it is replete with accusations of "Islamic extremism" and "repression of freedoms" against the Najib Razak government, MalaysiaNow can reveal.

Titled "White Paper on the case of Anwar Ibrahim: Citizen of Malaysia v. Government of Malaysia", the 84-page document was prepared by PKR's Sivarasa Rasiah in collaboration with Jared Genser, an American lawyer who runs Perseus Strategies, a Washington-based law firm and political consultancy whose former clients include the current prime minister.

The document, dated April 17,2016, sought to persuade the then Barack Obama administration to take a greater interest in Malaysia’s domestic politics and for the US government to use its influence by speaking out against Najib’s government.

In addition to strongly opinionated explanations of Malaysia’s justice system, politics, and economy, the document repeatedly refers to "religious extremism", using controversial terms such as "Islamic fundamentalism", "conservative Islam", and "illiberal Islamisation" to highlight what is perceived as the danger posed by Najib’s government.

"Meanwhile, Najib’s administration has also led Malaysia in a direction of increased Islamization. Senior leaders within Najib’s Umno party have openly supported calls for the implementation of Islamic criminal law, or hudud, from conservative Islamists in the north," the document states, which a senior PKR MP told MalaysiaNow was "delivered to several US Congress members".

The dossier also refers to the controversy over Malaysia’s ban on the use of the word "Allah" in non-Muslim religious texts, and warns of the implementation of Islamic principles across government departments.

"Najib himself has supported court bans on non-Muslims using the word 'Allah', and Najib’s administration has developed a 'Sharia Index' to measure how well the government is complying with Islamic principles across legal, economic, political and social issues with the ultimate goal of making them aligning more closely.

"This trend towards conservative and illiberal Islamization is worrying for the roughly one-third of the country’s population who are non-Muslim," it said.

On March 2, MalaysiaNow revealed the contents of email correspondence involving senior PKR leaders in 2016, showing how Genser was hired to run an intensive campaign not only to secure freedom for Anwar, who was serving a prison sentence for his second sodomy conviction, but also to find ways to persuade the White House to apply "very hard" pressure on Najib’s government.

The revelation comes as Putrajaya intensifies efforts to discredit the family of the late Daim Zainuddin for engaging a foreign public relations firm to counter accusations against the former finance minister, with authorities stating they are investigating his widow, Na'imah Khalid, and financial news outlet Bloomberg under laws related to undermining democracy and toppling the government.

In the email, Genser proposed a US trip by Anwar’s daughter, Nurul Izzah, to front a public relations offensive that would include "highest level meetings possible with the White House and State Department", as well as the publication of articles in the media to highlight Anwar’s application for a royal pardon.

The revelation raises questions about Putrajaya’s double standards, amid a campaign by Anwar and authorities to discredit the family of the late Daim  for engaging a foreign public relations firm to counter accusations against the former finance minister.

Police have since launched a probe under a draconian law related to "toppling the government" against Na'imah, after a former journalist whom she dismissed from her communications team claimed that a recent exposé by Bloomberg on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) alleged ties with "corporate mafia" could be part of her plan to overthrow Anwar’s government.

Anwar has since made further claims that "Zionists" and "bankers" were involved in Na'imah’s PR plan, while defending his own PR campaign in the US as being focused on his release from prison.

Na'imah’s lawyers have dismissed the claim, saying her PR plan was aimed at reassuring the Daim family’s bankers of their financial viability in the face of attacks against the former businessman and banker by Anwar and embattled MACC chief Azam Baki.

"Neither is there anything on toppling or even undermining the Malaysian government," they added.

Nurul Izzah tells US about 'racial strife', 'religious extremism'

Meanwhile, the document prepared by Sivarasa and Genser also included articles and opinion pieces on Malaysian politics published by US news outlets, as well as petitions for Anwar's release signed by activists, academics, and politicians in the West.

One such article made its mission statement clear from the outset: "What Obama must do in Malaysia," according to a piece published by US News and World Report with Nurul Izzah's byline in November 2015, ahead of the 3rd Asean-US summit in Kuala Lumpur attended by Obama.

In it, Nurul Izzah presents a litany of complaints against Najib.

"Najib is left bereft of popular support, with polls showing less than one in four Malaysians in favor of his leadership. The endgame of Najib's tactics in Malaysia are increased sectarian strife, economic imbalances and a ripe environment for the growth of extremism amongst large disaffected and disconnected swaths of the population," she wrote.

She also touched on restrictions placed on critics of Najib, including Rafizi Ramli, the current Pandan MP whom she controversially ousted last year to become the number two in PKR after her father.

She then accused Umno of fuelling racial tensions and religious extremism, "which is another growing problem in Malaysia", adding that the US should "stand with all Malaysians who view fundamental human rights as inviolable and reconsider its allegiance to such a corrupt government".

"President Obama should emphasize to Najib that multiculturalism and democratic reforms represent the only viable way to mitigate religious extremism, as well as stem the tide of extremism in our country.

"And he must call publicly for my father's release and that of other political prisoners," wrote Nurul Izzah.

Three months later, Genser wrote a stinging article condemning Najib in a journal published by The Berggruen Institute, a Los Angeles-based think tank whose members include controversial American billionaires such as Eric Schmidt and Elon Musk, and whose works on democracy were heavily criticised for pro-Western bias.

Genser, writing in The World Post, accused Najib of maintaining power through "extreme gerrymandering", pandering to a "conservative Muslim ethnic Malay base", implementing divisive policies, and cracking down on civil society and the press.

He then warned Obama to take a "new direction".

"Obama must publicly demand Anwar’s immediate release and the dismissal of politically motivated charges for sedition and other crimes facing so many activists in Malaysia. For Obama to remain silent is tantamount to giving Najib a license to act with impunity," wrote Genser.