31 Oct 2015
Sponsored content on Facebook – who paid?
On October 23rd the latest paid PR campaign against Sarawak Report swung into its ‘new media’ phase.
We have seen it all before.
On that day a new Facebook site called ‘The Real Clare Rewcastle’
appeared online, replete with expensively commissioned cartoon videos
denouncing the editor of Sarawak Report as a “liar”, “forger” and
“activist posing as a journalist”.
Furthermore, it alleged that she had been paid by interested parties
to work to “topple a democratically elected Prime Minister”.
On the self same day a bogus Facebook and Twitter army of
non-existent characters also made their debut to promote the videos and
attack Sarawak Report.
Same things in common – started on same day, attacking same thing, same friends and followers – fake accounts.
Supposedly, the characters came from different countries, ages and backgrounds.
However, they are ‘followed’ by the same handful of organisations
(including dating agencies) and share the same handful of links.
These October 23rd Tweeters and Facebook characters are all obsessed
with the same issue, which is to encourage people to go and read the new
Facebook site libelling Sarawak Report.
The motley crowd of allegedly unconnected fake people have also
developed a parallel obsession with passing round an allegation that
Sarawak Report is paid by none other than the Swiss pharmaceutical
company Novartis.
Why Novartis would wish to pay for an alleged plot to “topple a
democratically elected Prime Minister” remains unexplained, however the
company is unpopular with certain environmental groups, who appear to be
targeted in an attempt to undermine support for Sarawak Report.
‘KL air hostess Lillian’ is invited to present herself along with her other new friends of 23rd October
It is, of course, all entirely untrue.
Ella’s
only three followers include ‘Erotic Beauty’ and ‘Handsome Fresh’ and
her two new Oct 23rd contacts Maya and Harry were soon attacking the
comments section of Sarawak Report claiming we produce ‘no evidence’..
Promoted content
Nevertheless, the Facebook site is ‘promoted’ content, which means
that Facebook is being paid to direct it towards as wide a circle as
possible of interested people – eg all Malaysians.
‘Ella’ (left) and her small army of fake friends have also started
trying to harass anyone involved with Sarawak Report, in order to
attempt to undermine their own separate contacts.
The sponsors of the site have remained anonymous, of course, to avoid
being held accountable for their blatantly libellous content.
The UMNO communications boss, Rahman Dahlan, of
Lester Melanyi fame
would doubtless have approved of this whole cunning ruse to attack this
website, but the finger points elsewhere on this occasion.
Oct
23rd also saw the invention of ‘Rosie’ – pro the Najib budget and
anti-SR. She has two followers including “Badclass Lingerie”
A fortnight or so earlier Sarawak Report had received warnings that a
Swiss PR firm was ringing round the UK looking for a partner in a
‘dirty campaign’ against Clare Rewcastle.
The campaign was to involve material gained from her whatsap
communications with Xavier Justo, the ex-PetroSaudi Director who had
passed her a copy of that company’s database, including the details of
the 1MDB PetroSaudi joint venture involving the theft of US$1.83 billion
dollars from Malaysia.
Most UK PR companies declined to be involved in this grubby job, but where there is money there is always an eventual taker.
Marc Comina
So who was the Swiss PR organising this campaign in the UK, which
appears to be now manifesting itself in The Real Clare Rewcastle
Facebook page and the British made videos attacking SR?
It is well known amongst Swiss journalists that the man handling
matters supposedly on behalf of Xavier Justo in Switzerland over past
weeks has been the PR spokesman Marc Comina, who has represented a
variety of wealthy people in trouble.
Nathan
created Oct 23rd and focused on attacking SR also has no personal
friends, just the sort of follower you can easily acquire!
Other clients of Comina include the former Kazakh Minister of Energy;
an art dealer who is presently accused of stealing paintings from
Piccaso’s daughter and a Swiss wine producer accused by the authorities
of breaking rules.
In a number of these cases Comina has worked together with a
well-known and expensive Geneva lawyer named Marc Henzelin and sure
enough Henzelin is also engaged alongside Comina to represent Xavier
Justo in Switzerland regarding his present incarceration in a Bangkok
jail.
As Malaysians all know, Justo was arrested in Bangkok because he was
denounced by his former colleagues at PetroSaudi for leaking their
database and they accused him of blackmail.
My own Twitter – Marc Comina
The question is how has Justo suddenly acquired the money to hire
this expensive PR and legal team in Switzerland and what are they
actually up to, supposedly on his behalf?
Sarawak Report has learnt that Comina has spoken extensively to
selected Swiss journalists about Justo – some were granted exclusive
access to fly to Thailand and visit the former PetroSaudi director, who
had expected to be freed after confessing to what he understood were
minor charges for attempted extortion – but instead received a three
year jail sentence.
This lengthy sentence was thanks not least to the aggressive lobbying
by PetroSaudi and 1MDB, who are together trying to also discredit the
leaked material in Sarawak Report.
Comina has made clear to journalists that he and Henzelin’s current
advice to Justo is to confess to being a blackmailer and to apologise to
the Malaysian Prime Minister for the embarrassment caused by the
PetroSaudi revelations.
Lawyer
Marc Henzelin represents rich people in tight spots – he gave an
exclusive interview to Le Temps alleging SR is linked to the opposition
and could be a forger
Furthermore, Justo is being encouraged to allege that he was the
victim of a plot by Sarawak Report to entice him to provide what he is
now portraying as innocent material in the PetroSaudi database (“just
some emails”) so that we could supposedly ‘doctor’ it to give a bad
impression.
“My client has the impression he was used and manipulated” Henzelin told Le Temps.
Sarawak Report’s motive, according to the new Justo narrative, was
not to expose a huge crime and a massive international story, but to
carry out an ‘opposition plot’ to “topple a democratically elected Prime
Minister”, for which they imply we were paid by ‘opposition forces’
(including Novartis?).
Thus, according to Marc Comina’s present PR, poor Xavier Justo had no
idea what was in the material he first used to blackmail PetroSaudi and
then was trying to sell for US$2 million.
He and Mr Henzelin have gone even further, to libellously imply that Sarawak Report is an unscrupulous forger.
This is what Mr Henzelin told the Chief Reporter of the newspaper Le Temps, Sylvain Besson in an ‘
exclusive interview’ granted last month, during which the lawyer also takes the opportunity to promote the image of PetroSaudi:
“Besson: PetroSaudi is it a reputable company? Or a simple facade?
Henzelin: I am not a lawyer for PetroSaudi, but it
is common knowledge that this is a serious oil company, not an empty
shell. They have oil blocks and drill ships they operate.
Besson: Xavier Justo he knew what use the documents
he handed over would be to Malaysian opposition? These documents were
they altered before publication, as stated PetroSaudi?
Henzelin: My client has attended meetings where the
Malaysian opposition and Clare Rewcastle Brown clearly evoked the
political use they intend to make the documents they had not read. He
considers that the documents have been used unscrupulous way and that
some have been changed. But to what extent, what volume, he does not
know. What is certain is that he has the impression of having been used,
handled. In addition, he has not been paid, so he’s a little angry.
[Google Translate]
Mr Besson never approached Sarawak Report for our comment on these
accusations, although he had our number. If he had asked, we could have
confirmed that the story about a meeting between Justo, Brown and the
Malaysian opposition is a complete lie.
So is the claim about forgery.
We would have added that while Mr Henzelin denies he is serving the
interests of PetroSaudi, the entire PR-managed interview with Le Temps
plainly serves that company’s interests above all others.
‘My client feels he is being manipulated’ but by whom?
Since Justo had very limited funds by the time he was arrested and
since similar engagements with the Swiss Press by the Comina/ Henzelin
team have promoted the same line ‘on behalf of their client’, we
therefore question who is ultimately financing Comina, Henzelin and all
this PR?
What is certain is that Justo has now reconciled with PetroSaudi and
has told visiting journalists that the man who originally denounced him
and got him jailed in Bangkok, PetroSaudi’s Director Patrick Mahony, has
now visited him behind bars and agreed to ‘help him get out’.
What a very nice chap after all?
Meanwhile, Mr Comina has been circulating certain extra materials to
his chosen contacts journalists, which include copies of whatsap
messages between Justo and and the editor of Sarawak Report and also of
Justo’s ‘confessions’ made without a lawyer present after he was
arrested.
We have evidence that these materials were passed to Le Temps and other selected Swiss newspapers.
Dark materials!
Spinning sinister interpretations on private messages about a payment that was never made.
These whatsap messages and ‘confessions’ were also what was offered
to the PR companies in the UK who were being recruited to conduct a
dirty campaign against Sarawak Report.
And the same materials are exactly what are now being used out of
context as the main ‘evidence’ behind the smear campaign and videos
featured on ‘The Real Clare Rewcastle’ Facebook site.
For the record, Clare Rewcastle did not pay Justo any money; did not
receive any money from the opposition or anyone paying Justo and only
agreed in principle to try to assist Mr Justo achieve a promised third
party payment for his story, as long as process was entirely legal. In
the event no payment ever took place.
These private messages obtained from Justo’s law case are now being
used selectively and out of context, in order to smear Sarawak Report
and distract from the real crime, which was the theft by PetroSaudi and
Jho Low of US$1.83 billion dollars.
Comina’s
real client? PetroSaudi’s Tarek Obaid was paid an US$85m ‘brokerage
fee’ by Jho Low for the 1MDB deal according to the documents acquired
from Justo.
So, who do we think is behind that?
When we wrote to Mr Comina earlier this week and asked him if he was
linked to the anonymous and libellous Facebook and Twitter campaigns,
which are employing and distorting the very same material he also
supplied to journalists, he nevertheless failed to reply.
On the other hand, the Le Temps senior reporter who obtained that
exclusive interview with lawyer Marc Henzelin, has roundly denied to
Sarawak Report that he was aware of any PR manipulation in the genesis
of his newspapers stories about Justo.
Sylvain Besson last week told Sarawak Report in a series of messages:
“I’d be glad to know which PR firm is conducting actions
against you, so we can be aware of its actions and possible
disinformation…”
“…. I can assure you we never heard of any PR firm disseminating
material. They didn’t give it to us, at least. So we are still
interested to know who they are, and to what extent they manipulate
Justo’s lawyer and PR man.
On the other hand Besson acknowledged:
“….I confirm we’ll publish a story based on the messages exchanged between you and Xavier Justo”
These remarks were in response to our complaint after a journalists
commissioned by Besson to write yet another critical item about Sarawak
Report’s involvement with Justo explained:
“my mandate is to show our readers an example of
transaction between someone who stole confidential data and people that
agreed to pay for it.
There shall be no consideration about the situation in Malaysia, per se.
It is just a story about a Swiss guy who got trapped by trying to sell leaks.”
So who has determined Le Temp’s ‘mandate’, if a major international
financial scandal involving Swiss banks is to be thus ignored we asked
Besson?
And why was Mr Besson denying he had any knowledge of the hostile PR
management behind Justo and his lawyer, given that other journalists
were well aware that Marc Comina is the only way to reach the story?
We find it particularly odd given that Besson rates Comina as his number 4 best friend on Facebook:
Facebook
friends with the PR manager who sees Justo’s best chances as accusing
Sarawak Report for forgery and supporting PetroSaudi
Sarawak Report therefore agrees that Justo is being manipulated.
However, we suggest that the manipulators are his wealthy and
unscrupulous former colleagues, from PetroSaudi, who are trying to
escape from serious criminal charges regarding the theft of hundreds of
millions of dollars from 1MDB.
PetroSauid conspired to bring accusations against their whistleblower to get him jailed in Thailand.
Twitter Oct 23rd Newbie, Seth, loves the PM’s budget but has no friends to follow him
They are now promising him help to get him out, so long as he agrees
to turn accuser against Sarawak Report and make ludicrous claims about
us forging and doctoring PetroSaudi documents.
We therefore challenge PetroSaudi to stop playing in the shadows with
these hired PR hands and all this anonymous Facebook libel – they
should instead take us to a proper court.
Singapore ‘Court Case’
By this we do not include the latest whispering to newspapers from
unidentified sources that Justo is to ‘bring a case’ next week against
Sarawak Report in Singapore.
Since Sarawak Report has never been notified of any such case, this
represents just more nonsense and gossip from those who dare not
challenge us openly.
Another Oct 23rd Tweeter in favour of the budget and accusing Novaritis of paying SR to attack PetroSaudi.
Justo, PetroSaudi, as well as the authorities in Thailand and
Malaysia have the originals of all the documents we obtained – if we
have doctored them it is entirely open to them to prove the matter in
the UK courts (under whose jurisdiction the joint venture deal was
done).
Otherwise, the Swiss media should stop regurgitating Marc Comina’s
malicious PR and start to cover the real story, which is the role of
their banks in Malaysia’s Heist of the Century.
