Sarawak Report has fought a somewhat lonely battle over the past weeks, asking for fuller transparency over the health of the absent Taib Mahmud who has now been replaced as Governor, at least for the time being, in a final admission he is incapable of the job.

Others had been cowed into silence after threats by staff from the Astana who reported to the police station and demanded that anyone who circulated the reports that Taib had been possibly taken into hospital and operated on be investigated for “Fake News”.

The Astana claimed that to the contrary Taib was “Well and in good Stead”. They let it be known that anyone providing information to the contrary could be prosecuted under multi-media laws and jailed up to a year and fined on top.

Yet, it was Sarawak Report that had provided the correct information, not for the first time, in defiance of lies produced by those in authority – on this occasion the Astana.

So, will those officials responsible for hoodwinking the public by denying the Governor was unwell and undergoing significant surgery now be prosecuted instead for Fake News – perhaps jailed and fined?

The public deserve to be kept informed about the state of health of the person they hire as head of state. If he is not up to the job, either temporarily or as in this case it would seem permanently (we were promised he would return by the 16th August in the latest statement by the Astana, which again proved untrue) then a proper announcement is required immediately and not just “reliable sources” now quoted in The Borneo Post.

Meanwhile, the real issue concerning Sarawakians in this matter is that it is clear from the current court case brought by Taib’s sons that the second wife Ragad took the opportunity of Taib’s clear degeneration in the hours before this episode (he was taken acutely ill in transit as they left the country) to have her elderly husband sign over tens of millions of CMS shares into her own name.

The family say these were left in their mother’s will to them. Sarawakians may feel the company actually belongs to the public wealth. Most are agreed that the claim by Ragad raises considerable questions indeed…. along with the transfer in the same time period as her elderly husband was about to collapse of large chunks of valuable land into her name in Kuching.

It is hoped that someone besides this lady is in attendance at their hang out in Turkey, where she is believed to have set up a base owning various assets that she has managed to acquire.