Malaysian authorities seize book on timber corruption
Malaysia's Home Ministry confiscates „Money Logging: On the Trail of the Asian Timber Mafia“ by Lukas Straumann at the
Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair – Bruno Manser Fund protests against the arbitrary seizure and demands the
immediate release of all seized copies
(KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA) Malaysia’s Home Ministry has seized an explosive book on timber corruption in the Malaysian
state of Sarawak. All copies of „Money Logging: On the Trail of the Asian Timber Mafia“ on display at the Kuala Lumpur
International Book Fair were confiscated on Thursday by the police, according to GB Gerak Budaya, the South East Asia
distributor of „Money Logging“. The book is authored by historian Lukas Straumann who is also the executive director of
the Swiss human rights and envionmental NGO, the Bruno Manser Fund.
„Money Logging“ exposes the role of Sarawak’s Chief Minister and current Governor, Taib Mahmud („Taib“) in the
exploitation of the state’s vast natural resources and documents how Taib and his closest family members became
billionaires in post-colonial Sarawak. The Malaysian politician’s family has stakes in over 400 companies in 25
countries around the globe.
Author Lukas Straumann reacted with disbelief to the seizure of his painstakingly-researched book. „Freedom of
expression is a core value of any democratic society. The Malaysian Home Ministry has no legal basis for the seizure of
my book and I do personally call on the Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, to instruct his officals to release the
seized copies of Money Logging.“
„Money Logging“ already made headlines prior to its publication end of last year when Taib Mahmud’s London lawyers
threatened Amazon and Bergli Books, the Swiss publisher, to sue them if they published and distributed the book.
However, the Taib family later failed to live up to their legal threats and Taib’s lawyers did not reply to an
invitation to the Sarawak politician to defend his position at a public event in London.
The Bruno Manser Fund will make sure that Malaysian readers will continue to be able to read Money Logging, either as an
e-book, or by direct distribution from Switzerland. Next Tuesday, the book, 5 May, the book will be launched in Geneva,
Switzerland, with a public event at the Geneva Press Club (7pm).
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