Civil society has today scored an important victory over Malaysia's powerful political establishment who have tried to stop the release of a critical book on Governor Taib Mahmud ("Taib") of Sarawak and his corrupt regime over the Malaysian state on Borneo. As of Today, "Money Logging: On the Trail of the Asian Timber Mafia" by Swiss author Lukas Straumann can be purchased from Amazon in the UK.
Despite legal threats by Taib's London lawyfirm, Mishcon de Reya, who threatened to sue Amazon for defamation, the online retailer has released Money Logging for sale in the UK. Amazon are not only selling the book themselves but are also offering a platform for a dozen independent booksellers from the UK and Ireland to market the book.
In a letter to Amazon dated 23 October 2014, Mishcon de Reya summarized the book's content as follows:
"The book accuses our client of being a 'despot'; having committed crimes; earning billions of dollars illegally from the timber trade; hiding that fortune abroard through sham companies; comitting 'one of the greatest environmental crimes in history'; being a corrupt 'autocrat'; breaching international laws and regulations; using his profit from logging to feed corruption; and finally, having 'liquidated a forest in order to keep himself at the helm of a state'."
The Bruno Manser Fund welcomes Amazon's decision and is happy to announce the official UK book launch of Money Logging as follows:
WHAT: MONEY LOGGING by Lukas Straumann - Book Launch and Meet the Author
WHEN: 16th January 2015
WHERE: Free Word Centre (https://freewordcentre.com), 60 Farringdon Road,
London, EC1R 3GA
WHAT TIME: 6:30PM (Drinks reception from 5:45PM)
The UK book launch of Money Logging is organized by the Bruno Manser Fund in cooperation with FERN, Sarawak Report, SUARAM International and The Borneo Project. More details to follow.
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