COMMENT | In July 2015, when The Wall Street Journal reported that nearly US$700m (RM2.6 billion) suspected to have originated from 1MDB was deposited into then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s personal bank account, his immediate reaction was: “I will sue.”

A law firm was appointed, but nothing progressed in that direction; subservient newspaper editors retreated to their cocoons, refusing to report the latest developments in 1MDB, but they had all the nice things to say about Najib and the BN government.

However, The Edge and the Edge Financial Daily were the exception, publishing chunks of information, supported by documents that, among others, showed the flow of funds, the bank transactions, and the people behind it.

But they too paid a price. Their editor-in-chief, Ho Kay Tat was...