Top Indonesian current affairs magazine Tempo has been told to refer to the Malaysian embassy before publishing anything about the wealth of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

 

Its journalist Natalia Santi said this was conveyed by Malaysia’s envoy to Indonesia Zahrain Mohamed Hashim in a meeting on Wednesday.

 

Zahrain also requested that Tempo does not publish anything based on rumours to preserve good bilateral ties.

 

“He asked Tempo not to write news based on hearsay. He said his role in Indonesia is to preserve good bilateral ties between the countries as well as good ties with Tempo .

 

“If there are news like this in the future, he said, ‘Please ask me (Zahrain) first for confirmation,” she said when contacted by Malaysiakini .

 

The embassy called Tempo for a meeting after the magazine published an article last month alleging that Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor live a lavish lifestyle.

 

The article, Hidup mewah sang perdana menteri , (The lavish lifestyle of a prime minister), which among others quoted The New York Times , made note of Rosmah’s penchant for luxury handbags and jewellery.

 

It also mentioned Rosmah’s hairdresser wanting to charge her RM1,200 for services, and the luxury properties owned by Rosmah’s son Riza Aziz in the United States.

 

However, Tempo senior editor defended the report and said Tempo “chooses news sources carefully and only uses trustworthy sources”.

 

Natalia said Zahrain, during the two-hour meeting with Tempo, also commented the Malaysian media are “too free”.

 

“Malaysian media, like portals Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider , are too free that they can criticise leaders.

 

“(The websites) do not publish facts and (what they publish) have not been tested in court, so Zahrain asked us to refer to him first before (republishing) news,” Natalia said.