Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today chided that the people shouldn't be too quick to call all rich politicians corrupt.

"You look at a politician, you look at his lifestyle, you think he is living beyond his means.

"You then don't straight away go and have a press conference and say that guy is corrupt," Khairy said at a forum titled 'Centrality of Integrity for the Next Generation' in Bangi today.

Though he did not name anyone, it is believed to be a veiled jab at Dr Mahathir Mohamad who in a blog posting yesterday, lamented that he could not match Prime Minister Najib Razak's lavish lifestyle even after serving 29 years in government.

Khairy said instead of simply calling political leaders corrupt, one should report their suspicions to relevant authorities first so that their claims can be substantiated.

"The worst thing you can do is to falsely accuse someone," he said.

'Burden of proof with accuser'

In a similar vein, he said Najib has the right to take legal action against Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ), which reported yesterday that US$700 million of 1MDB's fund was allegedly deposited into Najib's bank accounts.

The prime minister's political secretary Muhammad Khairun Aseh earlier today said Najib plans to take legal action against WSJ.

Last night Najib denied WSJ 's allegations, saying he had "never taken funds for personal gains".

Khairy said since Najib, 1MDB, and its subsidiary Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd have denied the report , legal action was the next step.

"The logical conclusion is that there should be legal action.

"The burden of proof lies with the accuser and not the person who's being accused," he added.

Yesterday, Khairy downplayed WSJ 's report as not credible, claiming it did not contain substantiated proof.

In his speech about integrity at the event today, the Umno Youth chief reiterated that one should not make allegations without proof, although he did not specifically refer to WSJ .

"If you assassinate someone's character without proof, then you are leading a life without integrity," he said.

Later, when asked if he had seen the documents that were allegedly shared with the attorney-general and others in government that WSJ said they had used for their report, Khairy replied with a simple "no".

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