Former journalist Lester Melanyi today made fresh allegations against Sarawak Report editor-in-chief Clare Rewcastle Brown, this time linking her to ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

However, he failed to furnish evidence despite being grilled on this by journalists at his press conference which was called by NGO Pertubuhan Minda dan Sosial Prihatin (PMSP) in Petaling Jaya.

In the press conference, Lester claimed there is an audio recording of a phone conversation between Mahathir and Rewcastle Brown.

"(The recording will show that Mahathir) wanted Clare to write something against the (current Malaysian) government," claimed the former journalist, who was accompanied by PMSP legal adviser Zakwan Hafiz Ahmad Ansari.

Lester said he was informed about the phone conversation and its contents by one "Amy Whitefield", a clerk who recorded the conversation as part of Sarawak Report 's practice.

Asked to produce the recording, Zakwan said PMSP did not have it and it was up to the police to investigate the matter.

He also claimed that Amy was willing to give up the said recording.

When contacted, Amy, who pointed out that Lester got her surname wrong, rubbished the claim.

"Lester's allegations are ludicrous and he is lying. I do not have any evidence to back up his statements and nor does he.

"I met Lester when I volunteered with Radio Free Sarawak back in 2011 in London. I have not communicated with him since 2012.

"Lester initiated a couple of emails to me in 2014 but I never responded as I felt them to be a fishing exercise. I do know Clare and continue to work with her," she said in an email to Malaysiakini.

'Cops returned evidence'

In July, Lester claimed he possessed email evidence of Rewcastle Brown admitting to fabricating information against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in her whistleblower portal Sarawak Report.

PMSP president Ramesh Rao had lodged a police report based on this.

However, Rewcastle Brown later produced the said email which showed that the correspondence referred to by Lester had been partially edited.

At the press conference today, Zakwan complained that the email correspondence and other relevant evidence submitted to the police was returned to them.

Zakwan claimed that there was an entire box of evidence submitted to the police but was returned to the PMSP office when cops interviewed Lester.

"Why is the case evidence still in our office? Why? It should be used as reference in their investigation.

"This is weak investigation for the case," he said.

According to Zakwan, the police also explained that they could not use Lester's statement in the investigation as he is not well.

The former Sarawak Tribune journalist had suffered two strokes, with his second stroke being four months ago.

During the press conference, journalists asked for the "box of evidence" returned by the police to be showed to them but Zakwan refused, saying it was part of an "ongoing investigation."

However, at the end of the press conference, Ramesh finally relented and produced a roughly one-inch thick document.

Quarrel at press conference

Ramesh refused to allow journalists to photograph the documents and lashed out at some of them for being "rude".

Lester said he hopes his allegations against Rewcastle Brown would be fully investigated and resolved by end of this year.

"This is my second stroke and this thing is not fun. I'm an old man and a big man is involved. Rewcastle Brown has even threatened to sue me.

"My kids are asking me if I am in trouble with the police. I hope this is the last time I am at the other end of a press conference," he said in a slurred voice.

The police had last month issued an arrest warrant against Rewcastle Brown on grounds of "activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy" and "publishing false information".

Rewcastle Brown, an investigative journalist, had covered allegations of misappropriation against 1MDB and the deposits of RM2.6 billion into the Malaysian prime minister's personal bank accounts.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Rewcastle Brown, who is based in the UK, said Lester was taking advantage of the fact that she cannot defend herself in Malaysia.

"I think it is notable that he has not been able to bring one shred of evidence to back any of his ridiculous allegations.

"He is taking advantage of the fact that I cannot sue him in Malaysia (for now) because of the nature of the regime which has illegally threatened to arrest me," she said.