Scandal-ridden Tourism Malaysia subsidiary Pempena has refused to respond to allegations of victimisation made by its former business associate, Melia Majilis.

Melia claimed that Pempena had wanted to "finish" her off via legal action due to her awareness of corrupt practices perpetrated by high ranking Pempena officers while heading a bumiputera travel agency consortium, the now dormant Malaysin Travel Bureau Sdn Bhd (MTB).

Current Pempena chief executive officer, Idrus Mohd when contacted told Malaysiakini that he would not comment on the matter as the case was pending in court.

"I don’t have anything to say. Our lawyers have told us not to speak. You can refer to the letter we sent you last week," said Idrus in a phone interview.

tourism malaysia pempena controversy 130109 Last week, Malaysiakini was prevented from publishing the final part of a three-part series after receiving letters from Pempena’s lawyer demanding that the third part of the story not be published.

The first letter was issued a day after the first part was published on Monday and the second letter came in a day after the second part was published on Tuesday.

In the first letter, the lawyers said their clients "deny wholly unfounded allegations by Melia Majilis in the article".

"Our clients are not in a position to respond in detail the allegations as there are pending legal proceedings between Melia and MTB in regard to the agreement referred to in the article.

"We can confirm that we act for MTB in the two actions brought in the High Court in regard to the disputes between Melia and MTB. The High Court decided in MTB’s favour in both the actions," read the letter.

Removal of articles sought

Pempena also wanted the first and second articles to be removed completely from the site.

"Given this, and that the dispute between Melia Majilis and MTB is still pending in court, our clients have instructed us to require that you forthwith remove the article (first and second part) from your website.

"And confirm in writing that you will not publish any further part of the article or any article on this dispute, while it is still pending in court," read the letter.

"Take notice that our clients reserve all their rights (including the right to commence committal proceedings against you and all responsible parties, if the requirements of this letter are not complied with," added the letter.

Malaysiakini has suspended the publication of the third part of the article pending consultation with its lawyers.