MIRI – Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg has shot down claims about the condition of Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, saying that the Sarawak governor has recovered from his illness and remains overseas.
“They (those who spread the false news) do not have the real story, that is why it is like that (the false news),” the state premier told reporters at the launching ceremony of the National Month celebrations in Kuching today.
“The explanation is this. He (Taib) is taking a break and had fallen sick outside the country.
“His condition now is that he has recovered but he is still resting overseas, that is all.”
He declined to reveal the illnesses afflicting Taib, and said the state authorities have already issued explanations about Taib’s whereabouts but still the false news persisted.
The claims on Taib’s status have been circulating on social media since late June.
On July 3, a senior state officer said the identity of the original author or group who had written and spread a story that Taib was in serious ill-health remained a mystery.
The identity of that person or group of people who “created” that news remains unknown despite efforts to trace the source, said Sarawak Public Communications Unit state director Samuel Simon.
On June 23, the claims that Taib was very ill went viral in Sarawak and the whole country. Later that day, the state governor’s office lodged a police report over the claims.
The police report was lodged by Taib’s press secretary Peter Sibon at the Kg Gita police station.
The claims that had alleged that Taib was in serious ill-health had circulated widely via social media platforms and also in chat groups.
His private secretary Junih Salleh Ahmad has said Taib is in good health. – The Vibes, August 3, 2023
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