Former Utusan Malaysia senior editor Ku Seman Ku Hussain today slammed the mainstream media blackout of the seizure of Penang-born Low Taek Jho's (Jho Low) luxury yacht Equanimity, by Indonesian authorities.

"There was a newspaper (which spun) the news by publishing Jho Low's statement claiming the seizure was politically motivated.

"There were other papers who completely ignored the news of the luxury vessel seizure as if it was smaller than the news about a division chief who was pissed on by a horse.

"Why are there, parties here, who are so eager to protect Jho Low? As the elders say, there will no smoke without fire," he wrote on his Facebook page.

Ku Seman quit Utusan on March 27, 2016, over his stance against the 1MDB financial scandal and the RM2.6 billion Saudi "donation" found in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts.

In his post today, Ku Seman advised readers to think logically by reading all that is going in "with an open, sharp mind".

"Prove that in the era of information democracy democratisation, no one who can think can remain under a shell."

Ku Seman also uploaded a quote in the post, which read: "Definition of stupid: Knowing the truth, seeing the truth, but still believing the lies", accompanied by a picture of Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman.

Yesterday, the Indonesian police, in a joint operation with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized the yacht, said to be worth about US$250 million (RM1 billion), off Teluk Benoa, Bali.

The US' Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to forfeit the vessel, believed to have been acquired using funds misappropriated from 1MDB, and laundered through the US financial system.

The news was noticeably absent in the printed versions of major English and Malay dailies the New Straits Times, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian.

Both the online versions of The Star and New Straits Times carried the report. 

Utusan Online carried an article claiming the yacht seizure "had nothing to do" with 1MDB, while Berita Harian Online quoted Low's spokesperson saying the seizure was baseless and politically motivated.

EDITOR'S NOTE

The earlier version of this story had erroneously stated that The Star did not carry the yacht seizure news. However, it has been pointed out to us that the story was carried in the paper's Business section. The error is regretted.