'Political developments' holding up Scorpene case...

The appointment of a judge to hear human rights NGO Suaram's case against giant French shipbuilder DCNS has been delayed by political developments in both France and Malaysia, given the high profile nature of the case.

The Paris-based company, which supplied Malaysia with two Scorpene submarines, has been accused of paying millions of ringgit as kickbacks - a crime under French law - to top Malaysian officials involved in the purchase.

The scandal involves the RM7.3 billion purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines in 2002 by the Malaysian government, at the time when Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was defence minister.

In a statement to the press today, Suaram said as both countries were likely to hold their general elections this year, the stakes were high for politicians who were allegedly involved in the procurement.

"Our lawyers have informed us that part of the reason for the delay was the French public prosecutor's own objection to remove the case from his purview and move it up to the open courts," Suaram said in a statement today.

Political interference?

William Bourdon ( below) and Joseph Brehem from Sherpa, a French NGO working on legal human rights issues, are lawyers for Suaram.
 
"After many weeks of uncertainty, this hurdle was overcome as the public prosecutor withdrew his objection, paving the way for the court proceedings to commence," Suaram said.

It said it has received "unverified information of possible interference" in the public prosecutor's findings.

It has also been informed, but could not verify, that efforts were being made to delay the case until after the French general election, expected to be held in the middle of this year.

Given this scenario, the French judiciary has been very careful in its scrutiny of the findings made and will leave "no stone unturned" in the case, Suaram added.

The judiciary will study the preliminary findings "with microscopic lens" before arriving at the decision to appoint a judge to preside over the case.

"So, we wait, and continue in anticipation and hope that this case will move forward with certainty in order to identify the culprits behind the kickbacks and commissions paid and the corrupt practices involved," Suaram said.

"We beg your patience over the delay and long wait and shall immediately make a public announcement when we have news of the court decision," the NGO said, adding that it had been asked to make a deposit of 1,000 euros (RM4,015) for the case.
 
Since its last Ops Scorpene fund-raising events held in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and London, Suaram said it had received numerous messages, queries and questions on the progress of the case.

The NGO apologised for the silence. It wanted very much to update supporters sooner on the progress of the case, "but unfortunately we could not as the courts in France were taking much longer than expected to decide on matters".

"During these past weeks, we have been in touch with our lawyers, regularly, and with every passing week, they tell us that the decision by the courts is very close, and the waiting time will end very soon," Suaram added.- malaysiakini

cheers.