French judges begins bribery probe & Muhyiddin's silence...

Malaysian PM's role in purchase of two French submarines, allegations of extortion and murder under scrutiny.

A Paris court of inquiry has started an investigation that may finally link the dots between Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, his country's purchase of two French submarines, bribes worth nearly $200 million, and the murder of a Mongolian model by his bodyguards.

The in-camera inquiry by judges Roger Le Loire and Serge Tournaire, who are highly experienced investigators in corruption and human rights cases, will try to discover if the French defence company DCNS and its project partner Thales International paid the bribes to secure the 2002 contract to supply two Scorpene submarines to the Malaysian navy.

Their inquiry will build on two years of investigation and evidence-gathering by French police.

The deal was done while Najib was defence minister, and attention is focused on the role played by Najib's close friend and policy adviser, Abdul Razak Baginda.

French officials have let it be known they are especially interested in two payments by the French arms dealers.

One was for 114 million euros ($148 million) and went to a Malaysian company called Perimekar for "logistical support."

Perimekar was at the time wholly owned by a company which was con-trolled by Razak Baginda and his wife, Mazalinda.

The examining magistrates also want to hunt down the story behind payments worth $46 million to a company called Terasasi, which was originally incorporated in Malaysia, but then registered itself in Hong Kong where, according to the online magazine Asia Sentinel, it is listed among 142 companies at a convenience address in the Wan Chai district.

The registered directors of Teras-asi are Razak Baginda and his father Abdul Malim Baginda.

Questions about the submarine deal became more intense and sharp in October 2006 after the body of Mongolian model and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu was discovered in the jungle outside Kuala Lumpur.

She had been shot in the head and an attempt had been made to destroy her body with military C4 explosives.

Altantuya was the jilted lower of Razal Baginda and she had last been seen causing a scene outside his house.

A few years before she had been a model in France, and in 2004 she accompanied Razal Baginda to act as translator when he was negotiating the Scorpene deal.

In a handwritten letter found after her death, she said she intended to confront Razak Baginda and demand $500,000 as the price of her silence on the details of the Scorpene agreement.

Even the politically attuned Malaysian courts could not avoid this case.

But although Razak Baginda and two of then-defence minister Najib's bodyguards, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, were charged with murder, the outcome was deftly finessed.

In an astonishing piece of court-room stage management, Razak Bag-inda was not required to answer to the charges of abetting Altantuya's murder, was released, and now lives in exile in Britain.

The bodyguards took the fall and have been sentenced to death. They are appealing the verdict, but that hearing has been delayed.

It is widely predicted that appeal will not be heard until after the next elections, expected in June, when, if Najib and his governing coalition are returned to power, a way may be found to acknowledge the bodyguards' loyalty.

After failing to get a full investigation of the Scorpene affair in Malaysia, many Malaysian human rights advocates and Altantuya's family have put a lot of faith in the French investigation.

However, there was initial disappointment when it appeared that judges Le Loire and Tournaire would investigate only the bribery allegations and not look at the murder of Altantuya.

But 10 days ago, the Malaysian human rights group Suaram was allowed to give the judges a private briefing. Spokesmen for the group said afterward they described the political context of the affair from the Malaysian point of view and gave the judges a list of potential witnesses.

Among them is Razak Baginda, and there are reports the judges may attempt to subpoena him from Britain.

Others on the list, such as Prime Minister Najib, are unlikely to take any notice.

But Altantuya's father, Setev Shaari-ibuu, says he intends to go to Paris from Mongolia and that from his last conversation with his daughter he can "connect the dots" for the judges.- the Vancouver Sun

Original article here.

Siasatan Perancis bongkar kaitan Najib dengan semua

Inkuiri di mahkamah Perancis telah memulakan siasatan yang bakal menghubungkan segala titik mengenai Perdana Menteri Malaysia Datuk Seri Najib Razak, pembelian dua kapal selam Perancis, rasuah sebanyak RM500 juta dan pembunuhan terhadap model Mongolia oleh para pengawal beliau. 

Inkuiri berkamera yang diketuai hakim Roger Le Loire dan Serge Tournaire, yang cukup berpengalaman dalam kes korupsi dan hak asasi manusia, akan cuba membongkar samada syarikat pertahanan Perancis, DCNS dan rakan projeknya Thales International telah membayar rasuah untuk mendapat kontrak pada 2002 untuk membekal dua kapal selam Scorpene kepada tentera laut Malaysia.

Inkuiri tersebut adalah berdasarkan penyiasatan selama dua tahun dan pengumpulan bukti oleh polis Perancis.

Kontrak tersebut dimeterai ketika Najib masih menjadi Menteri Pertahanan dan perhatian khusus diberikan kepada peranan yang dimainkan oleh kawan karib dan penasihat politik beliau, Abdul Razak Baginda.

Pegawai berkuasa Perancis telah memaklumkan bahawa mereka sangat berminat terhadap dua bayaran yang dibuat oleh pembuat senjata Perancis.

Satunya berjumlah Euro 114 juta yang dibayar kepada syarikat Malaysia bernama Perimekar untuk kemudahan pengangkutan.

Pada waktu itu, Perimekar dalah dimiliki sepenuhnya oleh Razak Baginda dan isterinya Mazalinda.

Pihak majistret Perancis juga ingin mencari kebenaran di sebalik pembayaran Euro 36 juta kepada sebuah syarikat bernama Terasasi, yang pada asalnya dikorporatkan di Malaysia sebelum dipindahkan pendaftarannya ke Hong Kong, di mana berdasarkan Asia Sentinel adalah antara 142 syarikat yang mendaftar di Wan Chai.

Pengarah berdaftar Terasasi adalah Razak Baginda dan ayahnya Abdul Malim Baginda.

Persoalan mengenai pembelian kapal selam menjadi hangat dan tajam pada Oktober 2006 selepas cebisan mayat model Mongolia dan penterjemah Altantuya Shaariibuu dijumpai di hutan di luar Kuala Lumpur.

Beliau telah ditembak di kepala dan terdapat cubaan untuk memusnah mayat beliau dengan bom C4 milik tentera.

Altantuya merupakan bekas kekasih Razak Baginda dan beliau kali terakhir dilihat di luar rumah kekasihnya yang menimbulkan situasi tidak senang.

Beberapa tahun yang lalu, Altantuya merupakan seorang model di Perancis dan pada2004 beliau mengiringi Razak Baginda sebagai penterjemah semasa beliau merunding kontrak Scorpene.

Dalam satu surat tulisan beliau yang dijumpai selepas beliau dibunuh, menyatakan beliau ingin berdepan dengan Razak Baginda dan menuntut USD 500 juta sebagai harga untuk menutup mulut beliau dalam kontrak pembelian Scorpene.

Kes ini tidak dapat diendahkan oleh mahkamah Malaysia, yang dikuasai golongan politik.

Walaupun Razak Baginda dan dua orang bekas pengawal Najib, Azilah Hadri dan Sirul Azhar Umar didakwa dengan pembunuhan, keputusan kes tersebut adalah pincang dan tidak menjawab banyak persoalan.

Dalam satu drama mahkamah yang menakjubkan, Razak Baginda tidak dipanggil untuk menjawab tuduhan bersubahat membunuh Altantuya, dan dilepaskan dan kini tinggal di Britain.

Para pengawal peribadi Najib telah menerima padah dan telah dijatuhkan hukuman mati. Mereka sedang dalam proses rayuan tetapi pendengaran telah ditangguhkan.

Spekulasi berkata pendengaran itu tidak akan berlaku sehingga lepas pilihanraya umum yang bakal tiba, dijangka Jun, di mana jika Najib dan kerajaannya mengekalkan kuasa, dijangka satu cara akan difikirkan untuk membalas kesetiaan pengawalnya.

Selepas gagal mendapat penyiasatan penuh ke atas skandal Scorpene di Malaysia, ramai aktivis hak asasi manusia dan keluarga Altantuya telah meletakkan harapan kepada penyiasatan Perancis.

Namun demikian, terdapat sedikit kekecewaan apabila mengetahui bahawa hakim Le Loire dan Tournaire hanya boleh menyiasat tuduhan rasuah dan bukan pembunuhan Altantuya.

Akan tetapi, 10 hari yang lepas, Suaram Malaysia telah diberikan kebenaran untuk memberikan penerangan kepada hakim secara peribadi.

Jurucakap Suaram berkata mereka telah menceritakan skandal Scorpene ini daripada konteks politik Malaysia dan memberikan hakim senarai saksi-saksi yang dikehendaki.

Antara senarai itu ialah Razak Baginda, dan telah ada laporan bahawa hakim akan cuba mengeluarkan subpoena terhadap beliau daripada Britain.

Tetapi akan ada yang tidak mengendahkan senarai itu, termasuk nama Najib.

Namun begitu, ayah Altantuya, Setev Shaariibuu berkata beliau ingin ke Perancis daripada Mongolia dan percaya perbualan terakhir bersama anak perempuannya akan dapat menghubungkan segala titik yang tergantung dalam skandal Scorpene ini kepada hakim di sana. - terjemahan Harakahdaily

DPM mum on Scorpene submarine suit...

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has remained tight-lipped about the government's reaction to a lawsuit filed by French prosecutors over alleged kickbacks on Malaysia's purchase of Scorpene submarines.

Asked whether the government, which is implicated in the case, would deploy someone for the defence, Muhyiddin said, " I don't want to comment on that."


"No comment," he added.

Local human rights NGO Suaram has filed a civil suit with the French courts to look into the government's purchase of the submarines, in which kickbacks - which are illegal in France - running into millions of ringgit were said to have been paid.

Suaram has also proposed a number of witnesses the courts could subpoena, including Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was deputy prime minister and defence minister at the time the purchase was sealed and current Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had earlier insisted that the French courts have no jurisdiction to summon Malaysians to testify in the ongoing inquiry.
 
However, French lawyer Joseph Breham (left) rebutted Zahid’s statement yesterday, saying that the French courts have jurisdiction over anyone involved in an inquiry.

Meanwhile, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said the choice was Zahid’s.

“But as long as there is no court order to compel his presence (in the Paris court) and as long as there is no legal advice from the Defence Ministry that a ministry representative needs to testify, I think his stand is correct,” said Khairy.

He said this when asked by reporters at a press conference after launching the Auto Forum 2012 in Kuala Lumpur today.

Bangladeshi workers 'not tortured’


On another matter, Muhyiddin slammed Tenaganita head Irene Fernandez as unpatriotic for her persistence in questioning the government’s policy on migrant workers.
 
Commenting on Fernandez’s (right) statement on the plight of Bangladeshi workers recently, Muhyiddin said a Bangladeshi minister met him yesterday and asked for a review of the freeze on Bangladeshi workers to be sent here.

“You can ask the Bangladeshis. If they want to go back, they can go back. But I believe that 100 percent of them will not agree with what Fernandez had said.

“They come here to seek a living, they are not being tortured,” he said.

He condemned Fernandez for basing her statement on rare incidents and labelled her as an “immoral” activist.- malaysiakini

Muhyiddin kunci mulut kes Scorpene...

Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasskin mengunci mulut daripada memberi sebarang reaksi terhadap siasatan mahkamah Perncis berhubung urusniaga pembelian kapal selam Malaysia-Perancis.

Ditanya sama ada kerajaan yang terkait sama dalam kes itu patut menghantar seseorang untuk mempertahankan diri, Muhyiddin menjawab: "Saya tidak mahu komen tentang itu."

Beliau kemudiannya menambah lagi: "Tiada komen".

NGO hak asasi Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) pada 2010 memfailkan kes terhadap gergasi pertahanan Perancis DCNS atas dakwaan membayar komisyen secara tidak sah kepada pegawai tertinggi Malaysia dalam penjualan dua kapal semalam Scorpene kepada negara ini pada 2002.- malaysiakini



 

Jika orang ramai mahu tahu sambungan cerita Altantuya tersebut, Mat Sabu menggesa agar mereka mengundi PR dan pastikan PR ke Putrajaya, kerana hanya PR sahaja yang berminat meneruskan sambungan cerita drama Altantuya yang punyai nilai komersial yang tinggi jika dihidupkan watak Inspektor Sahab yang merungkai episod selanjutnya...

cheers.