Razak Baginda dan Altantuya melancong Eropah dengan Ferrari merahnya,dan bertemu Najib di Paris...

Keputusan yang dibuat di Paris bulan lepas, akan menimbulkan kembali  salah satu episod yang paling sensasi di rantau ini  muncul semula  dengan  penuh dendam.

Ia bermula beberapa  tahun yang lalu apabila Perdana Menteri  Malaysia, Najib  Razak memegang  portfolio Kementerian Pertahanan dan telah membuat pesanan untuk membeli  dua kapal selam Scorpene dari pembuat kapal Perancis, DCNS, kira-kira US$400 juta setiap satu.

Pembelian itu telah dilakukan oleh Razak Baginda, seorang pengarah Institut Penyelidikan Strategik Malaysia, yang ditaja oleh Najib dan ia ditubuhkan dengan tujuan untuk  memperkembangkan kerjaya politiknya.

Demi kepentingan pendedahan sepenuhnya, biarlah saya mendedahkan bahawa saya kerap  bertemu Razak semasa posting saya di Kuala Lumpur pada tahun 1990an dan terus  menemuninya  setiap kali saya melawat Malaysia.

Ketika dia menjadi  orang utama  yang menguruskan  transaksi pembelian Scorpene, saya telah meninggalkan KL dan tidak bertemu dengannya  sehinggalah, kami  bertemu di Venice, Itali, pada persidangan 2002 Asean-Eropah.

Kehadiran Razak  dalam persidangan itu hanya sekejap saja  dan apabila saya bertanya mengapa dia terlalu sangat  bergegas, beliau berkata beliau perlu ke Paris bagi menguruskan  pembelian barang pertahanan yang penting.

Kemudian, adalah didedahkan di Parlimen Malaysia bahawa "komisen" bagi sub kontrak  adalah 114 juta euro, atau kira-kira US $160 juta pada masa itu.

Wang itu dibayar ke dalam akaun bank Perimekar di KL, sebuah syarikat yang ditubuhkan oleh Razak sejurus sebelum kontrak  ditandatangani dan  syarikat ini tidak mempunyai rekod mengendalikan pemerolehan pertahanan.

Adalah dipercayai bahawa US$160 juta telah dibahagi2kan di antara Razak, Najib Tun Razak  dan tokoh-tokoh lain dalam Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Bersatu(UMNO), parti dominan dalam Barisan Nasional yang memerintah Malaysia.

Berdasarkan dakwaan ini, polis Perancis menyerbu pejabat DCNS dan merampas se timbunan dokumen yang menunjukkan bayaran rasuah secara besar-besaran itu.

Pada bulan lepas, selepas memeriksa dokumen2 tersebut, Hakim Roger Le Loire mengarahkan penyiasatan jenayah  akan dilancarkan.

Sudah pasti  ianya akan melibatkan pengeluaran sepina  untuk kedua-dua Razak dan Perdana Menteri Najib untuk hadir di mahkamah.

Walau bagaimanapun, sebelum menimbangkan  prospek dramatic ini, kita perlu  ingat kembali ketika  merundingkan kontrak dulu, sesuatu yang menakjubkan  telah berlaku kepada Razak.

 Beliau jatuh cinta.

Walaupun Razak, seorang yang berkeluarga  dengan mempunyai imej berprofil tinggi, dia masih terikut2  reputasi  berfoya-foya  mentornya Najib , kali agak berbeda sedikit.

Dia jatuh cinta, dengan wanita -  seorang model Mongolia yang menarik dan cantik bernama Altantuya "Tuya" Shaaribu.

Sejurus selepas menemui Altantuya  di Hong Kong, Razak membawanya  melancong ke Eropah dengan Ferrari merahnya, makan minum bersama di tempat2  yang terbaik dan berakhir di Paris di mana mereka bertemu dengan Najib.

Tuya ,seorang jurubahasa yang boleh bercakap pelbagai bahasa, adalah seorang yang pintar dan cepat belajar mengenai rasuah besar  dalam transaksi pembelian kapal selam itu dan sudah pasti dia pun mahu bahagian untuk dirinya.

Tunduk kepada   “fatal attraction syndrome”  Altantuya  terus menjalikan hubungan sulit dengan  Razak, tapi, sebaliknya Razak pula, kerana takut bahawa  hubungan ini  boleh menjejaskan kariernya, cuba untuk menamatkan hubungan sulit tersebut.

Altantuya tidak  mahu mengalah, dan dalam keadaan terdesak, Altantuya  berbual  dengan Najib  dan polis telah dipanggil untuk menjauhkannya. Dua pegawai Cawangan Khas  mengambil tugasan itu  dan terus menculik  Altantuya.

Mereka merogolnya, tembak di kepala dan letupkan tubuhnya dengan bahan letupan C4 dari Kementerian Pertahanan  dibawah portfolio Najib - dan  sebagai langkah keselamatan, rekod kemasukan Altantuya ke Malaysia dipadam dari rekod imigresen.

Sebenarnya, dia terus hilang.

Namun atas desakan  berterusan daripada keluarganya dan Kedutaan Mongolia, jenayah itu akhirnya terbongkar dan mereka yang terlibat telah ditangkap – semua, kecuali Najib, sudah tentu.

Selepas perbicaraan yang panjang, yang  penuh mendebarkan, kedua-dua polis  itu telah dihukum mati dan Razak telah dibebaskan.

Sekarang, dengan pelancaran penyiasatan Hakim Le Loire di Paris, ternyata  tidak lama lagi Razak mungkin kembali di mahkamah.

PM Najib pun mungkin tidak akan terlepas dengan begitu mudah, oleh kerana  isu ini akan dibangkitkan di Parlimen minggu depan dan ini akan memberi kesan kepada pilihan raya umum akan datang.

Jika benar, kematian Tuya yang menggerikan  itu tidak akan jadi sia-sia.- Roger Mitton.

(Terjemahan dari artikel Roger Mitton dari Regional Insider - The Phnom Penh Post oleh Tumpang Sekole)

Razak Baginda and Altantuya toured Europe in his red Ferrari and ending up in Paris where they met Najib...

A decision made in Paris last month means that one of this region’s most sensational episodes is going to resurface with a vengeance.

It began a dozen years ago when Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak held the defence portfolio and ordered two Scorpene submarines from the French shipbuilder, DCNS, for about US$400 million each.

The deal was brokered by Razak Baginda, who ran the Malaysian Strategic Research Institute, which was funded by Najib and designed to further his political career.

In the interest of full disclosure, let me reveal that I met Razak regularly during my posting in Kuala Lumpur in the 1990s and continue to see him each time I visit Malaysia.

When he became pointman for the Scorpene purchase, however, I had left KL and did not see him again until we met in Venice, Italy, at the 2002 ASEAN-Europe conference.

Razak attended only briefly and when I asked why he was rushing off, he said he was needed in Paris for an important defence deal.

Later, it was revealed in the Malaysian parliament that the “commission” for the sub contract was 114 million euros, or about $160 million at the time.

The money was paid into the KL bank account of Perimekar, a company set up by Razak just before the contract was signed and which had no track record of handling defence procurements.

It is alleged that the $160 million was split between Razak, Najib and other figures in the United Malays National Organisation, the dominant party in Malaysia’s ruling National Front coalition.

Based on this allegation, the French police raided the offices of DCNS and seized a stack of documents indicating the payment of massive bribes.

And last month, after examining the documents, Judge Roger Le Loire ordered a criminal investigation to be launched.

It will almost certainly involve filing subpoenas for both Razak and Prime Minister Najib to appear in court.

Before considering that dramatic prospect, however, we must recall that when negotiating the contract, something amazing happened to Razak.

He fell in love.

Now although Razak, a family man with a high-profile public image, had long emulated the philandering reputation of his mentor Najib, this latest affair was completely different.

He fell hook, line and sinker for the woman – a stunningly beautiful Mongolian model named Altantuya “Tuya” Shaaribuu.

Soon after meeting her in Hong Kong, Razak took her off to tour Europe in his red Ferrari, wining and dining at all the best spots and finally ending up in Paris where they met Najib.

Multilingual Tuya, as well as being drop-dead gorgeous, was also smart and quickly learned about the huge bribe for the sub deal and doubtless envisaged a handsome cut for herself.

But succumbing to “fatal attraction syndrome”, she clung relentlessly to Razak, and he, fearing that her indiscretions might bring him down, tried to end the affair.

She would not have it, and in desperation, he spoke to Najib and the police were called in to keep her away.

Two aggressive Special Branch officers took their assignment literally and kidnapped her.

Then they raped her, shot her in the head and blew up her body with C4 explosives from Najib’s defence ministry – and for good measure, erased her entry into Malaysia from immigration records.

In effect, she vanished.

But thanks to continued pressure from her well-connected family and the Mongolian Embassy, the crime was eventually uncovered and those involved arrested – all except Najib, of course.

After a long, lurid and electrifying trial, the two cops were sentenced to death and Razak was acquitted. Now, however, with the launch of Judge Le Loire’s investigation in Paris, it appears he could soon be back in court.

And PM Najib may not escape so easily either, since the issue will be raised in parliament next week and will impact the coming general election.

If so, Tuya’s gruesome death will not have been in vain.- Roger Mitton,the Phnom Penh Post

Sale of defence secrets - no comments from Najib and TLDM...

PKR has lent its voice to a call for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to explain how a company closely linked to him was found by French prosecutors to have ‘sold’ a secret navy document to a third party, in relation to Malaysia’s purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines.

Deputy president Azmin Ali (centre in photo) pointed out that Najib was the defence minister at the time that the document was allegedly sold.

As such, Azmin said in a statement distributed at the party headquarters today, Najib should not allow the armed forces to take the fall for this.

"We urge that the prime minister not take this lightly and come forward himself to explain how state secrets can be sold by his own advisor...We hope that officers are not turned into scapegoats in this matter," he said.

He also urged the armed forces to launch an internal probe and to lodge a police report if it finds that its officers are not involved.

"The top leadership of the armed forces should lodge a police report to protect their image and credibility," he said.

He added that the sale of secret military documents is “treason and endangers the lives of military personnel”, particularly those who are operating the submarines. 

Political interference in defence

Agreeing with Azmin, PKR's security committee head retired Brigadier-General Abdul Hadi Abdul Khattab said that there needs to be less political interference in defence.

“Based on my experience, I feel that one area which needs to be looked at is the interference and influence of ministers and political appointees (into defence which can) be detrimental to national defence.

“This is especially since defence is not their expertise. The minister's job is to set out defence policies and for the military to implement but the minister is now active in military affairs including purchase of arms,” he said.

Abdul Hadi, however, could not comment when asked if he had encountered similar cases of leaks of confidential military documents in his 35 years as an airforce personnel.

Lawyer for human rights NGO Suaram Joseph Breham last week said that French investigative judges probing the Malaysian purchase of Scorpene-class submarines found that Hong Kong-based Terasasi Ltd had allegedly sold confidential Royal Malaysian Navy documents to French defence contractor DCNS.

Terasasi is owned by Najib's close associate Abdul Razak Baginda, who now resides in the UK, and his father Abdul Malim Baginda.

Meanwhile, the Royal Malaysian Navy has declined to comment over allegations that a classified document linked to the purchase order for two Scorpene-class submarines had been sold to a foreign company.

"We have no comment for now," Royal Malaysian Navy media and web director Commander Ismail Othman said when contacted by Malaysiakini.

Asked for the reason behind the Navy's refusal to comment, Ismail declined to elaborate.

Human rights NGO Suaram had on May 31 claimed that a classified document was purchased by Paris-based shipbuilder DCNS which subsequently sold the submarines to Malaysia.

An ongoing corruption inquiry filed in France against DCNS has revealed that the payment was made to an obscure Hong Kong-based company, Terasasi.

Its director is Abdul Razak Baginda (right), a close associate of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who has since come under increasing pressure to explain his involvement in the scandal.

Alleged kickbacks

The money was part of several transactions between the companies which saw Terasasi allegedly receiving some 36 million euro (RM142 million) from DCNS.

Suaram had previously claimed that, based on the French inquiry, Najib (then the defence minister) had requested RM1 billion in kickbacks through Perimekar Sdn Bhd, which was responsible for "support services" in the deal.

Current Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi, who had initially expressed willingness to assist the French investigation, has since refused to attend the proceedings or send a ministry representative.

A murder and bribery over Scorpene submarine deal that implicates Razak Baginda and Najib...

The story opens in June 2002, when, after three years of negotiations, the Malaysian government concluded a €1 billion deal with French company Armaris (now DCNS) and Spanish naval shipbuilder Izar (now Navantia) for the purchase of 2 SSK Scorpene submarines, as well as associated support and training.

The contract was signed by Malyasia's minister of defense (now prime minister) Najib Razak, and allegations quickly followed that DCSN had previously been sold confidential information relating to their bid by Malaysian companies understood to be close to Razak.

One company named in the initial rumours was Perimekar, owned by Razak's close associate, the prominent Malaysian businessman Abdul Razak Baginda.

But it was with the 2006 murder of 28-year-old Mongolian modelling student Altantuya Shaaribuu that suspicions of high-level corruption started to gain ground in earnest.

In March 2009, French Journalist Arnaud Dubus published a report in France's Liberation, citing hundreds of confidential documents, which suggested a connection between the mysterious murder of the student-model, and a 'commission' of around €114 million paid to Perimekar in connection with the Scorpene submarine deal.

The motive for Altantuya's death was reportedly that she had claimed a €500,000 share of the "commission" paid to Baginda (who appears to have also been her lover) for the purchase of the submarines... and then threatened to reveal all that she knew about this case if her demand was not met.

According to documents made public by French newspaper 'Liberation', Altantuya had been murdered on the orders of Abdul Razak Baginda, who was later acquitted on all charges by a Malaysian court.

However, Prime Minister Razak himself has now been implicated in the associated bribery deal, and Dubus' report includes details of text messages he had reportedly sent Baginda, which in turn strongly imply a cover-up and interference with police investigations.

The kidnapping itself was carried out in broad daylight in front of Baginda's house in the presence of eye-witnesses. And in a detail that could easily have emerged from a James Bond movie, the perpetrators were later identified only because the taxi-driver who had been hired by Altantuya for the day, reported the kidnapper's car licence plate to the police... officially as part of a complaint that he had not been paid for his services.

Police investigations traced the vehicle to Malaysian Special Branch police, causing embarrassment to the government, and awakening curiosity among the local press.

But while the Malaysia investigations have apparently stalled, French investigators soon took an interest in a case which appears (if allegations are true) to also point fingers at one of France's top names in the shipbuilding industry.

French investigating magistrates are now looking into a Hong Kong-based company called Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd. Abdul Razak Baginda is listed as one of the two directors of the company. The other director is his father, Abdul Malim Baginda. - maltatoday  Read full article here.

Dokumen Sulit Tentera 'dijual' - Najib  membisu dan TLDM tak mahu komen...

PKR menggesa Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak supaya menjelaskan bagaimana satu syarikat yang dikait rapat dengan dirinya didapati menjual dokumen rahsia tentera laut kepada pihak ketiga oleh pendakwa Perancis.

Timbalan presiden PKR Azmin Ali berkata Najib merupakan menteri pertahanan pada waktu dokumen berhubung pembelian dua kapal selam Scorpene didakwa dijual.

Oleh itu, Najib tidak harus membenarkan pasukan bersenjata dipersalahkan dalam hal ini, katanya.

"Kita desak perdana menteri supaya tak ambil mudah skandal ini... Harus tampil jelas macam mana rahsia boleh dijual oleh penasihat sendiri," katanya yang berharap pegawai berkenaan tidak dijadikan kambing hitam dalam kes tersebut.

Beliau turut menggesa supaya pasukan tentera menjalankan siasatan dalaman dan membuat laporan polis sekiranya ia mendapati pegawai pasukan tidak terlibat dalam kes itu.


Sementara itu, Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia (TLDM) tidak mahu mengulas dakwaan bahawa dokumen sulit yang dikaitkan dengan tempahan untuk membeli dua kapal selam kelas Scorpene, telah dijual kepada sebuah syarikat asing.

Ketika dihubungi Malaysiakini, pengarah media dan web TLDM, Komander Ismail Othman berkata, pihaknya tidak ada sebarang komen mengenainya buat masa ini.

Ismail juga enggan mengulas lanjut apabila ditanya sebab pihaknya tidak mahu mengulas tentang isu tersebut.

Pada 31 Mei lalu, NGO hak asasi manusia, Suaram mendakwa dokumen sulit telah dibeli DCNS - firma pembuat kapal yang berpangkalan di Paris - yang kemudiannya menjual kapal selam tersebut kepada Malaysia.

Siasatan berhubung dakwaan rasuah terhadap DCNS yang difailkan di Perancis DCNS telah mendedahkan dakwaan bahawa pembayaran telah dibuat kepada sebuah syarikat berpangkalan di Hong Kong, Terasasi.

Pengarahnya, Abdul Razak Baginda (kanan), merupakan rakan rapat Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, yang semakin didesak supaya menjelaskan penglibatan beliau dalam skandal tersebut.

Wang tersebut didakwa adalah sebahagian daripada beberapa urusniaga antara syarikat-syarikat berkenaan, yang menyaksikan Terasasi didakwa menerima kira-kira 36 juta euro (RM142 juta) dari DCNS.

Nurul Izzah fail usul Scorpene di Parlimen

source:malaysiakini

 

cheers.