Justice For ALTANTUYA

SUARAM(Suara Rakyat Malaysia) SEEKS JUSTICE FOR ALTANTUYA AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR M’SIAN AND FRENCH TAXPAYERS


By Dr Kua Kia Soong, Director of SUARAM

SUARAM has been forced to seek justice for Altantuya Shaariibuu and Malaysian and French taxpayers in the French courts since the Malaysian courts have failed to shed light on the grisly murder of Altantuya and the reasons for her murder.

Although two former bodyguards of the Prime Minister have been charged, the motives for the murder have not been probed by the Malaysian court. We believe that there is more to the murder of Altantuya and that what is in question is millions of ringgit in commissions associated with the RM4.7 billion Scorpene submarines deal.

This has grave consequences for both Malaysian and French tax payers. French lawyers have filed with Parisian prosecutors on behalf of Suaram, Malaysia’s leading human rights organization which has always fought for human rights and “People before Profits” policies.

This scandal is of concern also to french tax payers because it involves France’s biggest defense conglomerates, the state-owned shipbuilder DCN. DCN’s subsidiary Armaris manufactures the Scorpene submarines sold to Malaysia among other countries.

It has already been brought up in the Malaysian Parliament that €114 million (RM500 million) has been paid to a Malaysia-based company called Perimekar, for “coordination and support services” for the submarines transaction. Perimekar was wholly owned by another company, KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd, which in turn was controlled by Najib’s aide, Razak Baginda.

Baginda’s wife Mazalinda was the principal shareholder in this company. Perimekar was registered in 2001, a few months before the signing of the contracts for the sale and the company did not appear to have the financial resources to complete the contract.

None of the directors and shareholders of Perimekar have any experience in the construction or maintenance of submarines. Altantuya Shaariibuu, a 28-year-old Mongolian translator and Razak Baginda’s jilted lover, had participated in negotiations over the purchase of the submarines.

By her own admission in a letter found after her death, she was attempting to blackmail Razak Baginda for US$500,000. She was shot in October 2006 and her body was blown up with military explosives by two bodyguards attached to Najib’s office after Razak Baginda went to Najib’s chief of staff, Musa Safri, for help in stopping her demands.

After being acquitted in November 2008 under questionable circumstances of participating in her murder, Razak Baginda left the country for England. The bodyguards were convicted but no motive was ever established for their actions despite a confession by one which was not allowed in court, but which said they would be paid a large sum of money to get rid of her.

The submarine deal was never brought up in court during the murder trial which saw prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge judiciously keeping Najib’s name out of the proceedings. A private detective hired by Razak Baginda to protect him from Altantuya’s advances filed a statutory declaration after the trial indicating that Najib had actually been the victim’s lover and had passed her on to Razak Baginda.

The detective, P. Balasubramaniam, said later that he was forced to leave Kuala Lumpur. He eventually emerged from hiding in India to say that he had been offered RM5 million (US$1.57 million) by a businessman close to Najib’s wife to leave town. He also said he had met Najib’s younger brother, Nazim and was told to recant his testimony.


Read more here:http://drdzul.wordpress.com/2010/04...countability-for-msian-and-french-tax-payers/
and here:http://malaysia-today.net/index.php...&catid=16:from-around-the-blogs&Itemid=100132

Little by little, anything that Altantuya touched has been a disastrous consequences for the people who used her when she was alive and now those nightmares are going to eat them alive.

Though badly handled by the Malaysian Judiciary with their assorted bias judges and prosecutors, the charade ended with the convictions of two special police officers seconded to PM's Diplomatic Protection Squad.


Coming soon, bit by bit, all those callous oppression the people are being treated will come full circle as a few more unnatural deaths occurred amongst those who participated in this mass orgy of stripping the nation's wealth come undone. Move aside, Marcos, , move aside Suharto, you guys were so poor....


+++


A submarine does not and cannot deter an opponent and may not safeguard Malaysian sovereignty as it could be seen as a move to put pressure towards an arms race. If that is the case, could the purchase of the submarines be a waste of money?

By Masterwordsmith

I wonder if you have read THIS REPORT HERE headlined Malaysia's Submarine Scandal Erupts in France that was written by John Berthelsen.

Excerpt from the Asia Sentinel (emphasis is my own to highlight details):

A potentially explosive scandal in Malaysia over the billion-dollar purchase of French submarines, a deal engineered by then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak, has broken out of the domestic arena with the filing of a request to investigate bribery and kickbacks from the deal in a Paris court.

Although the case has been contained for eight years in the cozy confines of Malaysia's courts and parliament, which are dominated by the ruling National Coalition, French lawyers William Bourdon, Renaud Semerdjian and Joseph Breham put an end to that when they filed it with Parisian prosecutors on behalf of the Malaysian human rights organization Suaram, which supports good-government causes.

Judges in the Paris Prosecution Office have been probing a wide range of corruption charges involving similar submarine sales and the possibility of bribery and kickbacks to top officials in France, Pakistan and other countries. The Malaysian piece of the puzzle was added in two filings, on Dec. 4, 2009 and Feb. 23 this year.

For two years, Parisian prosecutors, led by investigating judges Francoise Besset Francoise Besset and Jean-Christophe Hullin, have been gingerly investigating allegations involving senior French political figures and the sales of submarines and other weaponry to governments all over the world. French news reports have said the prosecutors have backed away from some of the most serious charges out of concern for the political fallout.

The allegations relate to one of France's biggest defense conglomerates, the state-owned shipbuilder DCN, which merged with the French electronics company Thales in 2005 to become a dominant force in the European defense industry. DCN's subsidiary Armaris is the manufacturer of Scorpene-class diesel submarines sold to India, Pakistan and Malaysia among other countries. All of the contracts, according to the lawyers acting for Suaram, a Malaysian human rights NGO, are said to be suspect.

With Najib having moved on from the defense portfolio he held when the deal was put together in 2002 to become prime minister and head of the country's largest political party, the mess has the potential to become a major liability for the government and the United Malays National Organisation. Given the power of UMNO, it is unlikely the scandal would ever get a complete airing in a Malaysian court, which is presumably why Suaram reached out to French prosecutors.


CLICK HERE TO THIS MUST READ ARTICLE !!!!



Well, we all know about this alleged scandal and many can probably recite it backwards. More importantly, may TRUTH AND JUSTICE PREVAIL!!!!

Just in case you cannot remember details, here's some background information.

The Scorpene submarines are at the very heart of the continuing controversy over the death of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a 28-year old Mongolian translator who was cruelly and brutally C4-ed to her tragic death.

These submarines were ordered in 2002 by our PM when his Defense Ministry entered a €1 billion (RM4.7 billion) deal with a French-Spanish shipyard, Armaris, for delivery of two new Scorpene and one refurbished Agosta conventional submarines to the Malaysian navy.

According to The Malaysian Insider AT THIS LINK, the Malaysian intermediary in the non-competitive tender was a company called Perimekar, which was then owned by another Malaysian company, Ombak Laut, wholly owned by Abdul Razak Baginda, head of a government-backed strategic studies think tank who was a close friend and adviser to Najib. The deal earned Perimekar a commission of €114 million.

When our PM was Defense Minister, a portfolio which he held for 14 years until last year, Malaysia's armed services became notable for their multiple sources of equipment because the country witnessed moves to increase the number of big arms contracts.

According to Asia Sentinel at THIS LINK:

Najib had commissioned a huge military buildup to upgrade Malaysia's armed forces including the purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines and the lease of a third, a retired French Navy Agosta-class boat, for US$1 billion. The two submarines were designed by France's DCNS naval shipbuilder and built in partnership with Spain's Navantia. Both companies are state owned. The deal earned a commission of €114 million for a company owned by Najib's best friend, Abdul Razak Baginda, once the head of a Kuala Lumpur political think tank.

Perimekar, a company owned by Abdul Razak Baginda, received the €114 million for “coordination and support services” – 11 percent of the sale price of the submarines. Zainal Abidin, then the deputy defense minister, told a parliamentary inquiry that such commissions were commonplace in Malaysia. No further inquiry was made as to the commission, nor was any attempt made to determine what coordination and support services Perimekar might be providing.However, it might pay to take a look at some other deals in which top French politicians were involved in, some of them along with DCN, and to ask whether all of that €114 actually went to Razak Baginda, or if some, with the complicity of Malaysian politicians, went into the pockets of their French counterparts.

There is plenty of reason to entertain that possibility. French politicians seem to have a knack for backhanders. On October 26, in a trial that centered on illegal arms sales to Angola, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, the son of the late president Francois Mitterand, was given a two-year suspended sentence and a €375,000 fine for receiving embezzled funds. The court ruled that he had accepted millions of euros in "consultant fees" on the arms deals between 1993 and 1998. In the dock with him were 42 people accused of selling weapons to Angola in defiance of a UN arms embargo, or of taking payments from the arms dealers and using their influence to facilitate the sales. CLICK HERE TO READ THIS MUST-READ ARTICLE.

In September last year, The Malaysian Insider carried an article called "Submarines will safeguard Malaysian sovereignty" where Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin said that the acquisition of submarines for the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) is the Malaysian government’s biggest commitment to enhancing the capability of its armed forces in safeguarding the sovereignty of Malaysian waters from any threat.

A month later in NST at THIS LINK, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad told the Dewan Rakyat that the purchase of two Scorpene-class submarines, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Razak, was not made through an open tender as doing so would expose the country's defence system. Then, he explained that the first submarine, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, is manned by 32 crewmen comprising 15 officers.

According to the same report, he also said that the maintenance cost for the two submarines, including spare parts, is about RM270 million a year and that the maintenance is being done at the Sepanggar naval base which is now fully operational.

In another report in The Star in March 2009:

THE Finance Ministry has rejected the terms and rates offered by a local company to provide rescue and support services on board the two newly-acquired submarines. Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusof said that on Aug 25, last year, the ministry approved a company’s offer to provide submarine escape and rescue services for a 20-year period at RM98.4mil per year.

“However, the Finance Ministry disagreed with the rates and the ministry is now re-negotiating for a lower rental rate and shorter service period of six years,” he said when winding-up the motion of thanks on the Royal Address on points relating to the ministry.

Abu Seman said the contract was awarded to the company through direct negotiations as the navy wanted to gain full knowledge on submarine rescue procedures and also to get the best terms for the services.

I am sure many Malaysians are concerned about the high cost of the purchase and maintenance of the scorpene submarines which can be damaged easily. Is it necessary to spend such a high amount on two submarines which are not a defensive vehicles but can merely be used to spy and as mobile platforms to launch a first strike with second strike capabilities against ground assets of a foreign nation. A submarine does not and cannot deter an opponent and may not safeguard Malaysian sovereignty as it could be seen as a move to put pressure towards an arms race. If that is the case, could the purchase of the submarines be a waste of money?

In Submarines add depth to Singapore defence arsenal by Richard A. Bitzinger, the writer said, "All these trends add up to something much more than the “mere” modernisation of naval forces. Depending on how these forces are utilised, they could have far-reaching repercussions on regional peace and stability. As such, these developments need to be studied for possibly negative consequences as well.


http://masterwordsmith-unplugged.blogspot.com/2010/04/explosive-submarine-scandal-erupts.html


http://malaysia-today.net/index.php...l-erupts&catid=84:archives-2010&Itemid=100149

Scorpene scandal: French police raid DCNS



(AFP) - French financial police have searched the offices of naval arms manufacturer DCNS and industrial group Thales in connection with a probe into the sale of submarines to Malaysia, a judicial source said today.

Documents were seized in the operation, which was carried out last week, the source added.

Thales declined to comment on the matter.

DCNS told AFP it "neither confirms nor denies this information."

"A judicial investigation is under way and we can make no comment."

The Paris prosecutor's office in March opened an investigation into the 2002 sale following a complaint lodged last year by the Malaysian human rights group Suaram.

The group alleges that Armaris, a subsidiary of Thales and the DCN, as the DCNS was formerly known, paid a commission of 114 million euros (140 million dollars) to the Malaysian company Perimekar, linked to people close to now Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Najib in 2002 was defence minister and was responsible for negotiating the contract.

Since 2000, the payment of commissions on contracts linked to foreign leaders amounts to corruption under French law.

The DCN in 2002 joined Thales and Spanish naval construction group Navantia in a contract to sell Malaysia three submarines for around one billion euros.

A spokesman for the Malaysian prime minister's office in late April insisted there was "no case" to answer.

He maintained that the deal had been free of graft and that Perimekar had not improperly benefited from it.


http://malaysia-today.net/index.php...d-dcn&catid=19:newscommentaries&Itemid=100131

Say, hypothetically, its proven in the French court that Najib is the one that ordered the killing. What next? You think Najib going to care? At most no more ties/relation with France. Malaysia still has all these middle eastern country it calls "brothers" to deal with.

For a country that charges their ex-deputy Prime Minister for sodomy n created a joke for all of us. Do you think m&ds will care for a foreigner?

http://malaysia-chronicle.blogspot.com/2010/06/as-public-interest-rises- french.html


As public interest rises,

French prosecutors intensify subs probe



Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle



Amid growing public disquiet, French prosecutors are intensifying their probe into a series of corruption scandals involving state-controlled arms makers DCNS and Thales – vendors of naval ships to several Asian countries including two Scorpene submarines sold to the Malaysian government.

“The French people are getting very interested in the scandals and they are questioning why their politicians and firms are getting involved in unsavory activities just so that they can sell ships to a bunch of third world countries,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“The questions of morality and ethics are being asked by the French NGOs, who have been campaigning against the rich helping themselves to more riches and benefiting at the expenses of the masses and the poor - especially those in the developing countries.”

Tian was in Paris last week together with several other prominent Malaysian activists. Kuala Lumpur-based NGO Suaram had lodged a complaint with the French authorities earlier this year.

They sought an update from the French police, who two weeks ago had raided the offices of DCNS and Thales, confiscating some documents to help in their probe of a RM5 billion submarines deal sealed between the two French firms and the Malaysian government in 2002.

Since then, allegations have erupted that the two firms may have paid some kick-backs to Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was the Defense Minister sanctioning the purchase at that time. The commission is believed to have been in the region of at least 114 million euros or RM540 million.The submarines were delivered last year.

Greed and murder

Like a similar case involving Taiwan, the Malaysian deal has been marred by a mysterious murder – that of a beautiful Mongolian translator Altantuyaa Shaaribuu. She had threatened to blow the whistle if she did not get her share of the commission from Najib’s close associate Razak Baginda. Altantuya, who could speak four languages including Russian, was believed to have acted as a go-between for the French firms and Baginda.

In Taiwan, as many as eight people are believed to have been murdered to stop them from exposing their case and even today, the current French government is unhappy with MaYing-Jeou’s administration for insisting on a full clean-up and has retaliated by withdrawing defense personnel from the island.

“That is not a wise move because more and more French people see these as despicable acts that their government should distance themselves from. The French taxpayers are also starting to wise up to the fact that they may end up footing the bill for the misdeeds of certain of their own political leaders, their naval firms and even the culprits in the foreign governments that got special deals from them,” Tian said.

Taxpayers demand compensation

The Taiwanese Navy took their case to court and won a massive US$861 million payment from the defense giant Thales, which is 27 percent owned by the French government, for sanctioning the payment of kickbacks to Taiwanese, Chinese and French officials in the purchase of the Lafayette-class stealth frigates in the 1990s.

The Taiwanese Navy filed the case in 2001, alleging it violated Article 18 of the contract signed with Thales, which banned the payment of commissions that are seen as thinly veiled kickbacks.

Taiwan bought 60 of the aircraft from France, along with missiles, at a cost of US$5.2 billion. France has since had to deliver more than US$3 million in compensation for parts and maintenance for the planes, some of which developed engine problems.

Apart from Malaysia and Taiwan, civil rights groups in India and Pakistan are also demanding similar compensation for kick-backs allegedly paid out by the French firms to corrupt government officials, forcing Indian and Pakistani taxpayers - just like those in Malaysia - to foot an inflated price for the arms ordered.

http://malaysia-chronicle.blogspot.com/2010/06/as-public-interest-rises-french.html

http://www.malaysia-today.net/index...&catid=16:from-around-the-blogs&Itemid=100132

Altantuya murder: Summer sizzle from private eye Bala, MACC

najib's obliterated pussy and ah loong can connects the dots...
Tanjung Pagar, 300 hectares of land...
All roads lead to...
...


Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

An explosive summer encounter in London with potentially far-reaching consequences can be expected if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission does indeed carry out its plan to interview private investigator P Balasubramaniam sometime in the middle of next month.

“Sorry to be cynical but I’ll believe it when I see it. It is high time that the MACC walk its talk. It has been promising to meet Bala but has it gone to London yet? I mean this is not a new development, it should have already met and interviewed Bala,” PKR Youth Chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin told Malaysia Chronicle.

“It is also high time for the MACC to make public the status of their investigations. No less than Nazim Razak, the brother of our prime minister, has been identified by Bala as the one who gave him money to retract his statutory declaration and flee Malaysia. The MACC cannot close one eye just because the very top people are involved.”

Two men sentenced to hang

Bala’s sensational revelation about the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case has made him the focal point of fresh investigations that may possibly alter the fate of two policemen sentenced to hang for her killing.

Both men were the former bodyguards of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor. They have insisted they did not know Altantuya and could not have any motive to kill her. In his plea for mitigation, one of the men told the court that he was a mere pawn in a bigger game. However, he named no names or gave further details.

The Altanutya case is a complex tale of greed, international intrigue, sex and homicide. The beautiful 28-year old Mongolian was a translator, who could speak four languages including Russian. Since her 2006 murder, she has been tagged as a modern-day Mata Hari by the foreign press for her role as a go-between in a multi-billion dollar deal between the Malaysian defense ministry and French defense firms DCNS and Thales.

Najib, Rosmah and his close associate Razak Baginda have been implicated in her killing. Altantuya was believed to have been shot in the head and blown up with military-grade explosives after threatening to expose Baginda because he did not pay her a share of the RM570 million kickback obtained from DCNS and Thales.

Currently, there is a separate investigation being conducted by the French police who are probing the corruption angle and if French authorities were involved in inducing Najib – who was then the defense minister – to order two Scorpene submarines worth RM6.7 billion from DCNS and Thales.

Najib and Rosmah have denied ever knowing Altantuya. Baginda, who admitted being her lover, was controversially acquitted of having abetted the two cops in her killing.

Statements taken from Nazim, Deepak

Bala was the private investigator hired by Baginda to keep an eye on Altantuya and to persuade her to return to Mongolia. He was among those who last saw her outside Baginda’s house before she was taken away in a car by the two cops. On that night, Bala also saw seated in a Proton car parked nearby to Baginda’s house Nasir Safar, a long-time special aide to Najib.

He has gone on record with this information and has also stated several more pieces of information that drags the Malaysian premier deeper into the conspiracy. One of the more shocking revelations was that she had been Najib’s mistress and it was he who had introduced her to Baginda, who later also became her lover.

Other shocking revelations were that she was pregnant and that she had pleaded with the cops not to kill her.

However, less than 24 hours after making the statutory declaration and announcing it at a press conference, Bala retracted it and went missing until late last year.


When he resurfaced, Bala told of how Nazim and Deepak Jaikishan, a businessman close to Rosmah, had threatened him and offered him money to leave Malaysia.

According a Berita Harian news report, the MACC will send three officers to meet Bala at a venue in London to be agreed upon by both sides. The news report also said that the MACC had already taken statements from both Nazim and Deepak.

http://malaysia-today.net/index.php...-macc&catid=19:newscommentaries&Itemid=100131
http://malaysia-chronicle.blogspot.com/2010/06/altantuya-murder-summer-sizzle-from.html

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

With less than a week to go before a highly-anticipated meeting in London between Malaysian anti-graft officers and a private investigator who holds in the palm of his hand potentially lethal information about Prime Minister Najib Razak, speculation is red-hot that a "death squad" may be sent to assassinate him.

“My sixth sense told me that these MACC officers are not sent to London to interview Bala but could be on a mission to silence Bala and his lawyers in London. These are the so-called "Death Squad" sent by Najib. They are prepared for any eventuality, even to the extent of spending time in the London jail. The stakes are much too high for Najib to ignore. Dead man tells No Tale! This is what Najib wants!”

That was just one in a whole barrage of comments appearing on the Internet where stories about Najib, private eye P Balasubramaniam and their roles in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder and Scorpene submarines scandal have been featured nearly non-stop every day since news of the unexpected meeting broke.

Will the MACC really go through with it?

Malaysians have just about given up on their authorities pursuing the case. Most people still believe the meeting will be aborted at the last minute because the information that Bala holds may be so momentous it could topple the ruling BN government, and even put Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor behind bars.

According to top blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the venue for the July 5th and 6th meeting (Monday and Tuesday) will take place at the Holiday Villa in London. Government-controlled newspapers have reported that three officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will finally meet Bala to record his statement.

The Malaysian authorities have been slow to accept Bala’s offer to help in investigations. Initially, the MACC gave excuses including insisting on meeting in nearby Singapore, where the government is perceived as being pro-Najib and may send its officers to intercept Bala.

The MACC also refused to allow Bala’s three lawyers to be present at their proposed meeting.

“Maybe this is what they want. They don’t really want to take Bala’s statement because they are worried about what he is going to say. Bala is also going to bring all sorts of documents, which include evidence of the money he was paid to change his Statutory Declaration and come out with the SD2 to reverse what he said in SD1,” Raja Petra said in his Monday posting entitled MACC Officers may face arrest in London.

Suspicious minds

However, according to the latest news reports, the MACC has now relented and will allow Bala to have a lawyer present. Its sudden acquiescence sparked instant suspicion, hence the swirl of rumors of a hit squad being rustled up to greet Bala.

In a letter to MACC investigator Supt Abdul Rahman Bachok made available to the press, Bala’s lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu said:

“You have said in your June 21 letter that MACC protocol does not allow a lawyer to be present when MACC officials take statements from witnesses. We want to inform you that we don’t agree with your view as our client has a right under the Constitution to have a lawyer of his choice when giving testimony and this overrides any protocol practiced by your office. So we will await your presence in London on July 5.”

In 2008, Bala shocked the nation with a statutory declaration that implicated Najib, Rosmah and their friend Razak Baginda in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu. In his statutory declaration, Bala said Altantuya had been Najib's mistress before he passed her onto Baginda.

Bala was hired by Baginda to keep Altantuya from harassing him for money. The private eye also revealed that Altantuya was in Malaysia to collect her US$500,000 share of commission from a submarines deal Najib had entered into in 2002 with French firm DCNS.

But in less than 24 hours, Bala issued another statutory declaration retracting the first. He then disappeared, resurfacing only in late 2009, with an offer to help the MACC provided that they met in a ‘safe’ country.

Bala gave interviews and was recorded on video telling how and why he had to flee Malaysia for the safety of his family. He claimed he was offered RM5 million by Najib’s brother, Nazim Razak, and a business associate of Rosmah’s, Deepak Jaikishan, to keep silent and not to return to Malaysia.

Related Stories:
Big-name French politicians may be involved in M'sian subs deal
A warning to Najib, a weapon for his foes and a disaster for Malaysia...

So there you have it. The MACC officers, PI Bala, and Bala’s three lawyers will all be in London next week. But instead of Bala’s statement being recorded will we see the MACC officers being marched off to jail instead?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

MACC is due to record Private Investigator P. Balasubramaniam’s statement on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th July 2010. The venue is the Holiday Villa in London. According to Berita Harian and The Star, the event has already been confirmed and Bala and his three lawyers are scheduled to be in London during that period.

The latest, however, is that MACC has written to Bala’s lawyers to inform them that the lawyers will not be allowed to be present when Bala’s statement is recorded. The lawyers are adamant that they be present and will not back down on the issue. If MACC also does not back down then assume that the entire session is going to be aborted.

Maybe this is what they want. They don’t really want to take Bala’s statement because they are worried about what he is going to say. Bala is also going to bring all sorts of documents, which include evidence of the money he was paid to change his Statutory Declaration and come out with the SD2 to reverse what he said in SD1.

I have spoken to a group of British lawyers about this and they are planning to be at the Holiday Villa on the morning of Monday 5th July to challenge MACC on point of law.

MACC can’t quote Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Act or Official Secrets Act and impose these laws on British soil, the British lawyers told me. In Britain, every person, even a witness, has the right to legal representation. It is against British law for MACC to forbid Bala’s lawyers from being present while his statement is being recorded.

Anyway, Bala is giving his statement voluntarily. There is no summons or warrant issued against him. Bala is not compelled to give his statement if he does not wish to and there is nothing MACC can do. “So why play hard ball?” asked the British lawyers.

Furthermore, Britain has the Freedom of Information Act. So MACC can’t use Malaysia’s Official Secrets Act to challenge Britain’s Freedom of Information Act, added the British lawyers.

If MACC wants to conduct an illegal operation in London then we shall have to bring this matter to the attention of the British police and get the MACC officers arrested and charged, the British lawyers said.

This is Britain and not Malaysia, which practices the law of the jungle, added the lawyers. The MACC officers can’t disregard the law and push it’s weight around in Britain like they do in Malaysia. They will find themselves in trouble with the law if they try that.

So there you have it. The MACC officers, PI Bala, and Bala’s three lawyers will all be in London next week. But instead of Bala’s statement being recorded will we see the MACC officers being marched off to jail instead?

I think I will hang around the Holiday Villa with my camera next Monday just to witness the fun. And I am sure many Special Branch officers from Bukit Aman will also be there with their cameras to take shots of me as well. By the way, I will be the person wearing a French cap, American jeans, Polo shirt, holding a Japanese camera, and with a Cuban cigar in my mouth.

Now that is what I call globalisation.


http://www.malaysia-today.net/index...london&catid=20:no-holds-barred&Itemid=100087
Translated into BM at: http://gomalaysian.blogspot.com/2010/06/pegawai-macc-mungkin-ditangkap-di.html

MACC no-show​

The press conference on 7th July will still go on. It will be at 11.00am at the Holiday Villa in London. Bala and his lawyers will no doubt not be telling the world what MACC asked him and what he replied. Instead, they will be telling the world what Bala would have told MACC had the session not been aborted.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Actually, this was already anticipated. MACC had initially wanted to record private investigator P. Balasubramaniam’s statement in the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore. That would have been as good as asking Bala to go to Bukit Aman for his statement to be recorded.

Of course, Bala’s lawyers disagreed and insisted that the meeting be held in London, the Holiday Villa to be exact. After a certain period of silence, MACC finally came back and agreed to the Holiday Villa London but insisted that they book the meeting room.

That was no problem. After all, they would be paying for it and as long as it is in the Holiday Villa who cares which room it is.

The reason why MACC wanted to make the room arrangements is because they wanted the entire session to be confidential and covered by Malaysia’s Official Secrets Act. This means Bala would not be allowed to reveal what transpired during his meeting with MACC. And they were also worried that if Bala’s lawyers arranged for the meeting room they may plant bugs to record his session with MACC.

What MACC failed to realise is that you no longer need to plant bugs in the meeting room. You can record whatever transpires from another building across the road or from a parked van outside the building. And you can zero in and pick up exactly what you want without too much interference from other goings-on.

Anyway, up to yesterday, MACC did not contact Holiday Villa about the booking of the meeting room. Bala’s lawyer then wrote to MACC telling them that since they have not made any booking then the booking will be done on their behalf. The lawyer also wrote to Holiday Villa to inform them that the meeting room is being booked on behalf of MACC and that MACC would be paying for it.

That was when MACC decided to announce that the session has been aborted.

MACC wanted to impose Malaysian laws under the Official Secrets Act and Anti-Corruption Act on Bala. But these laws can’t be enforced in the UK and in the UK you just can’t deny a person legal representation or stifle information, as there is a Freedom of Information Act.

What MACC wanted to do was to have a secret or confidential meeting with Bala without the presence of his lawyers and then go back to Malaysia and announce that they have taken Bala’s statement and have found nothing to incriminate Najib or his family in any criminal act. This would work only if no one else knows what Bala told MACC. But if the interview were to be made public or Bala’s lawyers were also in the meeting then this would not work.

MACC wanted three days with Bala -- 5th, 6th and 7th July. But Bala’s lawyers were going to give MACC only two days because on the third day, 7th July, they were going to hold a press conference to inform the world what MACC asked Bala and what Bala replied over those two days.

MACC wanted the interview embargoed and the last thing they need is for Bala and his three lawyers to hold a press conference on the third day and pass documents, evidence and tape recordings to the media.

MACC realised that a trap had been laid and they were walking right into it. They tried to determine the ‘rules of engagement’ but discovered that these rules will only apply in Malaysia and not in the UK.

The safest thing, therefore, would be to call off the session with Bala.

But the press conference on 7th July will still go on. It will be at 11.00am at the Holiday Villa in London. Bala and his lawyers will no doubt not be telling the world what MACC asked him and what he replied. Instead, they will be telling the world what Bala would have told MACC had the session not been aborted.

This is heads I win, tails you lose. Either way Bala and his lawyers are going to have the last word. And there is nothing MACC or the Malaysian government can do about it.

MACC walked into a trap and by withdrawing they walked into an even bigger trap.

In the meantime, just to recap, watch the videos below. These have previously been published and this, plus more, is what Bala will be confirming in the press conference of 7th July 2010.

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SEE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tVzHDuyzyE

http://malaysia-today.net/index.php...o-show&catid=20:no-holds-barred&Itemid=100087

MACC chickens out on London meeting with Bala



Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

FINAL UPDATE As expected, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has chickened out of plans to meet private investigator P Balasubramaniam in London next week.

“This doesn’t speak well about their ability to be fearless or even serious corruption fighters. It also underscores the walls of conspiracy in the whole Altantuya murder-Scorpene submarines scandal,”
PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“There is no need to ask who the Attorney General and the MACC are trying to protect, it is obviously our Prime Minister Najib Razak. But if they are trying to save him embarrassment, this is the worst way because it only incriminates him even more and tarnishes the already wafer-thin credibility of our institutions.”

Both the MACC and the Attorney-General's chambers report directly to the Prime Minister.

Bad advice from the Attorney-General

According to a report from online news portal Malaysiakini, MACC deputy chief of operations Mohd Shukri Abdull had said his commission decided to cancel the London interview due to 'legal considerations'.

Instead of meeting face-to-face, Shukri said Attorney-General Gani Patail had asked that questions be submitted to Bala's lawyer and the answers be returned in an affidavit form. "We will submit the questions to the witness' lawyer tomorrow," said Shukri.

Shukri however admitted that a past case involving tycoon Eric Chua was not allowed as evidence by the courts. Another MACC director Abdul Razak Musa said even if Bala's lawyers sent them the affidavit, the document would not hold much weight unless Bala himself agreed to testify in court.

"This begs the question of why then does our AG Gani Patail give such advice. If they know the affidavit won't hold water, then why use this route when a nice cozy meeting place has already been arranged in London," PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin told Malaysia Chronicle.

"This time, the rakyat must not let Najib or Gani Patail off the hook. The AG should be grilled for giving bad advice and for not taking steps to protect taxpayers money. His performance should be rated and his KPI publicly announced by Najib."

Death Squad

Three MACC officers were due to meet Bala and his lawyer at the Holiday Villa in London on Monday and Tuesday. This is not the first time that the MACC has drawn fire for its snail’s-pace work on the Altantuya-Scorpenes scandal.

Since Bala re-surfaced late last year, after implicating Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor in a statutory declaration in 2008, the MACC has been under pressure to explain why it did not accept Bala’s offer to help in investigations.

Bala had invited the MACC to record his statement. His conditions were that it be held in a neutral country like the United Kingdom and that his lawyers were present. But the Malaysian authorities stonewalled. From the choice of countries to the type and location of the venue and even the number of lawyers that Bala could take to the interview was disputed.

No wonder then that the MACC's sudden acquiescence late last week sparked a rash of red-hot and bizarre speculation. Commentators on the Internet began punting that Najib would send a hit-squad to finish off Bala, who is believed to hold in the palm of his hand information so momentous it could topple the BN government, and even put the PM and his wife behind bars.

"My sixth sense told me that these MACC officers are not sent to London to interview Bala but could be on a mission to silence Bala and his lawyers in London. These are the so-called "Death Squad". They are prepared for any eventuality, even to the extent of spending time in the London jail. The stakes are much too high for Najib to ignore!”

This was just one such comment that Malaysia Chronicle highlighted on Tuesday. It reflects the depth of mistrust that Malaysians on the whole feel for their top leader.



Too good to be true

Indeed, Najib has only himself to blame for not coming clean on the scandal. This latest pullout by the MACC erases the little credibility he snatched back when he swore on the Quran that he had never known the beautiful Altantuya Shaariibuu.

"We were pleasantly surprised when the MACC finally agreed to meet Bala and allowed his lawyer to be present. But it was too good to be true," SUARAM director Cynthia Gabriel told Malaysia Chronicle.

In his statutory declaration (see below) Bala said the 28-year Mongolian translator, who was murdered in Malaysia in 2006, had come to collect her US$500,000 share of commission from submarines deal from Najib's friend, Razak Baginda.

Bala also said Baginda had told him it was Najib who introduced Altantuya at a diamond show in Singapore. According to Bala, the PM, who was the defense minister at that time, had had a sexual relationship with Altantuya and wanted to pass her onto Baginda.

In 2002, Najib ordered two Scorpene submarines worth RM6.7 billion from France's DCNS, while an obscure firm controlled by Baginda was given a 114 million euros or RM570 million contract that was booked as co-ordination fees. Civil rights groups have however argued it was a thinly-veiled kickback paid with taxpayers' money.

Bala retracted his declaration with 24 hours of making it. He has said he was offered RM5 million by Najib's brother, Nazim Razak, and a friend of Rosmah's, Deepak Jaikishan, to leave the country and keep silent.




http://malaysia-chronicle.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-post_5872.html

http://malaysia-today.net/index.php...-bala&catid=19:newscommentaries&Itemid=100131

(Below is the statutory declaration Bala lodged in 2008)



STATUTORY DECLARATION

I, Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal a Malaysian Citizen of full age and residing at [deleted] do solemly and sincerely declare as follows :-

1. I have been a police officer with the Royal Malaysian Police Force having jointed as a constable in 1981 attached to the Police Field Force. I was then promoted to the rank of lance Corporal and finally resigned from the Police Force in 1998 when I was with the Special Branch.

2. I have been working as a free lance Private Investigator since I left the Police Force.

3. Sometime in June or July 2006, I was employed by Abdul Razak Baginda for a period of 10 days to look after him at his office at the Bangunan Getah Asli, Jalan Ampang between the hours of 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m each working day as apparently he was experiencing disturbances from a third party.

4. I resigned from this job after 2 ½ days as I was not receiving any proper instructions.

5. I was however re-employed by Abdul Razak Baginda on the 05-10-2006 as he had apparently received a harassing phone call from a Chinese man calling himself ASP Tan who had threatened him to pay his debts. I later found out this gentleman was in fact a private investigator called Ang who was employed by a Mongolian woman called Altantuya Shaaribuu.

6. Abdul Razak Baginda was concerned that a person by the name of Altantuya Shaaribuu, a Mongolian woman, was behind this threat and that she would be arriving in Malaysia very soon to try and contact him.

7. Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that he was concerned by this as he had been advised that Altantuya Shaaribuu had been given some powers by a Mongolian ‘bomoh’ and that he could never look her in the face because of this.

8. When I enquired as to who this Mongolian woman was, Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that she was a friend of his who had been introduced to him by a VIP and who asked him to look after her financially.

9. I advised him to lodge a police report concerning the threatening phone call he had received from the Chinese man known as ASP Tan but he refused to do so as he informed me there were some high profile people involved.

10. Abdul Razak Baginda further told me that Altantuya Shaaribuu was a great liar and good in convincing people. She was supposed to have been very demanding financially and that he had even financed a property for her in Mongolia.

11. Abdul Razak Baginda then let me listen to some voice messages on his handphone asking him to pay what was due otherwise he would be harmed and his daughter harassed.

12. I was therefore supposed to protect his daughter Rowena as well.

13. On the 09.10.2006 I received a phone call from Abdul Razak Baginda at about 9.30 a.m. informing me that Altantuya was in his office and he wanted me there immediately. As I was in the midst of a surveillance, I sent my assistant Suras to Abdul Razak Baginda’s office and I followed a little later. Suras managed to control the situation and had persuaded Altantuya and her two friends to leave the premises. However Altantuya left a note written on some Hotel Malaya note paper, in English, asking Abdul Razak Baginda to call her on her handphone (number given) and wrote down her room number as well.

14. Altantuya had introduced herself to Suras as ‘Aminah’ and had informed Suras she was there to see her boyfriend Abdul Razak Baginda.

15. These 3 Mongolian girls however returned to Abdul Razak Baginda’s office at the Bangunan Getah Asli, Jalan Ampang again, the next day at about 12.00 noon. They did not enter the building but again informed Suras that they wanted to meet Aminah’s boyfriend, Abdul Razak Baginda.

16. On the 11.10.2006, Aminah returned to Abdul Razak Baginda’s office on her own and gave me a note to pass to him, which I did. Abdul Razak Baginda showed me the note which basically asked him to call her urgently.

17. I suggested to Abdul Razak Baginda that perhaps it may be wise to arrange for Aminah to be arrested if she harassed him further, but he declined as he felt she would have to return to Mongolia as soon as her cash ran out.

18. In the meantime I had arranged for Suras to perform surveillance on Hotel Malaya to monitor the movements of these 3 Mongolian girls, but they recognized him. Apparently they become friends with Suras after that and he ended up spending a few nights in their hotel room.

19. When Abdul Razak Baginda discovered Suras was becoming close to Aminah he asked me to pull him out from Hotel Malaya.

20. On the 14.10.2006, Aminah turned up at Abdul Razak Baginda’s house in Damansara Heights when I was not there. Abdul Razak Baginda called me on my handphone to inform me of this so I rushed back to his house. As I arrived, I noticed Aminah outside the front gates shouting “Razak, bastard, come out from the house”. I tried to calm her down but couldn’t so I called the police who arrived in 2 patrol cars. I explained the situation to the police, who took her away to the Brickfields police station.

21. I followed the patrol cars to Brickfields police station in a taxi. I called Abdul Razak Baginda and his lawyer Dirren to lodge a police report but they refused.

22. When I was at the Brickfields police station, Aminah’s own Private Investigator, one Mr. Ang arrived and we had a discussion. I was told to deliver a demand to Abdul Razak Baginda for USD$500,000.00 and 3 tickets to Mongolia, apparently as commission owed to Aminah from a deal in Paris.

23. As Aminah had calmed down at this stage, a policewoman at the Brickfields police station advised me to leave and settle the matter amicably.

24. I duly informed Abdul Razak Baginda of the demands Aminah had made and told him I was disappointed that no one wanted to back me up in lodging a police report. We had a long discussion about the situation when I expressed a desire to pull out of this assignment.

25. During this discussion and in an attempt to persuade me to continue my employment with him, Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that :-

25.1 He had been introduced to Aminah by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a diamond exhibition in Singapore.

25.2 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak informed Abdul Razak Baginda that he had a sexual relationship with Aminah and that [deleted by nat out of respect to the family of the deceased].

25.3 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak wanted Abdul Razak Baginda to look after Aminah as he did not want her to harass him since he was now the Deputy Prime Minister.

25.4 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Abdul Razak Baginda and Aminah had all been together at a dinner in Paris.

25.5 Aminah wanted money from him as she felt she was entitled to a USD$500,000.00 commission on a submarine deal she assisted with in Paris.

26. On the 19.10.2006, I arrived at Abdul Razak Baginda’s house in Damansara Heights to begin my night duty. I had parked my car outside as usual. I saw a yellow proton perdana taxi pass by with 3 ladies inside, one of whom was Aminah. The taxi did a U-turn and stopped in front of the house where these ladies rolled down the window and wished me ‘Happy Deepavali’. The taxi then left.

27. About 20 minutes later the taxi returned with only Aminah in it. She got out of the taxi and walked towards me and started talking to me. I sent an SMS to Abdul Razak Baginda informing him “Aminah was here”. I received an SMS from Razak instructing me “To delay her until my man comes”.

28. Whist I was talking to Aminah, she informed me of the following :-

28.1 That she met Abdul Razak Baginda in Singapore with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

28.2 That she had also met Abdul Razak Baginda and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a dinner in Paris.

28.3 That she was promised a sum of USD$500,000.00 as commission for assisting in a Submarine deal in Paris.

28.4 That Abdul Razak Baginda had bought her a house in Mongolia but her brother had refinanced it and she needed money to redeem it.

28.5 That her mother was ill and she needed money to pay for her treatment.

6. That Abdul Razak Baginda had married her in Korea as her mother is Korean whilst her father was a Mongolian/Chinese mix.

28.7 That if I wouldn’t allow her to see Abdul Razak Baginda, would I be able to arrange for her to see Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

29. After talking to Aminah for about 15 minutes, a red proton aeroback arrived with a woman and two men. I now know the woman to be Lance Corporal Rohaniza and the men, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azahar. They were all in plain clothes. Azilah walked towards me while the other two stayed in the car.

30. Azilah asked me whether the woman was Aminah and I said ‘Yes’. He then walked off and made a few calls on his handphone. After 10 minutes another vehicle, a blue proton saga, driven by a Malay man, passed by slowly. The driver’s window had been wound down and the driver was looking at us.

31. Azilah then informed me they would be taking Aminah away. I informed Aminah they were arresting her. The other two persons then got out of the red proton and exchanged seats so that Lance Corporal Rohaniza and Aminah were in the back while the two men were in the front. They drove off and that is the last I ever saw of Aminah.

32. Abdul Razak Baginda was not at home when all this occurred.

33. After the 19.10.2006, I continued to work for Abdul Razak Baginda at his house in Damansara Heights from 7.00 p.m. to 8.00 a.m. the next morning, as he had been receiving threatening text messages from a woman called ‘Amy’ who was apparently ‘Aminah’s’ cousin in Mongolia.

34. On the night of the 20.10.2006, both of Aminah’s girl friends turned up at Abdul Razak Baginda’s house enquiring where Aminah was. I informed them she had been arrested the night before.

35. A couple of nights later, these two Mongolian girls, Mr. Ang and another Mongolian girl called ‘Amy’ turned up at Abdul Razak Baginda’s house looking for Aminah as they appeared to be convinced she was being held in the house.

36. A commotion began so I called the police who arrived shortly thereafter in a patrol car. Another patrol car arrived a short while later in which was the investigating officer from the Dang Wangi Police Station who was in charge of the missing persons report lodged by one of the Mongolians girls, I believe was Amy.

37. I called Abdul Razak Baginda who was at home to inform him of the events taking place at his front gate. He then called DSP Musa Safri and called me back informing me that Musa Safri would be calling handphone and I was to pass the phone to the Inspector from Dang Wangi Police Station.

38. I then received a call on my handphone from Musa Safri and duly handed the phone to the Dang Wangi Inspector. The conversation lasted 3 – 4 minutes after which he told the girls to disperse and to go to see him the next day.

39. On or about the 24.10.2006, Abdul Razak Baginda instructed me to accompany him to the Brickfields police station as he had been advised to lodge a police report about the harassment he was receiving from these Mongolian girls.

40. Before this, Amy had sent me an SMS informing me she was going to Thailand to lodge a report with the Mongolian consulate there regarding Aminah’s disappearance. Apparently she had sent the same SMS to Abdul Razak Baginda. This is why he told me he had been advised to lodge a police report.

41. Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that DPS Musa Safri had introduced him to one DSP Idris, the head of the Criminal division, Brickfields police station, and that Idris had referred him to ASP Tonny.

42. When Abdul Razak Baginda had lodged his police report at Brickfields police station, in front of ASP Tonny, he was asked to make a statement but he refused as he said he was leaving for overseas. He did however promise to prepare a statement and hand ASP Tonny a thumb drive. I know that this was not done as ASP Tonny told me.

43. However ASP Tonny asked me the next day to provide my statement instead and so I did.

44. I stopped working for Abdul Razak Baginda on the 26.10.2006 as this was the day he left for Hong Kong on his own.

45. In mid November 2006, I received a phone call from ASP Tonny from the IPK Jalan Hang Tuah asking me to see him regarding Aminah’s case. When I arrived there I was immediately arrested under S.506 of the Penal Code for Criminal intimidation.

46. I was then placed in the lock up and remanded for 5 days. On the third day I was released on police bail.

47. At the end of November 2006, the D9 department of the IPK sent a detective to my house to escort me to the IPK Jalan Hang Tuah. When I arrived, I was told I was being arrested under S.302 of the Penal Code for murder. I was put in the lock up and remanded for 7 days.

48. I was transported to Bukit Aman where I was interrogated and questioned about an SMS I had received from Abdul Razak Baginda on the 19.10.2006 which read “delay her until my man arrives”. They had apparently retrieved this message from Abdul Razak Baginda’s handphone.

49. They then proceeded to record my statement from 8.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. everyday for 7 consecutive days. I told them all I knew including everything Abdul Razak Baginda and Aminah had told me about their relationships with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak but when I came to sign my statement, these details had been left out.

50. I have given evidence in the trial of Azilah, Sirul and Abdul Razak Baginda at the Shah Alam High Court. The prosecutor did not ask me any questions in respect of Aminah’s relationship with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak or of the phone call I received from DSP Musa Safri, whom I believe was the ADC for Datuk Seri Najib Razak and/or his wife.

51. On the day Abdul Razak Baginda was arrested, I was with him at his lawyers office at 6.30 a.m. Abdul Razak Baginda informed us that he had sent Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak an SMS the evening before as he refused to believe he was to be arrested, but had not received a response.

52. Shortly thereafter, at about 7.30 a.m., Abdul Razak Baginda received an SMS from Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and showed, this message to both myself and his lawyer. This message read as follows :- “ I am seeing IGP at 11.00 a.m. today …… matter will be solved … be cool”.

53. I have been made to understand that Abdul Razak Baginda was arrested the same morning at his office in the Bangunan Getah Asli, Jalan Ampang.

54. The purpose of this Statutory declaration is to :-

54.1 State my disappointment at the standard of investigations conducted by the authorities into the circumstances surrounding the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu.

54.2 Bring to the notice of the relevant authorities the strong possibility that there are individuals other than the 3 accused who must have played a role in the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu.

54.3 Persuade the relevant authorities to reopen their investigations into this case immediately so that any fresh evidence may be presented to the Court prior to submissions at the end of the prosecutions case.

54.4 Emphasize the fact that having been a member of the Royal Malaysian Police Force for 17 years I am absolutely certain no police officer would shoot someone in the head and blow up their body without receiving specific instructions from their superiors first.

54.5. Express my concern that should the defence not be called in the said murder trial, the accused, Azilah and Sirul will not have to swear on oath and testify as to the instructions they received and from whom they were given.

55. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declaration Act 1960.

SUBCRIBED and solemnly )

declared by the abovenamed )

Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal ]

this day of 2008 )

Before me,

………………………………….

Commissioner for Oath

Kuala Lumpur




http://malaysia-chronicle.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-post_5872.html

RESPONSE TO PRESS RELEASE BY MACC RE: BALA INTERVIEW IN LONDON



Americk Sidhu


It is nothing less than astounding to now realize that an authority such as the MACC, who would have been expected to have done everything in their power to investigate the very serious allegations made against the Prime Minister, his wife and his brother, to now forfeit that opportunity on tenuous and exasperatingly flimsy grounds knowing full well that much preparation has gone into organizing this interview and to then pull out at the very last moment contrary to the false perceptions created by them up till now.


I refer to the press release by the MACC this afternoon to the effect that they will not be sending their officers to London to interview my client P.Balasubramaniam (Bala), as promised.

The excuses (they do not qualify as reasons), given are as follows:

1. That the MACC will instead submit questions to which my client will give his answers in affidavit form.

2. That the A.G's chambers had provided advice along these lines to the MACC.

3. That precedence has been established in the Eric Chia case to the effect that a witnesses statement recorded overseas is inadmissible in a Malaysian Court.

4. That even if an affidavit was sworn by Bala it would not hold much weight in court if he was not available to testify.

These statements appear to be full of contradictions, misguided assumptions and ill-devised excuses used to decline the invitation to interview Bala which has been so vehemently pursued by the MACC in the past.

The recording of a witnesses statement can take place anywhere in the world as this statement forms part of the investigations conducted by the MACC for the purposes of a potential prosecution and is not intended to be used as evidence in a Court of Law. If this were the case, then the statement recorded from Saiful in the ongoing Sodomy II trial of Anwar Ibrahim would have been willingly tendered by the prosecution as part of their case instead of being guarded jealously and hidden from view. So this is really no excuse for not recording a statement from Bala. It would never be tendered in court unless it is used to discredit the oral evidence of a witness if that evidence contradicts a previously recorded statement. This process is called impeachment. That is why a statement is first recorded.

The MACC have assumed that Bala will not turn up in Court to testify.

Why have they assumed this?

Bala is ever prepared to testify against those personalities who have caused him and his family untold misery for the past 2 years. Was it not Bala who surfaced to tell his story as soon as he was able? Has he ever shirked from his duty as a law abiding citizen to assist the authorities in whatever way he could without compromising his own safety? All Bala asks is that the authorities concerned ensure that his well being is preserved if he is required to testify. Nothing more nothing less.

Bala could quite easily have gone into forced exile with RM5 million in his pocket and his life would have been a lot easier. Instead he has come forward to expose the misdeeds perpetrated upon him by a host of unsavoury characters who stretch all the way to the personalities holding the highest positions in government and their immediate family members.

If the MACC requires signed depositions from Bala to wrap up their investigations, may I suggest they consult the documents available all over cyberspace in the form of Bala’s 1st SD released in July 2008 and the 3 parts of his Q&A released in November 2009. These documents exhaustively detail all issues involved in this conspiracy and have been available for a long time now. If this is all the MACC required, why suggest that their investigations could not proceed without the cooperation of Bala? Why did Nazri inform Parliament that the MACC were emasculated in continuing with their investigations because Bala could not be found?

Bala was available at all times and the MACC knew this. We have documents to prove we had informed them of our willingness to cooperate as far back as December last year. Why is everyone becoming so coy at the eleventh hour?

It is nothing less than astounding to now realize that an authority such as the MACC, who would have been expected to have done everything in their power to investigate the very serious allegations made against the Prime Minister, his wife and his brother, to now forfeit that opportunity on tenuous and exasperatingly flimsy grounds knowing full well that much preparation has gone into organizing this interview and to then pull out at the very last moment contrary to the false perceptions created by them up till now.

This turn of events has certainly destroyed what little credibility the MACC had left and has confirmed the suspicions held by most right thinking members of society that they are a body existing solely to protect the interests of the powers that be and to ensure that any opposition to the government is dealt with by harsh, brash, unnecessary and lopsided vehemence with the sole purpose of destroying any legitimate questioning of the excesses of the ruling regime so that power is perpetuated in the hands of their masters.

As far as I am concerned, and I know I speak for the team of lawyers representing Bala in this matter, that we will all be in London at the Holiday Villas, Bayswater at 10 am on the 5th July awaiting the arrival of the 3 MACC officers who are supposed to interview Bala as arranged and as promised.

Let me add that whatever advice the MACC may have received from the Attorney General's chambers is highly suspect and devoid of any legal basis, but instead smacks of a hastily assembled concoction of very weak excuses designed to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation for those who are obviously in control and who are able to hijack the machinations of the State and to manipulate the system to suit their own illegitimate agendas.

And if there are still any reservations as to whether the MACC were indeed genuinely planning on interviewing Bala in London then that misconception has now been destroyed by the fact that they had, up till now, not bothered to book the conference room at the Holiday Villas, Bayswater even though they had assured us they would handle the booking. They had never intended to interview Bala and have spent the past few weeks scrambling around for an excuse not to. The only problem is the excuse is ludicrous and everyone knows that.

http://www.malaysia-today.net/index...in-london&catid=18:letterssurat&Itemid=100129

French prosecutors to interview PI Bala over submarine deal


By K Kabilan

KUALA LUMPUR: French prosecutors will be interviewing private investigator P Balasubramaniam in Paris next week as part of their ongoing investigation into claims of corruption over a US$1.1 billion submarine deal linked to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Balasubramaniam's lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu told FMT that he was informed by French lawyers of this latest development yesterday.

“Balasubramaniam will be travelling to Paris later next week to talk to the French prosecutors,” he said.

He added that it was an irony that the French prosecutors were ready to talk to Balasubramaniam but not the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers.

He was referrring to the MACC's decision yesterday not to send its officers to London to record statements from Balasubramaniam in the murder trial of Mongolian Altantuya Shariibuu.

MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull had said Balasubramaniam would instead be asked to answer questions which would be submitted through his lawyer in the form of a sworn statement or affidavit, as advised by the Attorney-General.

Americk said he was disappointed with the MACC's decision not to fly out to London to meet Balasubramaniam as was previously agreed upon.

“I just find it interesting that the French don't seem to have a problem in taking Balasubramaniam's statement unlike our MACC and its legal advisers,” he said.

“We will, however, continue with our plan in London. We have arranged for a press conference on July 7 and that will proceed,” he added.

He also said that Balasubramaniam and his team of lawyers will be present at the Holiday Villas in Bayswater, London, at 10am on July 5 for the arrival of the three MACC officers who are supposed to interview Balasubramaniam as arranged and promised.

“Bala was available at all times and the MACC knew this. We have documents to prove we had informed them of our willingness to cooperate as far back as December last year. Why is everyone becoming so coy at the eleventh hour?

“It is nothing less than astounding to realise that an authority such as the MACC, which would have been expected to have done everything in its power to investigate the very serious allegations made against the prime minister, his wife and his brother, would now forfeit that opportunity on tenuous and exasperatingly flimsy grounds...

“They know full well that much preparation has gone into organising this interview and to then pull out at the very last moment is contrary to the false perceptions created by them up till now,” he said.

Controversial statutory declarations

Balasubramaniam created controversy on July 3, 2008, when he distributed a sworn deposition in connection with Altantuya’s murder.

His statement alleged links between Najib's close friend Abdul Razak Baginda and the deceased.

The next day, the private investigator retracted his statutory declaration and subsequently left the country with his family.

On Oct 27 last year, in the presence of three prominent lawyers, Balasubramian came out of hiding and reaffirmed that his first statutory declaration was true and that he was offered RM5 million to retract it.

In the no-holds-barred interview, he named businessmen Deepak -- who is said to be an associate of Rosmah Mansor, the prime minister's wife -- as the person who met him at a Rawang restaurant and made the cash offer.

He also claimed that Najib’s brother Nazim offered him RM5 million to retract the first statutory declaration, a charge which the prime minister has rubbished.

MACC had already recorded statements from Nazim and Deepak.

The French investigation, meanwhile, stemmed from a request of Malaysian human rights group which alleged that French shipbuilder DCN paid a commission of U$150 million (114 million euros) to a company called Perimekar in the sale of two Scorpene submarines to Malaysia.

Perimekar is linked to Abdul Razak Baginda and he was later acquitted on charges of abetting the 2006 murder of his mistress Altantuya, who was a translator in the submarine deal.

Najib, defense minister when the deal was brokered, has defended the submarines' purchase and denied any involvement in Altantuya's murder.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fm...tors-to-interview-pi-bala-over-submarine-deal

http://www.malaysia-today.net/index...deal-&catid=19:newscommentaries&Itemid=100131

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Mongolian Translator's Murder Case Still Alive


Mongolian government says it will fund a civil suit against Malaysia and Altantuya's onetime lover

The Mongolian government has agreed to put up RM60,000 (US$18,525) to fund a civil suit in Kuala Lumpur on behalf of the family of translator Altantuya Shaariibuu against the Malaysian government and the murdered woman's onetime lover, Abdul Razak Baginda, a former close friend of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Two of Najib's former bodyguards were convicted of the gruesome 2006 murder.

Although details are sketchy, remittance order issues were submitted to the Mongolian Cabinet during June meetings, a source in Ulan Bataar told Asia Sentinel. Some of the remittance orders were classified as secret, the source said. The case has strained relations between Malaysia and Mongolia, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying earlier that the government was carefully observing the trial of the two convicted murderers and had sent four letters through official channels asking that the case be prosecuted free of political influence.

Altantuya's death is at the center of a much larger scandal stemming from the billion-dollar purchase by the Malaysian government of two French submarines and the lease of a third in a deal engineered by Najib when he was defense minister. The purchase was routed through a company owned by Abdul Razak Baginda in a transaction that netted the company €114 million in “commission.”

French lawyers are investigating the case over allegations that large sums were kicked back to top French politicians. For two years, Parisian prosecutors have been investigating other allegations involving senior French political figures up to former French President Francois Mitterrand and the sales of submarines and other weaponry to governments all over the world. French news reports have said the prosecutors have backed away from some of the most serious charges out of concern for the political fallout.

As Asia Sentinel reported on April 16, the allegations relate to one of France's biggest defense conglomerates, the state-owned shipbuilder DCN, which merged with the French electronics company Thales in 2005 to become a dominant force in the European defense industry. DCN's subsidiary Armaris is the manufacturer of Scorpene-class diesel submarines sold to India, Pakistan and Malaysia among other countries. All of the contracts, according to lawyers acting for Suaram, a Malaysian human rights NGO, are said to be suspect. In April, Joseph Breham, one of the lawyers, flew to Kuala Lumpur to interview witnesses in the case. Altantuya told witnesses at her trial that she had been involved as a translator in the submarine matter and that she had been promised US$500,000 for her role.

After a marathon trial involving 75 witnesses, a court in the Malaysian suburb of Shah Alam exonerated Razak Baginda of involvement in her murder without his having to put on a defense. He almost immediately left the country for England. The two convicted bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, were members of an elite Malaysian police unit that normally exists to protect diplomats. Although one of the two told investigators they had been offered RM100,000 to kill the woman, the court did not attempt to find out who had offered them the money. Najib has repeatedly denied knowing her although a complex web of circumstantial evidence ties the two together. He has threatened to sue anyone who attempts to link him or his wife, Rosmah Mansour, to the case.

P Balasubramaniam, a private investigator and retired policeman hired by Abdul Razak to keep the jilted Altantuya away from him, filed a statutory declaration in a Kuala Lumpur court in 2007 alleging that Najib not only knew the murdered woman but was formerly her lover and introduced her to Abdul Razak to get rid of her because it would be unseemly to have a mistress when, as expected, he took over as prime minister. Balasubramaniam was intimidated into recanting his statement and promptly disappeared. He resurfaced to reiterate the charges and is scheduled to give a press conference on July 7 at 11 am in the Holiday Villa in London to give further details. Altantuya's father, Setev Shaariibuu, a university professor, has made it a longtime crusade to attempt to find out what really happened to his daughter. At one point he attempted to meet Najib at Malaysia's parliament building but was rebuffed. He is seeking RM100 million from the Malaysian government and Razak Baginda in the civil suit. However, he later told reporters he didn't have the money for the security bond, saying his efforts to get help from the Mongolian government had failed.

Karpal Singh, a Democratic Action Party leader and lawyer representing the Shaariibuu family, told the news portal Malaysian Insider that the RM60,000 had been transferred to his firm's account on Monday and that it would be deposited with the Shah Alam High Court, where the trial of the two bodyguards had taken place, on June 30. He had earlier said he would help Shaariibuu get the money from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition if necessary.

According to Malaysian Insider, the government and Abdul Razak said Shaariibuu should bear the cost of the civil suit. The court initially fixed the security bond at RM1.25 million, but lowered it to RM30,00 per party in March after Shaariibuu protested. Shaariibuu, the story said, is also required to pay Abdul Razak and the federal government a further sum of RM5,000 each for the cost of the court application.


http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2568&Itemid=178

PI Bala’s lawyer insists on London interview

By Adib Zalkapli
June 30, 2010


KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — The lawyer for P. Balasubramaniam said today that the private investigator insists on having his statement taken by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) in London.

Americk Sidhu said the MACC’s excuse for cancelling the London meeting had no legal basis.



“The recording of a witnesses statement can take place anywhere in the world as this statement forms part of the investigations conducted by the MACC for the purposes of a potential prosecution and is not intended to be used as evidence in a court of law,” said Americk in a statement.

“Let me add that whatever advice the MACC may have received from the Attorney General’s Chambers is highly suspect and devoid of any legal basis, but instead smacks of a hastily assembled concoction of very weak excuses designed to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation for those who are obviously in control,” he added.

Earlier today MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull said they were advised by the Attorney-General’s Chambers against interviewing the private investigator in London.

MACC officers were scheduled to interview him over his claims of a conspiracy in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu in London between July 5 and July 7.

MACC Legal Director Datuk Abdul Razak Musa said the validity of Balasubramaniam’s statement would not be recognised by local courts if it was recorded overseas.

He said the precedent was set in the case of Tan Sri Eric Chia, where a statement recorded overseas was not accepted.

“If this were the case, then the statement recorded from Saiful in the ongoing Sodomy II trial of Anwar Ibrahim would have been willingly tendered by the prosecution as part of their case instead of being guarded jealously and hidden from view,” said Americk.

“So this is really no excuse for not recording a statement from Bala. It would never be tendered in court unless it is used to discredit the oral evidence of a witness if that evidence contradicts a previously recorded statement. This process is called impeachment,” he said.

Americk also dismissed the need for Balasubramaniam to respond via an affidavit.

“If the MACC requires signed depositions from Bala to wrap up their investigations, may I suggest they consult the documents available all over cyberspace in the form of Bala’s 1st SD released in July 2008 and the 3 parts of his Q&A released in November 2009,” said Americk.

Balasubramaniam had linked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Altantuya in a statutory declaration made on October 27 2008.

But he retracted his claims via another sworn declaration the next day before leaving the country.

Najib has denied knowing Altantuya, who was murdered four years ago.

In October last year, Balasubramaniam emerged from hiding to claim that his first declaration was true and that he was offered RM5million to retract his statement.


http://www.malaysia-today.net/index...rview&catid=19:newscommentaries&Itemid=100131

PI Bala's lawyers will wait for MACC officers


(NST) KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyers for private investigator P. Balasubramaniam will wait for Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers to record their client's statement as planned earlier.

This was because the lawyers have yet to receive any official word from MACC on the cancellation.

Americk Sidhu, a member of Balasubramaniam's three-man legal team, said he will be flying to London from Perth today for the meeting, was scheduled for July 5 and 6.

"The person I have been in contact with at the MACC, Abdul Rahman Bachok, has not notified me over the cancellation.

"We have made prior arrangements to meet MACC officers and we will be at the Holiday Villa Hotel in London at 10am on Monday," he said in a telephone interview from Perth yesterday.

Sidhu said Balasubramaniam will arrive in London today from India.

Another of Balasubramaniam's counsel, Manjeet Singh Dhillon, is already in London.

"The lawyers have paid for their respective flights and hotel accommodation.

"They are not being sponsored by any party," Dhillon said.

"Our only intention is to assist the MACC and Bala in ensuring that justice is given consideration and that the perpetrators involved are brought to book," he added.

MACC Legal and Prosecution Division director Datuk Abdul Razak Musa had said that the decision not to record Balasubramaniam's statement was made after considering the case of Tan Sri Eric Chia where a statement taken from a witness abroad was not accepted as evidence in the corruption trial.

"In that case, the statement was dismissed because the witness who was in Japan refused to be present during trial here.

"But in our case, Balasubramanian is willing to testify here if he is given full protection," said Sidhu.

On Wednesday MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull said that instead of going to London to question Balasubramaniam, they have instead given a list of questions to his lawyer in the form of a sworn statement or affidavit.

"Why does the MACC want a lawyer to do its job?

"Since when has it (MACC) asked a lawyer to record statements on its behalf?," asked Sidhu.


http://www.malaysia-today.net/index...gmsoc&catid=19:newscommentaries&Itemid=100131

To pre-empt lurid Bala thrilla, Najib warns against believing RPK...



Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

UPDATED In a defensive move aimed at pre-empting calls for his resignation ahead of lurid details that are bound to emerge next week highlighting his role and relationship in the Altantuya murder and submarines graft case, Prime Minister Najib Razak has warned Malaysians not to believe top blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who operates the popular news portal Malaysia Today.

“If Raja Petra is funded by the opposition, it means that his statements are politically-motivated. We should weigh them carefully and not merely accepting them,” Najib was quoted telling national news agency Bernama.

Opposition leaders in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition however shot back.

"If Najib is serious about his credibility and the reputation of the country, he would have ordered the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to go to London and take down Bala’s statement next week,” Batu MP Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

“But he didn’t. Instead, the indications are that he ordered the MACC, no doubt through the Attorney-General, to not go to London. If Bala reveals all the details, it will go on public record. Somehow, sometime, somewhere, someone will eventually dig out the case and the truth will be revealed to the world. This is what the Najib administration wants to avoid. So it is not Raja Petra or Balasubramaniam, it is Najib himself that Malaysians should be wary of and think carefully about before they believe anything he says."

Why disallow MACC from going to London then?

Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor have been implicated in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder as well as a billion-ringgit submarines graft case by a private investigator, P Balasubramaniam, who ironically was hired by the PM's close friend Razak Baginda.

Baginda had instructed Bala, a former police officer, to stop Altantuya from blackmailing him. The 28-year old Mongolian translator had threatened to blow the whistle on his role in receiving alleged kickbacks from the government's purchase of two Scorpene submarines worth RM6.7 billion in 2002. Najib, who was then the defense minister, had ordered the acquisition even though there had been public disquiet about the submarines' effectiveness in patrolling Malaysia's shallow-watered coastline.a

But his administration has refused to initiate any graft probe despite despite widespread public outcry, prompting civil rights group SUARAM to lodge a complaint with the French police earlier this year. The NGO is trying to claim back on behalf of Malaysian taxpayers the alleged kickback from French naval firm DCNS, who sold the Scorpenes to the defense ministry.

"Of course, Najib and Umno will want to throw the blame back on Pakatan and PKR in particular. But if it seems that Pakatan leaders, for example DAP's Karpal Singh and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, are frequently involved in the two cases, it is because they have no choice," PKR vice president Sivarasa Rasiah told Malaysia Chronicle.

"It is their job, their duty as the champions of the people. Whoever has been downtrodden and bullied can always approach us and we will try to help them. Look at Altantuya's family - Najib's judiciary insisted on a security deposit before allowing her father to take up a case against the AG. If Pakatan wanted to 'buy' them, we would have paid the RM60,000 for them but we did not. In the end, it was the Mongolian government, which gave them the funds. So, what Najib is trying to do now is to wriggle out from his own dirt."

Click to expand...

Deflecting attention

In the past few days, a busy stream of Umno supporters including Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Mohd Hashim have been hurling accusations at PKR co-ordinator Zaid Ibrahim for having links to Raja Petra. Zahrain even warned he had photos of the two men together and urged the MACC to investigate who was funding Bala, who now lives overseas in self-exile for fear of his safety and that of his family’s.

In an apparent attempt to deflect public attention and create suspicion for what Bala may reveal at his press conference next week, Najib's cousin and Home Minister Hishammuddin even went so far as to suggest that it was wrong for anyone to have any contact with the fugitive blogger.

Like Bala, Raja Petra lives overseas in self-exile. He was prosecuted for criminally defaming Najib and Rosmah, but says the charges were maliciously trumped up by the Attorney-General, Gani Patail. Despite being forced out of the country, he still is able to operate his website and also keep in contact with his wide network of high-level government sources.

“If Zaid wants to meet RPK, really, that’s his business. If I am in London, I would also go and meet RPK for a cup of tea. We are friends and why shouldn’t we meet? If the government thinks that RPK has done something wrong, then they should go after him. But the problem is they don’t and at the same time, they don’t anyone to meet or talk with him either. Isn’t that ridiculous?” said Sivarasa.

The thrilla is still on

Despite the MACC chickening out on next week's meeting scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, Bala has vowed to conduct a press conference on July 7 to debrief the Malaysian public and the world at large on what has transpired since he re-surfaced in late 2009 after a year in hiding in several Asian countries, including India.

So far, he has revealed that he was offered a RM5 million ringgit bribe by Najib’s brother Nazim Razak and Rosmah's friend Deepak Jaikishan to retract a damning statutory declaration he made in 2008. He was also asked to leave Malaysia and keep silent on the case.

In the 2008 statutory declaration (see below), Bala revealed that Baginda told him Altantuya had been Najib’s mistress and she had come to Malaysia to claim her US$500,000 share of the commission from the Scorpenes deal. The beautiful 28-year old speaks four languages including Russian and is believed to have helped Baginda in negotiations with DCNS.

It has also been reported by French newspaper La Liberation that a jealous Rosmah put her foot down when she found out her rival was in town and refused to let Baginda pay her a cent. The talk in the coffe-shops throughout the nation is that a pregnant Altantuya had asked for a RM10 million settlement. Najib and Rosmah have denied ever knowing her, although Baginda has admitted having an affair with her.

Two former bodyguards of the first couple have been sentenced to hang for Altantuya’s murder even though they never met her before the night of her killing. The Altantuya trial has remained fresh in the minds of the Malaysian people, who are intrigued by her haunting beauty and sympathize with the brutal way in which her body was blown to bits with military-grade C4 explosives to prevent identification.

Malaysians also remember because several key question were never allowed to be asked throughout the court case: was there anyone and who was it who ordered her murder?

Related Stories:
Siva: Megat making excuses for MACC's no-show at Bala thrilla...
MACC Ambil Tindakan Betul Tidak Ke London - Megat Najmuddin
M'sians brace for Bala thrilla at London's Holiday Villa...
On advice of AG, MACC chickens out of London meet
Will a hit squad be sent to greet Bala in London next week?
Big-name French politicians may be involved in M'sian subs deal
A warning to Najib, a weapon for his foes and a disaster for Malaysia...

http://malaysia-chronicle.blogspot.com/2010/06/warning-for-najib-weapon-for-his-foes.html
http://malaysia-today.net/index.php...g-rpk&catid=19:newscommentaries&Itemid=100131

Containing the Bala thrilla:
A crackdown on media, cyberspace?

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

A crackdown on opposition leaders,journalists and bloggers may be in the offing in Malaysia as Prime Minister Najib Razak fights tooth and nail to suppress scandalous information implicating him and some of his family members in a high-profile murder-and-graft case.

With just hours to go before a much-anticipated press conference starts in London, the Home Ministry and police have already begun the intimidation game in Malaysia.

At the presser tagged the Bala thrilla, a private investigator P Balasubramaniam has promised to spill the beans on Najib's alleged involvement in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder and Scorpene-submarines corruption case.



Leading the clampdown in Malaysia was Najib himself. Speaking to national news agency Bernama, the PM warned he would not tolerate stories that are concocted, lies or defamatory. "If a building or road is damaged, we can repair it, but if it is the people's thinking and values, the consequences will be bad," Najib said.

Hot on his heels was top cop, Musa Hassan, who warned any individual seen to be in collusion with fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin - whom Najib blames for instigating the press conference - could be hauled up. "We can propose to charge them for harboring criminals but it is up to the court to decide," said Musa.

But the menace in his words was unmistakable. Lawyers expressed concern as Musa's comments implied a bullying, 'arrest-first-talk-later' strategy to gag Najib's critics and strike fear into the hearts of the citizenry.



Intimidating the media and cyberspace

CID chief Bakri Zinin was next. He told Bernama that the police will be recording statements from certain politicians, editors and reporters involved in the recent slew of news articles on Raja Petra. "We will record statements from several reporters this week," said Bakri.

According to Bakri, two police reports were lodged in Petaling Jaya and Brickfields on Sunday, accusing certain people of harboring Raja Petra. The CID chief did not identify the people accused or say who lodged the police reports.

But the media controlled by Najib's Umno party has been picking on PKR coordinator Zaid Ibrahim, who is in London to launch the Friends of Pakatan Rakyat project. Zaid has made no bones about meeting Raja Petra, saying it was his personal right to choose his friends.

Nonetheless, the series of steps taken by the Malaysian authorities to protect Najib - whether coordinated or coincidental - is likely to backfire. Instead of striking fear, the ominous words that came from Najib, his cousin Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and the Malaysian police are likely to spur even greater national and international protest.

Malaysia already suffers one of the poorest images in the world due to the government’s ham-fisted licensing of media publishing and printing permits. Newspapers firms in the country are obliged to apply for annual renewal of their permits and the extensions are at the sole discretion of the Home Ministry.

Civil rights activists have slammed this archaic law as little better than manipulation and blackmail - a means by which the government can influence and dictate the news flow, especially the political overtones, in the country.



Crackdown would bolster his position in Umno

Meanwhile, the Home Minister has already begun what many fear is a prelude to a roundup of media practitioners, including bloggers such as Raja Petra, to black out dissent and protest at the degeneration of democracy and justice in Malaysia.

Already, Hishammudin's ministry has banned Suara Keadilan, the newspaper of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR party. The Malay-language weekly, which is popular in the rural areas, had front-paged a story entitled Felda Bankrupt.

The article upset Najib, who oversees Felda. It highlighted gross mismanagement in the cash reserves belonging to the Felda land settlers. In a move indicative of how worried he is, the PM's Department slapped a RM200 million defamation suit on the newspaper.

PAS, which publishes the Harakah newspaper twice a week and Siasah weekly, has not been spared. The Islamist party was also hauled up and warned its newspaper permits could go the same way as Suara Keadilan if it did not toe the line.

Even political cartoons have not been spared. A series of satirical drawings depicting Najib and Altantuya, a beautiful 28-year old translator killed in Malaysia in 2006, has been banned and the offices of the cartoonist, Zunar, raided.

However Suara Perkasa, the latest weekly in town published by ultra-Malay rights group Perkasa was let off with a slap on the wrist. This despite having front-paged in its maiden edition an article calling for the arrest of a Chinese leader and which contained racists inferences. Perkasa is regarded by many to be a wing of Umno’s,

Pundits say with the emergence of so much 'baggage' - from Felda to Altantuya to the Scorpenes - Najib's political survival is on the line. Both nationally and within his own Umno party. If he did indeed take emergency measures, it would be to bolster his position in Umno and help stave off a mutiny from a growing group of warlords unhappy with his leadership.


http://malaysia-today.net/index.php...&catid=16:from-around-the-blogs&Itemid=100132

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/2010/07/blog-post_4671.html