KUALA LUMPUR, May 31: Local rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia or SUARAM has appealed to the public to help finance the legal cost in its investigation to unearth the truth behind some RM500 million in commissions associated with the RM7 billion submarine purchase from France.
The investigations, now undertaken by French authorities, would also shed light on the grisly murder of Mongolian defence negotiator Altantuya Shariibu in 2006.
“SUARAM’s latest application, once approved by the court, would allow it to become party to the enquiry and have official access to every element of the enquiry, including access to the evidence which allegedly links DCNS to the issuing of commissions to government officials,” said SUARAM director, Kua Kia Soong (above) in a statement.
SUARAM had meanwhile applied through its French lawyers as a civil party for a judicial review in November 2009 in the French courts. The case is still in the enquiry phase.
SUARAM said it welcomed donation so that it could file the new application to upgrade it to the “instruction phase” where an investigative judge would be appointed.
“The examining judge can conduct investigations into serious crimes or complex enquiries. As members of the judiciary, they are independent of the executive branch. The judge questions witnesses, interrogates suspects, and orders searches or other investigations.
"The examining judge's goal is to gather facts, and as such their duty is to look for all the evidence. Both the prosecution and the defence may request the judge to act and may appeal the judge's decisions before an appellate court,” explained Kua.
'114 million euros bribe'
According Kua, the investigations thus far revealed contradictions in the Malaysian government’s explanation about the 114 million Euros paid to a company Perimekar, where the plaintiffs of the case had claimed that it was not the company Armaris that paid the sum to Perimekar, but rather the Malaysian government, "with the sole purpose of circumventing the OECD Convention.”
The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD came into force in France in 2000, to stop corruption of foreign public officials with ten years' imprisonment and a 150,000 Euro fine.
“Following this complaint, a preliminary investigation was conducted by the prosecution: the hearings were made and searches were made at the premises of DCNS and Thalès. As was the case for contracts won by the DCN for submarines to Pakistan and frigates to Taiwan, there are increasing suspicions of 'reversed commissions' to French political parties," he said.
He said following Suaram's filing of a suit at the Paris court in 2009, state prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin opened a preliminary investigation, on suspicion that a bribe of 114 million Euros had been paid by the company Armaris (a subsidiary of DCNI and Thalès) to Malaysian parties through the company Perimekar.
Defence minister Zahid Hamidi recently said he would be willing to testify in court on the government’s controversial Scorpene submarine deal if the cabinet allowed him to do so.
“They may. They may raise funds. They may challenge us in court. They may do anything. We would like to be more transparent. The allegations made by them, let the court reveal the justice. If the Cabinet doesn’t allow it, then I don’t have to go,” he said.
The investigations, now undertaken by French authorities, would also shed light on the grisly murder of Mongolian defence negotiator Altantuya Shariibu in 2006.
“SUARAM’s latest application, once approved by the court, would allow it to become party to the enquiry and have official access to every element of the enquiry, including access to the evidence which allegedly links DCNS to the issuing of commissions to government officials,” said SUARAM director, Kua Kia Soong (above) in a statement.
Altantuya (below), who had an affair with an aide to prime minister Najib Razak, Abdul Razak Baginda, was murdered and her body exploded in a jungle clearing near Shah Alam.
Razak's private investigator Bala Subramanium has however issued a damning statutory declaration detailing links between her murder and the purchase of the Scorpene submarines from DCNS.
While the court had sentenced to death two members of an elite police squad for the murder, it failed to establish a motive behind the murder.
While the court had sentenced to death two members of an elite police squad for the murder, it failed to establish a motive behind the murder.
SUARAM said it welcomed donation so that it could file the new application to upgrade it to the “instruction phase” where an investigative judge would be appointed.
“The examining judge can conduct investigations into serious crimes or complex enquiries. As members of the judiciary, they are independent of the executive branch. The judge questions witnesses, interrogates suspects, and orders searches or other investigations.
"The examining judge's goal is to gather facts, and as such their duty is to look for all the evidence. Both the prosecution and the defence may request the judge to act and may appeal the judge's decisions before an appellate court,” explained Kua.
'114 million euros bribe'
According Kua, the investigations thus far revealed contradictions in the Malaysian government’s explanation about the 114 million Euros paid to a company Perimekar, where the plaintiffs of the case had claimed that it was not the company Armaris that paid the sum to Perimekar, but rather the Malaysian government, "with the sole purpose of circumventing the OECD Convention.”
The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD came into force in France in 2000, to stop corruption of foreign public officials with ten years' imprisonment and a 150,000 Euro fine.“Following this complaint, a preliminary investigation was conducted by the prosecution: the hearings were made and searches were made at the premises of DCNS and Thalès. As was the case for contracts won by the DCN for submarines to Pakistan and frigates to Taiwan, there are increasing suspicions of 'reversed commissions' to French political parties," he said.
He said following Suaram's filing of a suit at the Paris court in 2009, state prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin opened a preliminary investigation, on suspicion that a bribe of 114 million Euros had been paid by the company Armaris (a subsidiary of DCNI and Thalès) to Malaysian parties through the company Perimekar.
Defence minister Zahid Hamidi recently said he would be willing to testify in court on the government’s controversial Scorpene submarine deal if the cabinet allowed him to do so.
“They may. They may raise funds. They may challenge us in court. They may do anything. We would like to be more transparent. The allegations made by them, let the court reveal the justice. If the Cabinet doesn’t allow it, then I don’t have to go,” he said.
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