Prominent French lawyer William Bourdon was detained by immigration officers at KLIA.
The lawyer had arrived here from Penang, where he spoke at an event organised by rights group Suaram regarding the controversial Scorpene submarine deal.
He is scheduled to give another speech tonight in Petaling Jaya on the submarine scandal.
According to Latheefa Koya from Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), three Immigration officials came on board the Malaysian Airlines aircraft when it landed at 11.40am in KLIA in search of Bourdon and his wife.
They asked him to come with them for questioning and assured him it would only take an hour. Suaram executive director, Cynthia Gabriel, who was with the duo attempted to accompany them but was ordered to stay behind.
“The Bourdons are still being questioned and we have heard that they are now with the police,” Latheefa told FMT when contacted at 2.45pm. “We’re waiting at the Arrival Hall for William’s wife to come out any time soon. But we expect them both to be put on the next flight back to France.”
When asked what the Bourdons were being held for, Latheefa replied, “We have no idea. We can only assume that they are being questioned over the Scorpene submarine deal”.
She added that officials from the French Embassy are also en route to KLIA.
The submarine deal
In June 2002, the Malaysian government signed an agreement with French DCNS and Spainish Navantia for the procurement of two Scorpene class submarines.
The procurement contract was through direct negotiation with the manufacturing companies, said to be with the service of Perimekar Sdn Bhd, linked to academic Abdul Razak Baginda.
The Scorpene issue had been mired in controversy with allegations of kickbacks and linked to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Razak, a close aide of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, was charged with abetting the murder but was later acquitted.
The controversy had even forced Najib to swear on the Quran to clear his name.
The French authorities are currently probing the deal.
In December 2009, Suaram filed a complaint with the French courts asking for access to information regarding government contracts signed with Perimekar and other information classified as official secrets in Malaysia.
In April 2010, the French courts accepted the request to investigate the claim of corruption for a payment amounting to 114 million euros from DCNS to Perimekar.
Bourdon was the keynote speaker at last night’s “Ops Scorpene” fundraiser and awareness campaign and was slated to speak at again tonight.
Currently, Suaram representatives are on their way to KLIA to find out more.
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