Hornbill Unleashed
French police have obtained “quite crucial documents” in the Scorpene
submarines probe into whether French arms giant DCN had paid kickbacks
to Malaysian officials, including Prime Minister Najib Razak, to secure
the deal.
The 58-year old Najib had been the Defense minister sanctioning the
acquisition in 2002. Even then, there had been much public unhappiness
over the price which was seen as too expensive, and furthernore, the
high-tech submarines considered as unsuitable for patrolling the
country’s shallow coastline. Right now, both ships are docked in Sabah
and hardly used.
“It is likely that in September we should have access to the first
police conclusions from all the investigations that have taken place
over the last 18 months. We know that the police seem to have obtained
quite crucial documents,” Asia Sentinel reported Paris-based lawyer William Bourdon assaying.
VIP personality
William is one of the French lawyers appointed by Malaysian NGO
Suaram, which lodged a complaint on behalf of taxpayers against DCN for
corruptly sealing the deal. It is illegal in France to offer bribes to
secure a deal and if found guilty, DCN may have to pay compensation to
Malaysian taxpayers for overcharging on the final price paid by the
Malaysian government.
The French lawyer is due to arrive on Thursday, where he will speak
to a Penang audience and brief them on the latest developments in the
case. Suaram has already hinted that William will touch on the
identities of the ‘new’ personalities involved in the kickbacks.
It is also believed that French investigators have managed to pin
down a very important personality, who travelled with submarines
negotiator Razak Baginda and murdered Mongolian translator Altantuya
Shaariibuu to Macau as part of the complex negotiations.
There is red-hot speculation that this person is Najib himself. If
true, it will blow away the PM’s previous denials he never knew
Altantuya, who is believed to have been his lover before he “passed” her
onto Razak, who was his confidante and representative. Such evidence
paves the way for the re-opening of her murder trial, which had ended
with two of Najib’s former bodyguards being sentenced to hang for her
2006 killing.
Lesser personalities involved in the sprawling deal have also been
traced and their identities likely to be revealed as well. William is
also expected to drop a new bombshell – previously unknown commissions
that have recently been uncovered by investigators. This will add to the
growing list of murky details that shroud the shady acquisition
engineereed and pushed for by Najib years ago, when he was the Defense
minister directly in charge of key military procurements.
No more secret places left to hide for Najib
It looks like unless the French government is willing to help him out
and muzzle up the case, Najib may have run out of hiding places.
Whatever time that he can buy will not last long either.
And to pundits familar with all the ramifications both at the
Malaysian and French end, it is impossible for him to escape scot-free.
One way or another, they say, he will have to explain to his people the
true extent of his involvement not just in the kickbacks but also in the
Altantuya murder.
In fact, not even his UMNO party can save him. With the Scorpenes
trial expected to be heard in the French open court in August or
September, many of the UMNO warlords are already gearing up to push him
out and slam the door on his administration, which has been scarred by
non-achievement, gutter politics and extensive corruption.
It does not help that in recent months, he has felt the pressure and
added to his own discomfort by making several disastrous decisions such
as ordering an unprecedented violent crackdown on a citizens rally for
free and fair elections two weeks ago. His fast-fading popularity and
plunging credibility makes him an easy target now.
Rightfully, the BN government should have immediately lodged a
compliant with the French authorities when news reports about the huge
Scorpenes kickbacks first came to light. However due to Najib’s
influence over his Cabinet, no one in the Malaysian government has dared
to call for a public probe.
Even a suspicious 114 million euros (RM570 million) side deal granted
to Baginda’s firm, Perimekar, has been whitewashed in Parliament as a
“services” and “maintenance” deal, when it is obvious that the obscure
firm has no experience or track-record in such a high-tech industry.
Numerous reports have also been lodged by Malaysian citizens, who are
alarmed that the RM7 billion price tag is still climbing. It is now
apparent Najib may have hidden the full cost to Parliament, opting to
gradually seek additional budget allocations to maintain the ships
rather than to reveal at one-go the full ‘damage’ to taxpayers. Yet
till now, Malaysian police as well as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission have refused to initiate any investigation into the file at
all.
Seamy details in a sordid deal
Numerous questions are likely to be asked by those attending the
Suaram-organised sessions with William on 21, 22 and 23rd Jruly. Apart
from the status of the case, the latest ‘dirt’ dug out so far, the
greatest interest will surely centre around the beautiful but tragic
Altantuya, who acted as translator for Baginda.
Uppermost on Malaysian minds are exactly what sort of relationship
Najib had with her. Not that they are voyeurs and wish to nose out all
the seamy details of the love affair the two allegedly had, but because
they want to know how much and to what extent their PM – who was then
the DPM – was willing to lie and may have lied just to become prime
minister.
“If you want to know all these details, you have to come for the dinner, listen and ask,” Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel told Malaysia Chronicle.
- Malaysia Chronicle
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