The harassment of SUARAM by the Companies Commission of Malaysia
(CCM) is a shocking example of wrong priorities by the authorities.
Instead of immediate investigation of the questionable activities of
companies such as Perimekar and Terasasi recently uncovered in the Paris
papers, the authorities have decided to harass SUARAM, the
whistleblower in the on-going Scorpene scandal, involving at least RM500
million suspected commissions belonging to Malaysian tax payers.
The visit by CCM on a ‘routine inspection’ lacks credibility when
we bear in mind that SUARAM has an excellent 23-year track record and
has been submitting records to the CCM since 2002. In 2011, SUARAM was
endowed with an award from SUHAKAM.
We question the political motive of the CCM when they perform a
‘routine’ inspection for the first time after more than 23 years in
operation. SUARAM has nothing to hide and we are prepared to comply with
any requirements specified under the law in submitting our fully
audited records.
Our registration under the ROC since 2002 has been necessitated by
the fact that the freedom of association in Malaysia like many other
freedoms is not realizable. Other NGOs have been forced to similarly
register under the ROC.
SUARAM has flourished all these 23 years through donations by
private and public sources and have been fully accountable to our
funders. We are strictly a non-profit making organization and we are
proud of our selfless service to Malaysian tax payers and our other
contributions to Malaysian justice, democracy and human rights.
No comments:
Post a Comment