September 22, 2012
SUARAM
is pursuing a French investigation into alleged government corruption
in Malaysia’s purchase of two Scorpene submarines. — Reuters pic
KUALA
LUMPUR, Sept 22 ― Global rights watchdog Amnesty International raised
suspicion today over the timing of Putrajaya’s sudden interest in
SUARAM’s operations, noting that authorities began probing the group
soon after it revealed that a close associate of Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Razak had sold Malaysian naval secrets to France.
The revelation was made by French lawyer Joseph Breham, who is acting
for Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) in the ongoing inquiry on the
Scorpene submarine scandal in Paris, during a May 30 press conference in
Bangkok.
“Amnesty is concerned that the recent government actions against
SUARAM appear to be linked to the organisation’s legitimate work, in
particular a corruption case which it has brought before the French
courts.
“The government began these actions against SUARAM four weeks after
the organisation disclosed new information from documents made available
by the French public prosecutor’s office, which implicate Malaysian
officials in the corruption allegations,” AI said in a statement here.
SUARAM recently came under close scrutiny of the Companies Commission
of Malaysia (CCM) due to its foreign funding sources, and the
government agency said earlier this week that it plans to charge the
activist group for its “misleading accounts”.
The human rights NGO has been actively pursuing the Scorpene scandal
in the French courts, determined to expose alleged government corruption
in the multibillion purchase of the submarines in 2009 and possibly
reopen the murder case of Mongolian model Altantuyaa Shaariibuu, which
has been linked to the deal.
In April this year, the Tribunal de Grand Instance in Paris began its
inquiry into SUARAM’s claim that the French naval firm DCNS had paid
some RM452 million as a bribe to Malaysian officials to obtain a
contract for two submarines. SUARAM had filed the complaint with the
French courts in 2009.
In the May 30 press conference, Breham had revealed that a classified
government document on the Malaysian navy’s evaluation of the Scorpene
submarines it was then planning to buy had been sold by Terasasi (Hong
Kong) Ltd to DCNS for RM142 million.
Abdul Razak Baginda, a former think-tank head who was at the centre
of the 2006 investigation into Altantuya’s murder, is listed as a
director of Terasasi with his father, Abdul Malim Baginda. Abdul Razak
is said to be a close associate to Najib.
“It was a secret document by the Malaysian navy, an evaluation for
the order of the submarines, which is a highly confidential report,”
Breham had said at the conference.
Amnesty recalled that on July 3, a little past four weeks after the
revelation by SUARAM’s lawyer was made, the NGO suddenly received a
visit from the CCM with a notice of inspection.
A few months later, the group became the subject of much “harassment and intimidation” from the Malaysian authorities, it added.
Amnesty added that the harassment “appears to be a concerted,
multi-departmental government campaign against SUARAM, one of Malaysia’s
leading human rights groups”.
“The Malaysian government should respect SUARAM’s right as a human
rights organisation to seek and receive funding, rather than abuse its
power to intimidate human rights defenders,” the group said.
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