Sarawak Report
Our latest story is now online - Court Case Opens Against Najib In France.... How Come Not In Malaysia?
We remain blocked in Malaysia over our #1MDB investi...
We remain blocked in Malaysia over our #1MDB investi...
The
day after Najib's AG refused to press the charges recommended by the
MACC, France opened its own court case .... into further corruption by
Najib!
sarawakreport.org|By Sarawak Report
Court Case Opens Against Najib In France…. How Come Not In Malaysia?
The
very day after Najib Razak’s own appointed Attorney General refused to
press the charges recommended by the Malaysian Anti Corruption
Commission against the Prime Minster, France opened its own court
case …. into further corruption by Najib!
The
case relates, of course, to the long-running scandal over the blatant
kick-backs paid by the French defence contractors Thales to secure the
Scorpene submarine contract when Najib was Malaysian Minister of
Defence.
The
details of the case and the huge sum of 114 million euros, which were
paid to a shell company Perimekar owned by Najib’s personal negotiator
in the case, Razak Baginda, have been widely exposed in both Malaysia
and France.
And yet it is only in France that action has at last been taken. Why?
After
all, it is the Malaysian public who paid for all this graft and so are
the principle victims in this case. Why are the forces of law and order
in Malaysia turning a blind eye, therefore, to the purchase of three
lousy second hand submarines, which have proved entirely unfit for
purpose, to the tune of billions of ringgit, in combination with a
massive kickback to the assistant of the key decision-maker in the deal,
who was Najib Razak?
Malaysians
of course know why and with the case now finally coming before the
courts in France, with their own Prime Minister Najib Razak cited at the
top of the official prosecutor’s charge sheet as the named recipient of
these bribes, their national shame is complete.
Not just corruption but murder
Of
course, as widespread evidence and public coverage has also amply
informed the world at large, there was another shocking victim of this
Scorpene affair, which makes it a case not only of financial corruption,
but of murder.
Altantuya
Shaaribbuu was the pretty interpreter used by Najib and Baginda in
these dealings and as copious court documents and sworn statements have
shown, she was threatening to expose these French bribes unless she got a
US$500,000 payment to help her with a pregnancy she had incurred in the
process.
She
had taken to shouting her woes, supported by a group of close
girlfriends from Mongolia, outside of Baginda’s house and it was from
here that in 2006 she was abducted by two bodyguards who were working
directly for Najib Razak and driven to a lonely spot and shot.
Weapons
grade C4 explosive (only accessible through a signed authorisation from
the Minister of Defence) was then wrapped around her offending midriff
and she was blown to smithereens. Unfortunately for the murderers, a
local fishermen heard the explosion and called the police who detected
the remote bomb-site.
They
also detected the cellphone trails of the two bodyguards leading to the
spot and obtained witnesses to the kidnap and eventually the signed
confessions of both men. A good job by the Royal Malaysia Police force
that could not easily be swept under the carpet.
The
bodyguards were convicted and sentenced to death, but their subsequent
attempts to gain release and the stories of what happened to various
other witnesses in the case have kept Malaysian’s gripped by the story
ever since.
Suffice it to say that the bodyguards have claimed that they were scapegoats, but represented as they are by Najib’s own UMNO party lawyers, they have declined to explain why they murdered a woman they didn’t know in such a way.
Both
men now have pleas for clemency before the King. It is believed that
they will receive this clemency in return for their silence and a fat
pay off. Indeed, texts from Sirul to his lawyers obtained by Al Jazeera
have revealed blackmail threats from the bodyguard demanding cash and
freedom to be negotiated with the Australians in return for his silence.
“This way I won’t bring down the PM”, texted Sirul.
So,
it seems that Malaysia has become a place where billions can go missing
from public funds; where hundreds of millions can turn up in the Prime
Minister’s bank accounts (many directly traced to public funds) and
where murderers get let off if they worked for the Prime Minister.
In
short, it is on the brink of becoming a nasty dictatorship, as anyone
who has tried criticising Najib in the face of his brand new media,
defamation and ‘anti-terrorism’ laws well knows.
Najib’s
eventual problem may turn out to be that other countries retain the
rule of law and that his reputation can no longer be covered up merely
by appointing his own officials to “clear” him in Malaysia.
See the translation of the article in Le Parisien below:
Submarines sold to Malaysia resurface before the French courts
The
case of French submarines sold to Malaysia in 2002 surfaced in court: a
first indictment was issued against the former boss of an international
subsidiary of Thales, suspected of having corrupted the present Prime
Malaysian minister
Bernard Baiocco, 72, former president of Thales International Asia (Thint Asia), was
indicted Dec 15 for “active bribery of foreign public officials on people Najib Razak”, at the time Minister of defense, and one of his advisers, Abdul Razak Baginda, said Wednesday AFP judicial sources familiar with the matter.
indicted Dec 15 for “active bribery of foreign public officials on people Najib Razak”, at the time Minister of defense, and one of his advisers, Abdul Razak Baginda, said Wednesday AFP judicial sources familiar with the matter.
After
48 hours of police custody, the former boss of Thint Asia, together with
the Directorate of Naval Construction (DCN) for the sale, was also
indicted for complicity in misuse of corporate assets, the sources said,
confirming a report revealed by Challenges.
A complaint to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption NGO Suaram had started a preliminary inquiry and a judicial investigation opened in 2012. Thales and DCNS in searches (formerly DCN) had led to the seizure of numerous documents.
“This
is an important and encouraging step,” responded the lawyer of the NGO,
William Bourdon, contacted by AFP. “The French judges show, even if the
investigation goes on, their ability to dissect complex corruption
mechanisms. In some respects, the investigation is just beginning,” he
said.
– Assassination of an interpreter –
At the heart of the case, which recalls the case Karachi on arms sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia: the sale in 2002 after several years of negotiations, two Scorpene submarines and a sub Marino Agosta to Malaysia for nearly a billion euros. At the time, international standards on the remuneration of consultants had been tightened.
At the heart of the case, which recalls the case Karachi on arms sales to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia: the sale in 2002 after several years of negotiations, two Scorpene submarines and a sub Marino Agosta to Malaysia for nearly a billion euros. At the time, international standards on the remuneration of consultants had been tightened.
The
judges rightly interested in contracts of this type, past the margins
of negotiation and they suspect of being used to pay for bribes. One of
them, called “C5 commercial engineering”, provided for the payment by
the DCNI, a subsidiary of DCN, 30 million euros to Thales International
Asia, in respect of selling expenses for export (FCE).
But
the survey shows that another company, Terasasi, whose main shareholder
was the adviser to the Defence Minister Najib Razak, has touched almost
the same amount for consultations. Investigators suspect the
consultations from being a front for them bribes.
To
counsel for Mr. Baiocco, Jean-Yves Le Borgne, the indictment of his
client based on “legal acrobatics” because “there is no evidence” that
the former minister had received funding and its advisor must be
considered a “commercial agent”, therefore outside the scope of
corruption of public official.
Another
contract, providing for the payment by Malaysia with a local company,
Perimekar, 114 million euros, interested judges but could escape the
investigation because the facts would not have taken place in France.
The
controversy was fueled by the assassination in October 2006 of a
Mongolian interpreter and intermediary, Altantuya Shaariibuu, who had
participated in the negotiations. 28 years old, this model had been
killed by bullets and sprayed his body with explosives in a jungle near
Kuala Lumpur.
According
to the testimony of a Malaysian private investigator admitted, this
woman who was the mistress of Abdul Razak Baginda, harassing him to
recover commissions that had been promised him. Two police officers were
sentenced to death for the murder.
Najib
Razak is facing another scandal in his country, after the revelations
on the payment of nearly $ 700 million (€ 635 million) of his personal
accounts. The opposition, which demands the departure of Prime Minister,
sees a connection with the failure of a public company.
The
Attorney General, Mohammed Apandi Ali, said Tuesday that it was a gift
from the Saudi royal family, belying the assumption of corruption.
Originally published at www.sarawakreport.org.
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