Sunday, July 18, 2010

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A handout photograph of murdered Mongolian model and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu who was shot dead in the jungle outside Kuala Lumpur and then blown up in an apparent attempt to foil identification.
Photograph by: Reuters, Vancouver Sun

Ghost of Mongolian model continues to haunt Malaysian government

By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun


The ghost of murdered Mongolian model and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu refuses to lie quiet.

For the Malaysian government of prime minister Najib Tun Razak a line appeared to have been drawn under the sordid and politically explosive affair when two of his bodyguards from his days as defence minister were convicted last year of the young woman's murder in the jungle outside Kuala Lumpur in October 2006.

But in the last few weeks two events have revived simmering questions about the connection of the murder to a $1.2 billion contract to buy two French Scorpene-class diesel submarines ordered while Najib was defence minister.

Najib's friend and adviser on defence matters, Abdul Razak Baginda, whose wife's company was paid a questionable $150 million over the submarine contract, had recently brought a love affair with Shaariibuu to an acrimonious end when she was abducted and murdered.

During the months' long trial of the two police bodyguards every effort was made to ensure prime minister Najib's name didn't figure in evidence.

And in a move that astonished legal experts, the judge early on in the trial exonerated Baginda of any responsibility. He promptly fled to Britain where he remains.

The stage management of the trial convinced Malaysian human rights groups that it would be pointless to try to resolve the Shaariibuu case in the senior courts in Kuala Lumpur.

One of those Malaysian human rights groups, Suaram, has therefore pressed for a judicial inquiry in France, where there are a number of investigations underway of the notorious willingness of state-owned defence companies to pay bribes or other inducements in order to gain arms contracts.

In this case Parisian prosecutors started inquiries in March focusing on the $150 million paid to a Malaysian company called Perimekar, which was set up just before Najib signed in 2002 the deal to buy the two Scorpene submarines from the French state-owned shipbuilder DCN.

Perimekar was ostensibly hired to provide "coordination and support services" for the contract, but no evidence has been produced to show the company had the skills for such tasks or ever attempted to perform them.

Perimekar is a wholly-owned subsidiary of a company called KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd., whose principal shareholder is lawyer Mazalinda Baginda, the wife of prime minister Najib's friend and adviser Razak Baginda.

Shaariibuu, 28 at the time of her death, had learned French when she was a model in Paris and there is evidence she acted as translator for her paramour Baginda during his negotiations with DCN over the submarines on behalf of Najib and the Malaysian government.

Malaysian authorities have responded to the move by French prosecutors to investigate DCN and particularly its submarine-manufacturing subsidiary Armaris, for possible corruption and paying kickbacks by insisting nothing is wrong.

A spokesman for prime minister Najib said recently the French prosecutors have the right to investigate, "but for us, there is no case to answer." He added that the deal was entirely free of corruption.

Exactly why Shaariibuu was murdered by Najib's bodyguards has never been entirely resolved, despite the long trial and 45 witnesses.

By some accounts, after Baginda jilted her, the young woman and a friend launched several noisy demonstrations outside Baginda's house.

Baginda reportedly went to Najib's chief of staff, Musa Safri, and asked for help in keeping the young woman away from his home.

As a result, the two police bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, abducted Shaariibuu during one of her demonstrations, took her to the jungle outside the capital and shot her.

But they then used military C4 explosives to blow up the body in an apparent attempt to foil identification, though this act has, of course, led to speculation that Shaariibuu was pregnant.

But in a letter written by Shaariibuu and discovered after her death -a letter never produced in evidence -she indicated she was trying to blackmail Baginda for $500,000 to keep quiet about the details of the $150 million paid to his wife's company, Perimekar.

There have also been suggestions that Shaariibuu knew details of the many other arms purchases made in the military equipment buildup overseen by Najib while he was defence minister from 2002 to 2008.

These deals include the purchase of Sukhoi supersonic fighter jet aircraft from Russia and of a small fleet of coastal defence vessels.

As well as Malaysian human rights organizations, Shaariibuu's parents have been adamant that there has been no real justice for their murdered daughter.

With the stage-managed criminal trial now done, Shaariibuu's father and mother have tried to bring a civil suit seeking compensation for her death against Baginda and the two convicted policemen.

In a strange move, Malaysia's High Court in March ordered the family to make a security deposit of the equivalent of $20,000 for the case to be heard by the Court of Appeal and potentially to continue to the Federal Court.

The family was distraught, saying it could not raise such a sum.

But last week The Mongolian government announced it will put up the security bond demanded by the Malaysian court so the case can be heard, though at this point it seems more likely that Shaariibuu's ghost will get justice in Paris rather than Kuala Lumpur.

jmanthorpe@vancouversun.com

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
A handout photograph of murdered Mongolian model and translator Altantuya Shaariibuu who was shot dead in the jungle outside Kuala Lumpur and then blown up in an apparent attempt to foil identification.Photograph by: Reuters, Vancouver Sun

Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak





Historic meeting of the Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak Council in Kuching.Meeting just started


http://twitpic.com/26haqt

Monday, July 12, 2010

Sasaran 60 kerusi Parlimen cerah

Sasaran 60 kerusi Parlimen cerah

Dzulfikar Mashoor

http://dialograkyat.blogspot.com/2010/07/sasaran-60-kerusi-parlimen-cerah.html

KUALA LUMPUR: Sasaran PAS adalah merampas 37 kerusi Parlimen daripada Umno pada Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13 (PRU13), selain mempertahankan 23 kerusi yang sedia dikuasai oleh PAS, tegas Ahli Parlimen Jerai, Mohd Firdaus Jaafar.

Menurut beliau, usul 'menguasai 60 Parlimen' itu telahpun dipersetujui dalam Muktamar PAS kali ke-56 pada 12 Jun lalu demi memastikan PAS bersama-sama Pakatan Rakyat berjaya mengambil alih kerajaan Persekutuan dari Umno BN tidak lama lagi.

Sehubungan itu, beliau mewakili jentera pilihan raya pemuda menolak pelawaan Umno untuk kerjasama demi kepentingan parti perkauman itu.

"Sasaran kita yang sebenar adalah 60 Parlimen ke Putrajaya, janganlah main isu lain," tegas beliau petang tadi di Lobi Parlimen.

Baginya, PAS mempunyai harapan yang cerah untuk menguasai kesemua Parlimen sasaran tersebut jika berdasarkan demografi pengundian rakyat pada PRU12 lalu.

"Saya ingat cerah, kalau jentera lebih berkerja keras dari apa yang sedia ada," ujar beliau yang juga Pengarah Jabatan Pilihan raya Pemuda PAS Pusat.

Ini kerana, beliau berkata, sebanyak 16 kerusi Parlimen menyaksikan PAS kalah kurang dari 5 ribu undi.

Manakala, katanya lagi, lapan kerusi parlimen sasaran yang lain menyaksikan PAS kalah kurang dari 10 ribu undi. 13 kerusi berbaki, menurut beliau lagi, menyaksikan PAS kalah 13 ribu undi sahaja.

"Kita kena gandakan fokus dan kerja, kalau nak pujuk rakyat tolak politik zalim dalam pilihanraya depan," tegasnya lagi.

Ditambah dengan mood rakyat yang kian sedar ekoran melihat isu penyerahan tanah KTM di Tanjong Pagar pada Singapura; gadai dua telaga minyak (Blok L dan Blok M) pada Brunei; kes pembunuhan Altantuya; skandal kapal selam Scropene; serta perlantikan Firma Perunding Antarabangsa APCO Worldwide (IAC) yang dikatakan pro Yahudi sebagai syarikat komunikasi kerajaan, beliau berkata, sudah tentu memberi kelebihan pada PAS dan Pakatan Rakyat.

Penegasan '60 Kerusi Parlimen' itu sekaligus menjawab pelawaan Panel Pemikir Jabatan Hal Ehwal Khas, Lokman Nor Adam kononnya PAS lebih mudah melaksanakan Islam sekiranya bekerjasama dengan Umno adalah sandiwara Umno semata-mata.

Menurut beliau, tujuan pelawaan itu demi kepentingan Umno semata-mata, bukannya Islam.

"Kalau Umno ikhlas nak laksana Islam, mereka boleh buktikan sekarang, tak perlu 'main wayang' dengan PAS," ujar beliau sambil menyifatkan kenyataan Lokman itu bertujuan memecahbelah muafakat Pakatan Rakyat.

"Saya tak mahu Negara Islam versi Umno sebab negara kekal dalam kezaliman ISA (Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri), mahkamah tidak bebas, rasuah sana sini, sokong judi bola, amalkan politik membenci kaum-kaum lain yang tidak sokong Umno dan banyak lagi sebenarnya."

Sebaliknya, beliau berkata, pendirian PAS bersama-sama DAP dan PKR atas nama Pakatan Rakyat demi memujuk rakyat menolak kezaliman Umno BN; sebagaimana yang pernah dilakukan oleh Rasulullah s.a.w.

"Dalam Perjanjian Fudhul Hudaybiah, sebelum Perang Badar dan waktu memeterai Perjanjian Madinah pun, Nabi sendiri bersama-sama orang Islam dan yang bukan Islam untuk lawan kezaliman, apa masalahnya dengan DAP dan PKR," soal beliau.

Semalam, Utusan Malaysia melaporkan Lokman turut mendakwa DAP anti Islam, manakala PKR pula adalah parti yang memperjuangkan kepentingan peribadi pemimpin utamnya.

Lokman turut mengumpan PAS kononnya boleh melaksanakan Hudud sekiranya parti itu bersedia bekerjasama dengan Umno dalam masa terdekat ini.

Difahamkan, pujukan Lokman itu demi memulihkan semula sokongan masyarakat Melayu pada Umno yang belakangan ini dilihat kian pudar sejak parti perkauman itu menggadai kepentingan agama, negara dan bangsa.