25 May 2012
Launching of Ops Scorpene 2.0
Fundraising Dinner
SUARAM hopes
that with the commencement of the Submarine case in France, we can send a clear
message that Malaysians will not sit back and accept corrupt politicians and
rampant corruption activities in Malaysia.
The submarine
commission scandal, one of the greatest Malaysian robberies in modern times, is
not a single one-off issue but reflects the widespread abuse of the Barisan
Nasional administration with spiraling dominos effects, on how tax payers
monies have been used and abused.
SUARAM is a
human rights organization, known to speak out fearlessly in defence of human
rights, good governance and an open and accountable society. We pursued the
court case to seek truth and justice for the Malaysian people whose monies have
been misused. For over 20 years SUARAM has worked to expose corrupt practices,
poor governance and champion the rights of people before profits.
So to
continue the struggle to unravel the scandals behind the submarine purchase,
and in pursuance of the ongoing case in France, SUARAM needs much help and
donations from people of Malaysia. This campaign needs to continue without any
interference and with the full support of the Malaysian people. Costs are very
high and will remain that way for the next few years until the case is disposed
off and the truth unraveled, once and for all.
Ops Scorpene
2.0 is a second fundraiser and awareness campaign to further pursue and to bear
expenses of the case in the French
courts,
which has escalated to become a huge issue of national interest. It seeks to
instill consciousness amongst Malaysians to question arms spending and
transparency in arms procurement of the country. For this, SUARAM will be
organizing a fundraising dinner in Kuala Lumpur and give a chance to ordinary
citizens and Civil Society organisations to grasp the facts of the scandal that
has shaken the nation.
The dinner
will be held on 15 June 2012, 7.30 pm at Dewan Sivik MBPJ, Petaling Jaya,
Selangor. Ops Scorpene aims to raise
RM300, 000 from this fundraising dinner and to bear the legal fees of the
lawyers who are working hard and smart to ensure the success of the case.
Cynthia
Gabriel from SUARAM, Joseph Breham, one of the 2 French lawyers, and political
leaders like Saudara Mat Sabu, Members of
parliament Tian Chua and Tony Pua will address
the latest developments surrounding the case.
There will
also be a number of performances and booths for NGOs to get their message and
campaign forward.
The Malaysian people wants a government that is transparent, free from corruption and that will also protect the interests of the people. We thank you in anticipation for your involvement.
Released by,
The following is for your reference:
Table class A -- RM 10000
Table class B -- RM 5000
Table class C -- RM 1000
Donations can also be made to SUARAM via cheque or online
transfer to
Name of Account: SUARA INISIATIF SDN BHD
Name of Bank :
Maybank Bhd
Account
No : 5122 9582
0324
For further enquiries, contact outreach@suaram.net or suaram@suaram.net or
contact SUARAM at 03 77843525.
For further info and details you may visit
Website: www.suaram.net
Twitter: SuaramTweets
|
Released by,
SUARAM Secretariat
Background
1. On the 5th June 2002, the Malaysian
Government signed an agreement with French DCNS and Spanish Navantia for the
procurement of two Scorpene class submarines. The procurement contract was
through direct negotiation with the manufacturing companies, said to be with
the service of Perimekar Sdn Bhd. Razak Baginda is the owner of Perimekar.
2. According to the Government explanation,
the contract was divided into two parts:
Cost of two Scorpene submarines
together with the package that covers Integrated Logistic Support and training
amounted to Euro 969.15m (however on 14 May 2008, Najib told the Parliament
that this part cost Euro 999.15)
Payment to Perimekar Sdn Bhd in the
name of “coordination services” for a period of six years, the sum was Euro
114.96m.
With the exchange rate at the time, the cost was equivalent to:
Payment for submarine cost between:
RM 2.14b (Euro=RM3.2 in 2002) – RM 5.43b (Euro=RM5.6 in 2008) (now Euro=RM4.7)
Commission: probably about RM 540m (exchange rate at the time of
payment)
3. On 23 December 2009, SUARAM through our
networks in France linked up with leading human rights lawyers in France, to
file a complaint with the French judicial system, with the hope that a
preliminary investigation would be initiated. This was done to enable access to
information, to the government contracts signed with PERIMEKAR and other
information classified as government secrets in Malaysia.
4. In April 2010, the lawyers representing
SUARAM informed us that the courts had accepted the request to investigate the
claim of corruption for a payment amounting to Euro 114 million made as
commissions from DCNS to Perimekar.
5. The French, practising the Civil Law
system where a judge assumes the role of an inquisitorial and investigative
referee, has so far kept the findings of its investigations confidential.
6. Our lawyers however, have informed us
that the investigation is coming to an end, and should move to full trial after
it decides whether or not there is sufficient evidence to pursue the matter in
open court.
7. On 16 March 2012, the French courts have
opened an inquiry into the alleged corruption, misuse and abuse of taxpayer’s
money, linked to the purchase of the 2 Scorpene class submarines, back in 2002.
8. An inquiry into the alleged corruption,
misuse and abuse of taxpayers money, linked to the purchase of the two Scorpene
class submarines, back in 2002 commence on 19 April 2012 (Thursday) at the
Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance (TGI), known as a first degree court that
deals with civil litigation matters.
This investigation will be conducted before two judges, Judge Roger Le
Loire and Judge Serge Tournaire.
9. On 20th April SUARAM was represented by
Dr. Kua Kia Soong (Director and one of the founders of SUARAM), followed by
Cynthia Gabriel (Secretariat Member) and lawyer Fadiah Nadwa. They appeared
before Judge Roger Le Loire with their lawyer Joseph Breham. Dr Kua presented
the case for our pinning our hopes on the judicial hearing in France after the
disappointing trial over the Altantuya murder, the ineffectual MACC, the
suppression of information in Malaysia and the lack of transparency in the
parliamentary questions over the Scorpene commissions. SUARAM duly proposed
then Defence Minister and current Prime Minister Najib Razak, Abdul Razak
Baginda, the defence minister Zahid Hamidi, PI Balasubramaniam, Setev
Shariibuu, Jasbir Singh Chahl, Tan Sri Lodin and Mazlinda as the potential
witnesses as the case proceeds.
10. On 3rd may 2012 SUARAM revealed that it
has gained full access to investigation papers from the Public Prosecutor’s
office. This is a huge step forward, as many of the details kept confidential
are now made accessible to SUARAM as the Plaintiff in the civil case against the
DCNS. French law provides several constraints on the area of access. While we
are not able to obtain a hard copy and distribute copies around, we are however
entitled to full view of the documents and are able to quote them to the media
and to the public.
11. At the PC SUARAM revealed new expose and
findings on:
a. Document 87
b. Document 144
Document 87
The
documents seized by the French police from the office of Mr. Henri GIDE
(THALES) on 28 May 2010 which includes a
fax written in English and sent by F. DUPONT dated 1 June 2001 addressed to D.
ARNAUD, CCed to BAIOCCO and SAUVAGEOT with “MALAYSIA/SUBMARINE PROJECT” as the
subject. Mr. DUPONT detailed out the chronology of visits and future actions
during the journey in Malaysia of which there were various planned undertakings
in particular negotiation meetings with the Ministry of Defense and the
management members of PERIMEKAR during which two (2) contract proposals would
be mentioned (from DCNI to PERIMEKAR as well as between PERIMEKAR and the
Malaysian Government). He finally indicated a meeting with DATO’ SRI NAJIB in
France on 14 July 2001 with the condition that DCNI offers a maximum sum of USD
1 billion for PERIMEKAR’s stay (in France).
12. Document
144
The
prosecutor’s office upon instructions had received from THALES International
Asia, an envelope on 22 August 2011. The envelope contained:
-
A sub folder entitled “C4”
-
A sub folder entitled “invoices”
-
PDF files
-
A USB thumb drive
Among the
crucial documents was the existence of an invoice faxed by TERASASI Sdn Bhd
(Company No.524814-P) on 19 September 2004 to Bernard BAIOCCO the then CEO of
THALES International Asia. The invoice stated an amount of Euro 359,
450.00 for the purpose of success fees
to be paid to Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, Branch CP Tower, Seksyen 16,
Petaling Jaya, Account No:12109-0-01-3000450-8
and contains a handwritten note in French as follows:
“Razak demande si ce SF peut etre
pris en compte assez vite. Le Support Fee suit avec un rapport”.
Translation : Razak requests if that
SF can be taken into account quite urgently. The support fee follows with a
report.
It therefore
appears that Thales International Asia could not ignore that the sum paid to
TERASASI Sdn Bhd ultimately benefitted Mr Najib Razak the Minister of Defence
and/or his consultant Abdul Razak Baginda.
13. It has become apparent that this
constitutes one of the Malaysian government’s greatest robberies over its
people! It is no longer just the Euro 114.9 million commissions to Perimekar
that formed the basis of the complaint to the French Courts that is in
question.
14. It has magnified into a web of lies
involving a slew of companies formed to complicate the concealment of the
blatant robbery of Malaysian and French tax-payers’ money. More
retro-commissions have surfaced allowing the misuse of such bodies as the
pilgrimage funds (Lembaga Tabung Haji) and the military pension funds (Lembaga
Tabung Angkatan Tentera).
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