Who will be sunk by the Scorpene issue?
KUALA LUMPUR: The opposition and Suaram are resorting to “made-up stories and illogical arguments” in their attempts to implicate the Malaysian Government in the so-called Scorpene submarine scandal, says a blogger, and they will only end up “shooting themselves in the feet”.
Anonymous blogger A Voice wrote in his blog Another Brick in the Wall on June 27 that the opposition used to be “ethical and well-respected for their ability to stir up the Government with their…revelations and sound arguments”.
But now that they are under the leadership of Anwar Ibrahim, he said, “the opposition has fallen into a state of decline. Their allegations are poorly substantiated, void of facts, sensationalised with lies and made-up stories, and illogical arguments”.
The blogger singled out PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar, who he said had lied in her allegation that Malaysian company Perimekar had been paid €36 million (RM142 million) by French company DCNS for confidential defence documents related to the Malaysian Navy’s evaluation of the Scorpene submarines.
“Was Nurul Izzah aware that the €36 million raised by Suaram and their French lawyer before was claimed as the payment made by Perimekar to Malta-based company Giffen? They made it out as though Perimekar had paid that amount to Giffen and it eventually found its way to Terasasi,” he said.
He continued: “On another occasion…Suaram, their French lawyers and opposition particularly PKR…claimed that the €36 million was a payment made to Terasasi from Thales Asia or Thine and not DCNS.”
“None of the allegations are backed with documents or some sound facts,” he said. “It kept changing.”
A Voice said that Anwar Ibrahim has claimed since 2007 that he has documents proving Prime Minister Najib Razak received a commission of RM500 million for the purchase of the two Scorpene submarines.
“But he has yet to produce the documents,” the blogger said.
As for Suaram, A Voice said he suspects the NGO “is merely working on hunch that there is possibility the Malaysian purchase of Scorpene submarine is laden with corruption like another case in September 2008 involving Pakistan”.
“The submarine story that is intended to be inextricably linked to Altantuya’s murder have been the game played by Suaram on Najib. That political intention is so obvious,” he said.
The blogger said claims by Suaram and the opposition were not consistent with the facts of the case, notably the alleged involvement of Altantuya Shaaribu in the Scorpene deal.
“Altantunya’s death was being repeated by Suaram for sensational value. And the political motivation was obvious as Suaram only raised Najib’s name to be ‘subpoenaed’ as witness,” he said, adding that the focus on Najib was suspicious.
“There are many cases of ever-changing stories and wild speculations in Suaram’s politically motivated game to smear Najib,” he said.
The blogger noted the relative lack of coverage of the Scorpene issue in international media and said the Government may be staying quiet on the issue because revelations about Suaram’s allegations – as well as about its funding and opposition ties – equate to Suaram shooting themselves in the foot.
“As said by YB Zaharin Hashim from Bayan baru, ‘The more information comes out, the more the opposition and Suaram will have to answer’,” A Voice said.
In another development, following the French Police probe that Altantuya was never in France as alleged by Suaram, the NGO’s director Cynthia Gabriel says that there is a possibility the Monggolian woman had entered France through diplomatic channels.
Speaking to The Mole, Cynthia said: “The inquiry is to establish whether she (Altantuya) had entered France through diplomatic channels.”
Cynthia, however stated that Altantuya was not a core component of the inquiry.
“The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Abdul Razak Baginda had entered the country through diplomatic channels.’’
“Her father had even clarified pictures of his daughter in France as proof of evidence.’’
Prior to this, Suaram’s director Dr Kua Kia Soong said the human rights body sought help from the French courts to probe allegations that Malaysia purchased two submarines from France is linked to the 2006 murder of Altantuya while also seeking justice into the Mongolian’s murder.
Photographs of Altantuya visiting France were published in news portal Malaysiakini while pictures of Najib, Abdul Razak and Altantuya in Paris together were believed to be circulated on the Internet.
In a Free Malaysia Today report on June 25, French police investigation revealed that a person named Altantuya Shaariibuu never entered the country from 1999 to 2006 and investigations found there were no immigration records of an “Altantuya Shaariibuu” entering France in that period.
French immigration also revealed there were no immigration records to show that both Najib and Abdul Razak had entered France from 1999 to 2006, the investigation revealed that both were part of an official entourage to Paris from June 16 to 18, 2000.
To this, Cynthia said: “We would like to know as to how FMT got to this information.”
“The focus and emphasis however is on the alleged money bribery of RM570 million involving DCNS and Perimekar Sdn Bhd into the purchase of the Scorpene submarines,’’ she added.
Prominent blogger Rocky Bru wrote: “If Suaram was hoping to revive the ghost of Altantuya through the Scorpene “trial’’ in France, in the hope that it could help Anwar Ibrahim tar Prime Minister Najib Razak at the next general election, it is not happening as planned.”
“Not only had Altantuya never set foot in France as alleged by Suaram, the murdered Mongolian also did not speak a word of French and could not have been the interpreter in the deal, or so the French cops say.”
Blogger Freddie Kevin in his blog post titled “The Scorpene Tale” stated it was opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was the first to link Najib to Altantuya’s murder as reflected in an article titled, “Kes Altantuya, Anwar desak Najib disiasat.”
Source: MOLE
