The lawyer petitioning the court in Paris to probe corruption in the sale of two Scorpene-class submarines to Malaysia has ticked off a French prosecutor for his remarks on the case reported yesterday by national news agency Bernama.
Prominent human rights lawyer William Bourdon, who is based in Paris, said there was no question of "an on-going trial" as the two French judges appointed to the case were still carrying out their investigations into the controversial defence deal between France and Malaysia.
"The Tribunal deGrande Instance has convened a criminal inquiry of which (Malaysian human rights group) Suaram has been accepted as a civil party since March 2012," said Bourdon.
He said it was only upon the completion of the inquiry that the investigating judge will make a decision of whether the case goes to full trial.
Bourdon described French government prosecutor Yves Charpenel's statement that there was "no trial" on the case as "absolutely contradictory" because the judges, upon completion of their investigation, are the ones to decide whether to call for a trial, and not the prosecutor.
"To our knowledge, the prosecutors in charge of the case have not made any such statement as suggested by Charpenel," said the prominent French lawyer.
"The two judges, Roger Le Loire and Serge Tournaire, are continuing their investigations on the Scorpene inquiry."
Bernama quoted Charpenel, a former head of prosecution in France and who is now a state prosecutor, as saying that the media in Malaysia should be able to distinguish between rumours and facts, and between investigations and a trial.
"I am aware about all the fuss kicked up by certain media (organisations) in Malaysia over this matter but what I can say is that this is nothing more than a trial by the media," he is reported to have said in Kuala Lumpur.
Charpenel is also an executive member of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, and was in Malaysia to attend a four-day conference on corruption.
Suaram: No need to twist the truth
Meanwhile, Suaram secretariat member Cynthia Gabriel said her team had always maintained that the Scorpene case was a criminal investigation carried out by France, and that the case had yet to go to trial.
"As such, manipulating and twisting the truth will bring no benefit to the search for answers and truth in the matter," she told Malaysiakini.
In 2009, Suaram filed a complaint against French defence giant DCNS for paying commissions to Malaysian officials in connection with the submarine deal. The payment of commissions is illegal under French law.
Although the probe in under wraps, 139 prosecution documents have anonymously appeared online and some of this information have been reported in the media.
Suaram recently revealed that a subpoena has been served on one of the witnesses it proposed as a person able to assist in the French judicial probe.
Last Saturday, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim confirmed that Bourdon and his law partner, Joseph Breham, had agreed to come to Malaysia to explain details of the inquiry to members of the Dewan Rakyat.
However, because of fears that the lawyers may not be permitted to enter Malaysia - Bourdon was deported last year for allegedly "abusing his social visit pass" - the two French lawyers are likely to brief MPs in neighbouring Singapore.
Defence minister: Deal above board
The RM7.3 billion deal for the two Scorpene submarines with DCNS was inked in 2002 when Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak (right) was defence minister.
It has been alleged that millions of ringgit had been paid as commissions through private companies, including Terasasi, which belongs to Najib's confidant and former political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.
Razak, who is currently based in Britain, was charged with abetting in the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, who allegedly served as a translator in the deal.
However, he was released without being asked to make his defence.
Najib, who is also finance minister as well as women, family and community development minister, has denied any involvement in the Scorpene deal or that he knew Altantuya.
Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has dismissed all allegations of corruption in the Scorpene deal, saying the auditor-general has declared that purchase of the submarines had been carried out in accordance with legal procedures.- malaysiakini
The Scorpene scandal is only the tip of the iceberg. Think, before the arrival of internet media, twitter & blogs, how much has been plundered, squandered and hidden by Sarawak’s PBB & KL’s UMNO. Howard Zinn: “….…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation……….obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves…(and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” You should call for the resignation or arrest of UMNO, MACC, Sabah & Sarawak leaders now.
ReplyDelete“Of course all people want the truth, no-one does not love the truth, but the problem is... when the investigation process is ongoing, before a judgement is made, someone should not be said to be guilty until proven guilty...
ReplyDeleteThis is true, we practicing the law, and no matter who you are, you must go trough to the procedure.
The rule is simple. Innocent until proven guilty. Trial not yet started but the 'judgement' has been made. Weird..
DeleteThe rule is simple. Innocent until proven guilty. Trial not yet started but the 'judgement' has been made. Weird..
Delete“Now it is as if a judgment had been made in the court of public opinion. They (Suaram) created a perception as if Najib is really involved but the reality is that it has yet to be decided,”
ReplyDeletePlease be more professional.
While we are talking about an old issue, i think Najib is now busying with the plan to make a better place for us to stay.
ReplyDeleteNajib is busy with to help people agenda
DeleteDefence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Auditor-General has already explained that the purchase of Scorpene submarines was made according to legal procedures and his official report must be accepted by all quarters.
ReplyDeleteJust do the right thing. People will criticize anyway.
DeleteThe purchase of the submarines should be seen from the aspects of an offset programme, training, and performance assurance for certain period of time. It was really an old issue brought up to create public anger and confusion.
ReplyDeletePembangkang sengaja memperbesarkan cerita saja tu
ReplyDeleteSuara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) had misrepresented itself as a plaintiff to a French inquiry of the multi-billion Scorpene submarine deal, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) alleged today.
ReplyDelete“We view the claim that SUARAM has been accepted or recognised as ‘civil party’ (plaintiff) as a biggest lie in the country’s political history...” Dzulkarnain Taib, president of the Young Journalists Club, said at a press conference today.
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Delete“This means that the case by Suaram in relation to Scorpene has been thrown out by the French court since March 2012,” he claimed.
DeleteDzulkarnain pointed to a court document dated March 13 this year, signed by the French judiciary, purportedly rejecting SUARAM as plaintiff for the Scorpene inquiry as proof.
He claimed that SUARAM’s lawyers had applied for the human rights watchdog to be made a “joint civil party” (joint plaintiff) together with the International Federation for Human Rights, based on a court document dated March 16 this year.
DeleteBut Dzulkarnain said the French judiciary have yet to decide on whether to allow SUARAM to be a joint plaintiff over the inquiry into the Scorpene deal.
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DeleteHe declined to show the two court documents to reporters, saying that it will be revealed at an “opportune time”.
He gave the court reference number for the documents instead, with the first being “No du Parquet:1115196025 and No Instruction: 2292/12/4” and the second being “No Parquet: 1115106025 and No Instruction: 20F/11/52”.
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