Sabah RCI:PBS shown Umno forms as part of dubious IC give-out

Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) officials were shown Umno application forms by sources who claimed that the forms were part of the clandestine mass issuance of illegal identity cards.

PBS vice-president Radin Malleh testified to the royal commission of inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah that he had himself seen those forms, which included a photograph and a thumbprint.

He said the informant, whom he met sometime between the years of 1994 to 1999, also showed him Persatuan Bugis forms which were allegedly used for the same purpose.

“The informant showed me forms with pictures and thumbprints, and I assumed it was true, that they used the picture and thumprint to make blue ICs,” he said.

However, to a question by Sabah Law Association representative Yunof Maringking, he stressed that he was “not implicating Umno or Persatuan Bugis” in the illegal mass issuance of ICs.

“I just saw the forms said to be used to give pictures and thumbprints. I’m not sure if they were used to get the ICs, but according to that source it was,” he said.

He said that his sources claim that this was part of one ‘Ops Gembleng’ which allegedly involved a group of National Registration Department (NRD) officers who were placed at “specific districts” for the purpose of issuing ICs illegally.

‘Declarations backdated’

He testified that Ops Gembleng was also alleged to have involved the backdating of false declarations (sijil akuan) declaring foreigners as Sabah-born for the purpose of issuing illegal ICs.

“Some say they are born in Tenom or in Rundum, when these people probably have never been to Rundum, and these declarations were backdated to 1987 to obtain ICs,” he said.

Radin, who was then PBS secretary-general, said that he had also received a letter via post, which included 12 alleged fake ICs and a list of NRD officers said to be involved in Ops Gembleng.

“(The list) was real. Between 1995 and 1996, the names listed were arrested by the police and detained under the Internal Security Act,” he said.

Asked by conducting officer Jamil Aripin, Radin, who is now Sabah Rural Development Minister, admitted that he cannot verify the information he received but believes that the sources are authentic.

“One of them was a medical doctor from Kampung Air... He is a Sabahan Indian. He told me of a Muslim Indian national who received an IC within a few days of arriving.

“He convulsed into tears when he told me. I asked him why, since that person is his Indian brother, but he said: “But I am Sabahan and he is depriving me of my opportunities,” he said, urging the RCI to call the doctor as a witness.

Aidila Razak