Piecemeal justice for Altantuya finally – justice for corruption scandals still awaiting
C4 Centre Press Statement
The High Court today awarded the family of Altantuya Shaariibuu RM 5 million in damages today over her death at the hands of former police officers Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, as well as Abdul Razak Baginda and the Malaysian government. The Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center) welcomes this decision – justice for Altantuya’s death has been long overdue. However, the circumstances and corruption scandals that are inextricably linked to her death remain unresolved on Malaysian soil.
For Altantuya’s family, this development certainly represents some relief for the grief they have endured due to the loss of a loved one. C4 Center extends our well-wishes and stands in solidarity with them for their continued resilience in pursuing this case against those responsible, including the Malaysian government.
Altantuya’s murder is a sad and shocking testament of the lengths some corrupt individuals would go to in order to protect their interests – there are strong indications that her involvement as a translator and negotiator in the procurement of two Scorpene-class submarines from the French company Naval Group (formerly known as DCNS) was a key factor in her murder.
It bears reminding that former Prime Minister Najib Razak who was Defence Minister at the time, handpicked his close associate Razak Baginda and his company Perimekar as the direct negotiators of the submarines from DCNS and its parent company, Thales. It was found through legal proceedings in France that Razak received €114 million (RM570 million) in commissions and kickbacks from Thales and DCNS through Perimekar. The French courts subsequently indicted Razak for offences related to bribery – the former chairman of DCNS and chief executive of Thales were also both indicted for corruption.
Azilah and Sirul were also former bodyguards of Najib Razak. Azilah is currently incarcerated, awaiting a death sentence for Altantuya’s murder. Sirul fled Malaysia but has been held in an Australian immigration detention centre. Razak was acquitted of her murder in 2008, but the court today had stated that Azilah had no reasonable motive to kill Altantuya and that Razak was the link between them.
In Malaysia, the Scorpene scandal at large remains unresolved. Despite the French courts having heard the case and indicted several key individuals, no Malaysian enforcement agencies have initiated investigations into the matter. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) questioned Najib Razak over his involvement in the Scorpene scandal in 2018, but did not pursue the issue any further – Razak Baginda himself was never questioned.
The MACC’s failures despite being the nation’s apparent top anti-graft body could not be any more glaring. The cross-border element is an ever-present issue in all major corruption scandals, especially with the growing reliance on public procurement from international governments and companies – the MACC’s failure to adapt to this and initiate mutual cooperation with the French authorities to share resources in pursuing this case speaks to their lack of aptitude as an enforcement agency, or worse, their lack of will.
Mutual legal assistance between signatory nations of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) is prescribed under Article 46, covering a wide range of actions such as providing information, evidentiary items, or expert evaluation. Both France and Malaysia have ratified the UNCAC – it is entirely possible for investigations and proceedings to take place in Malaysian courts with cooperation from French authorities, and yet it still remains to be seen.
The MACC’s lack of action on the Scorpene scandal is not an isolated case, in that they have yet to release results of their investigations into the procurement of littoral combat ships (LCS) that saw taxpayer’s money of up to RM 6 billion spent without a single ship to show for it, including RM 1.4 billion in overruns alone.
In September, C4 Center had also published our own investigations linking the Scorpene and LCS scandals, and how certain figures such as Najib Razak and Lodin Wok Kamarudin were in key positions of power when the negotiations for these procurements first took place, which warrants further investigations into their possible involvement.
Read C4 Center’s previous statement on the LCS investigations here: https://c4center.org/the-littoral-combat-ship-lcs-scandal-the-crooks-and-villains-behind-malaysias-defence-procurement-laid-bare/
C4 Center thus strongly calls for the following:
The police to reopen and reinvestigate the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case in view of the findings of the court;
The MACC must open investigations into the Scorpene scandal including initiating mutual legal assistance with French authorities. They must also publish their findings into the LCS scandal, of which were promised but still not delivered;
The new unity government must establish a Special Committee to review defence procurements and look into the LCS and Scorpene scandals, and other previous problematic procurements as well. The Committee should be bipartisan in composition. The white paper arising from this inquiry must be presented to Parliament to be discussed and debated upon.
END OF STATEMENT
Issued by:
Center to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4 Center)
For further enquiries, please contact:
012-379 2189 / 03-7660 5140
Website:
https://c4center.org/
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