Govt is blocking the re-opening of Altantuya case, says ex-CID chief

Written by  Melissa Lee, Malaysia Chronicle

Former CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim accused Attorney General Gani Patail of bypassing the courts by dismissing private investigator P Balasubramaniam’s statutory declarations regarding the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shariibuu.

In an open letter to Inspector-General of Policei Ismail Omar published in his blog on Monday, he said Gani was trying to ensure that the Altantuya murder case is not reopened.

“The question now is what right does Gani Patail have to decide that the contradictions in the two Bala SDs will not affect the Altantuya case. Or maybe he would like to admit that he is also acting as the Chief Judge hearing the case,” said Mat Zain.

Bala linked the first couple to the murder and submarines

After a 159-day trial in April 2009, the Shah Alam High Court sentenced two of Prime Minister Najib Razak's former bodyguards to hang for the killing of the 28-year old Altantuya, who allegedly had an affair with Najib before he passed her on to his close friend Razak Baginda.

It is also believed that Altantuya had acted as a go-between for Baginda in the Malaysian navy's purchase of three submarines from France in 2002. The deal was approved by Najib, who was then the defense minister.

Baginda, who was the chief negotiator, was charged for abetting the murder but was later acquitted.

During the controversial trial, the judge disallowed questioning into the role played by Altantuya in the submarines acquisition and also brushed aside cross-examination that delved into whether the bodyguards had been ordered by 'higher-ups' to kill Altantuya.

Too many connections for Najib to deny

In July 2008, Balasubramaniam who worked for Baginda, linked Najib to Altantuya and the submarines in a statutory declaration. The very next day, he retracted the statement and fled the country. Bala resurfaced last year and accused Najib's brother of giving him money to leave the country. He also upheld the first declaration.

That led to opposition lawmakers raising the matter in Parliament and calling for a probe into Bala's statutory declarations but their efforts were unsuccessful. Minister in PM's Department Nazri Aziz confirmed the government would not take further action on the declarations, sparking accusations that it was covering up for Najib and wife Rosmah.

The first couple has been accused of being involved in acepting huge kickbacks for submarines purchase and in the Altantuya murder as well.

In Paris, the French authorities are investigating the kickbacks paid by the submarines vendor DCN to Perimekar, a firm connected to Baginda which is believed to be the vehicle through which the 114 million euros or RM570 million kickback was channelled.

Pendedahan Dalang Video Fitnah 1

Video fitnah : Pelaku berkaca mata, perot boroi,tetek labuh dan memakai ...

For Razak Baginda, The Altantuya-Scorpenes Story Is Far From Over

From Malaysia Chronicle

Razak Baginda is a hard man to find.

His controvesial acquittal from abetting the Altantuya murder came after a prolonged murder trial and almost two years after being arrested at his office.

Walking out from the courtroom a free man, he quietly relocated to the United Kingdom to continue his studies and since then has remained out of the public’s eye.

He last surfaced in Singapore on April 19th, 2010 when giving a talk on the Islamic Caliphate at Nanyang Technical University to a group of 40 participants.

Other than this event, he has remained out of sight with many speculating that he has chosen to reside in the UK although he may just be keeping his head down in Kuala Lumpur, where he has lived for decades.

But all that lying low may come to an end soon as the French investigators have shown interest in his role in the RM7 billion purchase of Scorpene submarines from French firm DCN.

One of the key holders

There is also the matter of alleged irregularities in the payment of a RM570 million ‘support services deal’ to Perimekar, a company linked to Baginda.

So far in replies to Parliament, the Malaysian government has insisted it was not a kickback to Perimekar for clinching the order but for “co-ordination and support services”. Presumably, it related to the submarines although Perimekar has no known record of such high-tech expertise.

Baginda is definitely one of those holding the keys to Najib Razak’s survival. If ever Baginda chooses to come forward to tell his side of the story, what a moment that would be for Malaysia.

Statements by private investigator P Balasubramaniam to the French financial police have painted a picture of the involvement of several military personel in the Altantuya murder.

In the course of the interview, two new names also surfaced — Malaysians identified as Major Rahim and Abdul Rahim bin Saad. What roles do the two Rahims have in the murder is still unclear, but it is a more than fair assumption that Baginda would be in the know.

Global stage

So all eyes are now shifting to Razak Baginda once again. He has been adamant in professing his innocence of the murder. Yet his link to Altantuya can never be denied.

Baginda even hired Bala to keep her from harassing his family. So while Baginda may have been just as surprised that those more ruthless and with more at stake than him had chosen to cold-bloodedly order her killing, he knows who they are.

By not revealing the truth, is Baginda not just as guilty of abettment as picking up the phone and saying ‘do it, men’.

For a man of his learning and capability, it is a shame to choose to err on the side of the dark. Hopefully, one day, he will step out into the light and tell all to the world – for Altanutya is no longer just another sordid Malaysian murder and corruption case, but has gained a global stage.

From the world of academia to switching corpses

Baginda graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in politics and government from London’s City Polytechnic in 1982, and gained a master’s degree in War Studies at King’s College London in 1984. He is certainly no idiot.

A smart man with dashing good looks, he returned to Malaysia in 1988, joined the Malaysian Armed Forces Defense College as a lecturer and eventually became head of strategic studies. In 1993, he formed a think-tank called the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre, which is based in Kuala Lumpur.

His abilities put him in the front-row seat to be advisor to the then-Defence Minister Najib Razak and eventually as lead negotiator for the purchase of military equipment from France.

With so much going for him, it is not impossible for Baginda to issue a “kill” order to Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, the former bodyguards to Najib and Rosmah who have been sentenced to hang for her death.

Certainly, Baginda’s wife and family feared he might be made the scapegoat for Altantuya’s killing. It would have so easy for the real “killers” to have just shut the prison doors on him and let him suffer the same fate as the two cops, now on death row.

But as Baginda was acquitted, there is also widespread speculation backed by visual evidence that the two bodyguards might also be allowed to cheat death.

There is much speculation the highly odd way the police have always covered up the faces of Azilah and Sirul whenever they went to court was to enable them to eventually ‘escape’ and return to normal life, but under different identities. Other corpses would be used when the time came to hang them, so the macabre stories abound.

Whole truth or fatal mistake

Why do these 3 men – Baginda, Azilah and Sirul – hold so much ‘power’? Who or what is protecting them?

Why haven’t the real “killers” opted to throw these three men to the gallows and in this way forever keep their secrets hidden? Is it because the trio has made sure that in the event the worst happened to them, ‘information would leak out’.

It would be Baginda’s ‘information’ that would be the most damaging, of course. No surprises, the French investigators would put him top on their list of witnesses. But will he go?

It is anyone’s guess what Baginda will do. If he does decide to travel to Paris, what will he tell French? Would the link to Najib and all its ramifications finally come to light? Will Baginda tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

Or will he choose to continue riding on his current and extremely comfortable lifestyle – secure in the knowledge that what he knows puts him out of the reach of the powers that be in Malaysia? Sad to say, that may eventually prove to be his fatal mistake.

Anak Presiden Kazakstan?

Borat is out of competition

Written by Leonid Komarovskiy

Wednesday, 25 May 2011 09:34

Life is complicated, yet fun. Only recently I had an opportunity to tell a story about an erupted in our outskirts a Deputy from the Russian LDPR-party, Ashot Egiazaryane, who escaped from Moscow because of charges of fraud and who is now hanging out in California, fooling as a second Khodorkovskiy and requests political asylum. And here is a no less entertaining story about a Kazakh boy, Daniyar Nazarbayev. Also a complicated one... absurdly. In 2006, a young citizen of the independent Kazakhstan arrived to New York. He was shining around with his sounding last name and loaded with unbelievable amounts of cash that was an easy pray for experienced people here. In October 2006, New York Post wrote that Daniyar Nazarbayev, who was named in the publication as "the son of the President Nursultan Nazarbayev", acquired couple of apartments located at 55 Wall Street. One of the apartments with two bedrooms cost $2.9 million, and the other one located below, with only one bedroom, was $2.1 million. I don't know either it's true or rumors, but the press reported that "the President Nazarbayev personally visited the house, when attended the UN summit, and then, apparently, approved the purchase". It smells like really big money. Among the first wishing to join the newfound loot were the Ivy Success consultants. For $200,000 they committed to help the young newcomer to enroll into one of the eight Ivy League universities, either to Harvard, or to Yale... Even so, the amount is still unbelievable. After all, we are speaking about tutoring, top rate for which is $50 per hour for a hundred hours a month. They probably wouldn't ask for more if it wouldn't be for the royal last name of the applicant. It's apparent that it wasn't only New York Post that decided that Daniyar was the son of the everlasting President of Kazakhstan. Newly appeared prince was mysteriously silent that only confirmed his rumored royal origin. After receiving their $200,000 the Ivy Success consultants for some reason lost interest in the young man and stopped loving him for this money, declaring that he is not ready for the Ivy League universities. They, however, did not return the money, which led to a lawsuit. Those days the American press mocked comparing cini-nutcase from Kazakhstan "Borat" and very real Kazakhs, Daniyar and his mother Mayra Nazarbayeva, who made a bad shot in a such an easy case. However, Daniyar is a stubborn kid and managed to enroll into an Ivy League Columbia University and will be graduating within the next few days. And this is where the fun begins because Daniyar Nazarbayev is not Nazarbayev, and his documents proving his secondary education that were the basis for enrolling into the university – excuse me for bad manners – are pure crap. Having said that, his mother Mayra also doesn't have such a sounding last name and with whom the Kazakh law enforcement agencies would love to talk to due to her wide range of life adventures every now and then being in conflict with the Kazakh laws. Generally speaking, cine Kazakh Borat is out of competition... Let's begin with Daniyar. By the time he was admitted to the Columbia University, he had two school diplomas – Diploma from Leysin American School (Switzerland), issued in 2005, which did not give him the right to attend an institution of higher education as it was incomplete, and a High School Diploma, issued in the same 2005 by the high school (gymnasium) in a small town Talgar in Almaty District in Kazakhstan. Don't ask me how it is possible to simultaneously study in Switzerland and Kazakhstan – I don't know. Ask Daniyar – he is a step away from receiving his bachelor's degree and perhaps he could disperse the doubts. All this really sounds as a scam since the administration of that very Kazakh school does not know anything about its graduate with a royal last name, and the Swiss have confirmed that Daniyar's diploma is incomplete. I'm not sure how it is in Switzerland, but within the former Soviet territories it was possible to buy for fifty bucks during those times a completely legitimate blank of any document proving the graduation – from vocational schools to MSU. And for an extra bribe, with a "real-live" seals and entering into appropriate registration books of such academic institutions. So the famous Columbia University should think twice before issuing Daniyar a Bachelor's degree: what if the graduate is indeed ... with higher education, but without secondary one... Columbians got fooled, apparently... Not good... Not prestigious... Borat is out of competition... When it comes to the last name of nearly bachelor, nothing is so smooth either. As is reported by the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan, this last name was taken away by the decision of the appropriate agencies, as it was illegally acquired, and all the documents, including passport, were disowned back in February 2010. It turns out since that date he is present in the USA with illegal documents. Daniyar can thank his mother, born Mayra Kurmangaliyeva, for his last name and all the transformations in this regard. It was she who lured Bolat Nazarbayev into her net – a real relative (who is said to be the sibling) of the Kazakh President – and married him, in a hurry forgetting to divorce her previous husband D. Kesikbayev, whose last name Daniyar had before receiving his second birth certificate with the last name Nazarbayev. There are legends in Kazakhstan about this lady with regards to her resourcefulness, non-fastidiousness and indifference to laws. Dude by name Daniyar and with a strange last name, appears to be no less pacey than his mother when it comes to matrimonial matters. There are rumors that he charmed Nooryana Najwa, the daughter of Prime-Minister of Malaysia, and about to marry her. Why not? Prominent guy, full of dough, with the last name that takes the breath away... However, if I were Malaysian dad I'd check just in case: was Daniyar married when he was younger. Apple from an apple tree, as you know... and Alma-Ata after all is the city of apples and apple trees. Though, let's let the Kazakhs and Malaysians deal with this themselves. I, however, have a set of questions to our American governmental officials. How did it happen that whoever can purchase very expensive housing in USA without proper financial document check? How can a foreigner, whose documents were disavowed in his own country, continue to quietly live in the US? Finally, how did it happen that a person with shady secondary education documents reached graduation from one of the most prestigious universities of the country? Leonid Komarovskiy "Reporter", New York

Soo Nee dakwa Zul minta wang

 Exco Kerajaan Negeri, Lim Soo Nee menyifatkan Ahli Parlimen Kulim :Bandar Baharu, Zulkifli Noordin seorang yang gemar memutar belit fakta.

Katanya, Zulkifli sanggup melakukan apa sahaja untuk kepentingan dirinya, walaupun terpaksa mempergunakan nama pihak ketiga.

“Saya dedahkan perkara ini kerana tidak sanggup lagi melihat rakyat ditipu dengan mudah oleh Zulkifli. Dengan penampilan dirinya itu saya yakin ramai yang sudah terpedaya,” katanya, ketika ditemui, di sini.

Soo Nee, yang juga Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Kulim berkata, beliau terpanggil untuk mendedahkan rahsia Zulkifli kerana tidak sanggup lagi bersubahat dengan Ahli Parlimen bebas itu, terutama apabila Zulkifli mendakwa beliau ditawarkan ganjaran besar untuk memfitnah Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dan isteri, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor untuk mengaitkan mereka dengan kes pembunuhan wanita Mongolia, Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“Jika benar beliau ikhlas dan profesional, sepatutnya ketika menerima tawaran itu beliau membuat laporan polis atau mendedahkannya kepada umum. Tetapi kenapa baru sekarang, setelah hampir empat tahun berlalu?” katanya.

Soo Nee berkata, ketika sama-sama berkempen pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-12 (PRU-12), Zulkifli pernah mengaku menyimpan bukti kes pembunuhan itu, ketika mewakili tertuduh dalam kes terbabit, Cif Inspektor Azilah Hadri, tetapi menarik diri kerana didakwa terdapat campur tangan pihak ketiga dalam persediaannya membuat pembelaan.

Mengulas mengenai insiden yang dianggapnya menganiayai rakan separti, Soo Nee berkata, Zulkifli pernah menghantar dua khidmat pesanan ringkas (SMS) kepadanya pada PRU-12, untuk meminta wang bagi digunakan ketika berkempen dengan menggunakan nama pihak ketiga.

“Mengikut rekod SMS itu, katanya, jentera Pas meminta RM21,000 untuk berkempen dan jika tidak dipenuhi, jentera Pas akan memboikot kempen itu. Katanya, saya hanya perlu tanggung sebahagian kos, iaitu RM7,000,” katanya.

Soo Nee berkata, memandangkan beliau tidak memberi maklum balas kepada SMS itu dengan segera, Zulkifli menghantar SMS kedua, memaklumkan kemarahan pihak terbabit dan meminta beliau memberi sejumlah yang mampu.

“Setelah Pakatan Rakyat (PR) menang dalam pilihan raya itu, kebetulan saya terjumpa Yang Dipertua Pas Kulim Bandar Baharu ketika itu, Yaakub Husin dan bertanya mengenai hal itu, tetapi beliau menafikan meminta wang untuk berkempen. Sejak itu, saya tertanya-tanya bagi tujuan apa duit itu diambil oleh Zulkifli?” katanya.:

Dengan pendedahannya itu, Soo Nee mencabar Zulkifli membuat kenyataan balas terhadap semua tindakannya, atau setidak-tidaknya meletakkan jawatan untuk menegakkan kebenaran.

“Eloklah buat pilihan raya kecil (PRK). Selepas itu kita lihat sama ada penduduk Kulim Bandar Baharu masih menyokong beliau atau sebaliknya,” katanya.

Soo Nee berkata, beliau berani membuat tuduhan ini kerana sehingga kini beliau masih menyimpan bukti, termasuk SMS yang dihantar Zulkifli dua tahun lalu, bertarikh 5 Mac dan 6 Mac.

Sementara itu:, Zulkifli, ketika dihubungi berkata, beliau tidak berminat berbalas kenyataan secara terbuka.

Menurutnya, apa sahaja tuduhan yang dilemparkan kepadanya “tidak perlu diperbesarkan” dan beliau “tidak kisah dengan tuduhan itu”, walaupun tuduhan itu sedikit sebanyak akan mencalar imejnya sebagai seorang pemimpin.

“Saya tidak minat untuk menjawab semua pertuduhan itu secara terbuka.

“Saya tak minat langsung nak komen isu ini. Apa yang saya boleh katakan ialah saya kenal Soo Nee sebagai seorang rakan dan ucapkan selamat maju jaya kepadanya.:

”Saya minta dia jaga kawasan dia dengan elok supaya dapat jadi calon pada masa akan datang.

“Biarlah apa dia nak kata. Saya tetap dengan pendirian saya, tak mahu berbalas kenyataan tentang isu yang dibangkitkan,” katanya.

Ku Li: Gugur Pemusatan Kuasa Di Tangan PM, Peguam Negara

Dari The Malaysian Insider

Ahli politik veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah menggesa agar pemusatan kuasa di pejabat Perdana Menteri dan Peguam Negara dikaji balik agar kepentingan rakyat jelata tidak terus terhakis sebagaimana disaksikan sejak tiga dekad lalu.

Dalam pandangan yang lantang terbaru ini, Ahli Parlimen Gua Musang (gambar) itu berkata, cabaran pada hari ini ialah meneliti kembali pemusatan kuasa di tangan individu tertentu termasuk perdana menteri dan mengembalikan persekitaran politik yang “imbang dan periksa” demi rakyat menikmati amalan demokrasi yang tulen.

“Kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia perlu mendapatkan balik hak-hak kita dalam (negara) demokrasi, bahawa kuasa dan jawatan adalah satu amanah dan tanggungjawab, bukan untuk kepentingan peribadi ataupun sebagai satu peluang untuk memperkayakan diri.

“Kita, sebagai rakyat yang aktif dalam politik dan bertanggungjawab, perlu menekankan semula konsep obligasi sosial dan tanggungjawab awal ke atas mereka yang mahukan jawatan politik. Kuasa ada tugas, bukan satu jawatan,” kata beliau ketika berucap pada majlis Perak Lectures anjuran Perak Academy di Taiping malam tadi.

Bekas menteri kewangan itu berkata, kerajaan juga perlu memikirkan semula dasar-dasar ekonomi negara ini khususnya dalam memfokus objektif nasional yang sangat memerlukan tindakan segera.

“Dasar ekonomi bukan hanya mengenai penjanaan kekayaan tetapi juga memerlukan satu dimensi moral yang mengambil kira kebaikan kesemua rakyat sebagai satu keutamaan berbanding keuntungan (semata-mata),” kata beliau dalam ucapannya yang secara panjang lebar menyentuh perubahan dalam keutamaan negara sejak tiga hingga empat dekad lalu berbanding teras mesej disampaikan ketika perisytiharan kemerdekaan oleh Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj di Stadium Merdeka pada 1957.

“Falsafah yang menjadi panduan ialah tanggungjawab (pemegang) jawatan awam. Jawatan awam dilihat sebagai satu tugas, bukan satu peluang (mencari kepentingan diri).

“Jawatan awam juga sebahagian daripada komitmen politik untuk mewujudkan satu Malaysia yang adil, saksama, kohesi dan seimbang,” kata beliau sambil menambah, elemen-elemen itu disepadukan oleh keperluan tanggungjawab turun-temurun bagi mereka yang akan menggantikan kepimpinan pada masa-masa mendatang.

Justeru kata Tengku Razaleigh, salah satu kerugian besar dalam dunia pemegangan jawatan awam dan politik di Malaysia pada hari ini ialah kehilangan tanggungjawab turun-temurun ini atau yang bersifat generasi.

Katanya, setiap tindakan dan pendekatan kelihatan dikelilingi oleh sikap tamak dan keinginan mahu menjadi bilionair, yang turut membawa kepada piramid kroni dalam parti-parti politik pemimpin yang memerintah dan sekutu-sekutu dalam bisnes.

“Ia kombinasi hierarki kroni politik dan kroni bisnes yang membawa kepada pemusatan kuasa dalam kepimpinan politik semasa dan di pejabat Perdana Menteri,” kata Ketua Umno Gua Musang ini, yang pernah menyaingi Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad bagi jawatan presiden Umno pada 1987.

Dr Mahathir yang memegang jawatan perdana menteri selama 22 tahun sejak 1981 digantikan oleh Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pada Oktober 2003 dan kemudian oleh Datuk Seri Najib Razak sejak April 2009.

Sehubungan itu kata Tengku Razaleigh, pemusatan kuasa di tangan satu individu telah membawa kepada manipulasi sistem politik iaitu institusi-institusi kuasa termasuk media.

Banyak media sama ada akhbar atau stesen televisyen dimiliki oleh parti-parti politik teras dalam Barisan Nasional (BN) khususnya Umno.

Dakwaan sebelum ini menyebut bidang kehakiman turut hilang kebebasan ketika era kepimpinan Dr Mahathir, tetapi perdana menteri keempat itu menafikan perkara tersebut banyak kali.

“Sebagai pertukaran kepada pemusatan kuasa, sikap tamak dan kepentingan peribadi digalakkan menerusi (kepimpinan melalui) teladan dan dalam topeng kesetiaan kaum yang sewajarnya menerima ganjaran,” katanya.

Bertolak daripada itu, Tengku Razaleigh berkata, persekitaran ini wujud di semua parti dalam struktur kuasa yang ada sekarang.

“Situasi ini adalah sesuatu yang sangat bahaya dan sukar untuk dipatahkan sebab pemusatan kuasa sudah wujud sejak tiga dekad lalu,” kata pemimpin kelahiran Kelantan ini.

Tengku Razaleigh juga menarik perhatian bahawa persekitaran itu juga membawa gaya kepimpinan politik “talam dua muka” dan “cakap angin” — seolah-olah mempamerkan kepimpinan ‘cakap tak serupa bikin’.

Malah menurutnya, sikap sedemikian membawa politik yang menggalakkan pendekatan atau amalan mengaburkan maklumat.

“Tema yang ketara ialah polisi menggunakan (elemen) perkauman dan agama di satu pihak dan bercakap mengenai perpaduan di pihak lain dengan menjadikan rakyat sebagai tebusan dalam usaha kekalkan status quo kuasa.

“Akibatnya, kebimbangan mengenai perkauman dan agama mencengkam setiap aspek kehidupan, dalam politik, ekonomi, pendidikan dan pekerjaan, sedangkan realiti semasa tiada kaitan dengan agama atau kaum,” kata beliau.