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NO CHOICE BUT TO MARCH INTO PUTRAJAYA

 
By Yong Thye Chong aka Kim Quek

August 25, 2008

 
How will future historians fifty or a hundred years from now look at Permatang Pauh in relation to Malaysia ?  Will it be like Gettysburg to USA , or Yenan to the new China – famous names that evoke memories of major turning points in the history of nations?

The answer depends on how the people in Permatang Pauh will vote in the by-election on August 26, 2008 .  Not whether Anwar Ibrahim will be returned as a Member of Parliament, but whether the electorate will give Anwar a decisive margin of victory that can be taken as an endorsement of his plan to take over power from the crumbling and decadent Barisan Nasional (BN).

If Anwar wins by a convincing majority – despite BN waging the dirtiest of election campaigns in memory against him – then he will be well poised to formalize the cross-over of disenchanted Barisan Nasional MPs who share the aspirations of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and are now waiting for such a moment to make the switch.  With BN already in an advanced stage of disintegration and decadence while the economy is fast sinking amidst public fury and distrust, the anticipated cross-over, once triggered, will turn into a torrent that will sweep PR into power.


DISINTEGRATING BN

Since the March 8 general elections, BN, which is a grouping of 14 racial parties, has already lost its traction as a coalition.  Satellite parties like MCA, Gerakan, MIC have made scathing attacks against the dominant core party UMNO, blaming the latter’s racial arrogance and hegemony for the collapse of their popular support within their own individual racial groupings. They have asked for drastic changes of UMNO’s policy – changing from master-servant relationship to genuine partnership of mutual respect and equitable sharing – so as to enable them to recoup their lost support.  However, UMNO has instead moved in the opposite direction.  It has intensified its racial agenda in an apparent attempt to consolidate and expand its core support – the Malay voters, at the expense of support from other races.  
 
This strategy is no doubt driven by the recognition that UMNO still enjoys considerable Malay support, especially in the rural areas, while BN has little hope of regaining support of other races from Pakatan Rakyat, which advocates a pro-rakyat policy within the framework of egalitarianism under the Constitution.
 
The evolving scenario is polarization of political development – an increasingly ethnocentric UMNO relying on repression to preserve its political and racial hegemony on one side versus an unrelenting multi-racial reform movement that vows to foster national unity, restore democracy and rule of law and re-vitalise the sagging economy.
 
We thus see a struggling racist UMNO, hanged on to it by subservient racial parties which are now propped up by leaders with vested interests in the government but are badly emaciated by disappearing grassroots.  If a general election is held today, it is not an exaggeration to say that the race based parties in the Peninsular – MCA, Gerakan, MIC - will be completely routed.
 
The scenario in Sabah and Sarawak is somewhat different where BN’s coalition partners  are mostly native-based parties and where Pakatan Rakyat has not established a strong foothold.  Their grouses are mainly regional marginalization and failure to honour the 1963 Malaysia Pact (which grants them equal partnership with Peninsular Malaysia) by the UMNO-dominated federal government.  The Sabahans, who have been plagued by illegal immigrants that now outnumber the locals, have attributed their widespread poverty and under-development and severe social unrest to willful negligence and exploitation by the federal government.  Many leaders have quietly planned or contemplated to cross over to PR for a more equitable deal.

Meanwhile the backbone of BN, UMNO, is at its weakest in history.  It is bereft of political idealism, badly fragmented by power struggle under a feeble leader, and its body politic critically corroded by a political malignancy that has almost become synonymous with UMNO – money politics.


RIPE FOR CROSS-OVER


It is not difficult to see that Putrajaya is ripe for the picking by Anwar, since many BN leaders, including those from UMNO, are ready to jump ship from this Titanic, having sighted the inescapable iceberg ahead.  All that is needed now is a clarion call from the electorate in Permatang Pauh in the form of an emphatic majority to enable Anwar to embark on this historical mission.

But will the electorate of Permatang Pauh oblige?  Perhaps this question should be answered by another question: is there an alternative? What will happen if Anwar fails to win a convincing majority and his effort to affect the anticipated cross-over from BN is frustrated?

We will then see an untenable impasse that will put our political and economic future to peril.  For BN will continue its current effort to economically strangulate PR-controlled states through cutting off federal funds and canceling development projects, while stepping up repression through unconstitutional manipulation of state institutions -   police, attorney general, judiciary, election commission and even the anti-corruption agency – to contain the rapidly growing popular support of PR.  Avowed reforms on the judiciary, police and ACA will surely be thrown out of the window, as these reforms are anti-thesis to a repressive regime.

As it is, our economy is already in jeopardy due to mismanagement under a corrupt and inept political leadership that seems to be perpetually pre-occupied with intra-party in-fighting, racial and religious squabbles, and sheer incompetence exhibited in frequent policy flip-flops, massive leakages and irresponsible squandering.

Hence, as tension builds up between BN and PR, the economy will be further jeopardized through undue starving of federal funds and the inevitable shrinking of investments arising from further loss of investors’ confidence as the rule of law continues to slide.


ONLY ONE ALTERNATIVE


This intractable BN-PR deadlock can only be satisfactorily resolved by one of two solutions: either UMNO embarks on a path of genuine reforms to bring the country back to constitutional rule, or PR takes over the government to institute the much needed reforms to turn the country around onto the path of national unity and robust economic growth.

Six months have lapsed since the political tsunami of March 8, and there is no indication that UMNO is willing or capable of carrying out any of such reforms.  Hence, there is only one alternative left: PR must march on to Putrajaya without delay.

And the electorate of Permatang Pauh are now entrusted with the sacrosanct duty to make that historical decision on behalf of the nation.

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IS MALAYSIA A JURASSIC PARK?

By Yong Thye Chong aka Kim Quek


August 14, 2008

Can those people thumping their chests to condemn Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s suggestion to allocate 10% of student admission of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) to non-bumiputra and foreign students please answer one simple question.
 
Is there a single university in the world which practises 100% racial discrimination in its student enrolment?
 
If there is none, shouldn’t these same people start to do some reflective thinking now as to whether it is a plus or minus for Malaysia to have this unique distinction?
 
Should they not contemplate on whether they are proud or not so proud of this ‘achievement’?
 
Should they not be concerned of what the rest of the world might think of a country that is still fanatically defending its policy of total racial discrimination in its highest seat of learning when the whole world has either abandoned or criminalized racial discrimination of all kinds?  Are they not worried that Malaysia may soon acquire the image of ‘Jurassic Park’ or ‘Lost World’ of this globalised age?
 
Yes, I use the word ‘fanatically’ because the outburst against Khalid’s suggestion was swift, vituperative, irrational, racist and spearheaded by top UMNO leaders and reverberated down to UiTM students who gathered in the thousands to protest in front of Khalid’s office.  Vocal assailers include unfortunately the minister of higher education Khaled Nordin and UiTM vice-chancellor Ibrahim Abu Shah; and vitriolic criticisms include ‘selling out Malay special privileges’, ‘insult to his own race’, and ironically even ‘playing with racial sentiments’.   
 
Surprisingly, even the Constitution was brought in to defend UiTM’s 100% racial discrimination policy, displaying wide-spread ignorance of the Constitution.  Vice-chancellor Ibrahim specifically referred to Article 153 of the Constitution as legal basis for his refusal to open the door of UiTM to other races.  Whereas the reverse is true –- Article 153 only empowers the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to request for the reservation of such proportion of positions as deemed reasonable for the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak in educational institutions funded by the government.  Coupled with Article 8 which prohibits discrimination of any kind on the ground of race, UiTM’s 100% racial policy is clearly unconstitutional.
 
The fanatical zeal displayed by the ruling party (UMNO) in condemning even the tiniest opening of its mono-racial institution to others in this multi-racial nation half a century after Independence is undoubtedly a terrible indictment on the miserable failure of nation-building carried out by the only ruling coalition this nation has ever known led by UMNO. 
 
It should be pointed out that this UiTM fiasco is the latest in a long string of world renowned scandals that have shamed this country in a short spell of time –- starting with the Lingam tape that reveals our judicial rot, the Mongolian high-level murder trial that drills on endlessly and aimlessly, the Anwar sodomy frame-up saga II which symbolises the regime’s moral bankruptcy, the violent disruption of Bar Council forum on family problems arising from conversion to Islam that displays religious intolerance.  What alarms the public even more is that these scandals seem to roll in with increasing frequency and speed, destroying what little trust and confidence the people may still have with the government.  Are we as a nation already in the reverse gear sliding into an abyss? 

With these self-destructive maneuvers, apparently self-engineered for its own political survival, UMNO is actually stretching the political and social fabric of the nation into a danger zone.  How then could Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi in all honesty announce that the country “is doing quite well in terms of the economic fundamentals??? when the economy is already deeply troubled with slumping demand amidst spiraling inflation in an environment of administrative incompetence, and escalating political turmoil and uncertainty? 

The latest two incidents – Bar Council forum and UiTM enrolment – appear to be linked to the imminent Permatang Pauh by-election through which Anwar Ibrahim is planning to make his grand return to Parliament.  It is apparent that UMNO is hell bent to exploit every bit of potential religious and racial friction and blow it up to inflame the primordial instincts of the 70% Malay electorate in the Permatang Pauh constituency.  Its policy seems to be: There is no price too high for UMNO to retain power, including stoking the fire of racial hatred and religious animosity that may eventually rift the nation apart.

The nation must decide whether it can tolerate such an incumbent political power to continue to hold the reign of government.  And that collective decision, if in the negative,  can be put into effect (to a significant extent) by the electorate of Permatang Pauh by giving Anwar Ibrahim a resounding victory.

_______________________________

The writer, Kim Quek, who is an accountant by profession, has written extensively on the socio-political issues confronting the nation. His collection of past writings and essays had been collated and published in a book entitled "Where to, Malaysia?".
 

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FUMBLING HOSPITAL DENIAL HIGHLIGHTS CONSPIRACY

By Yong Thye Chong aka Kim Quek

August 1, 2008


Hospital Pusrawi made an attempt through a press statement to negate its own medical report that shows no sodomy had been committed on Saiful (Anwar Ibrahim’s aide).  However, its repeated contradictory and evasive answers to questions from reporters during the press conference clearly revealed that the hospital was merely putting up a show to hide the truth.

In the press conference on July 30, the hospital’s general manager Wan Mahmood Wan Yaacob (accompanied by the hospital’s medical director Kamaruddin Ahmad) denied that the Saiful's medical report was related to sodomy, also considered the examining doctor as unqualified to examine for sodomy, and even cast doubt on the authenticity of the Saiful report that is in wide circulation.  He made all these assertions despite overwhelming evidences to the contrary. 
 
However, under unrelenting questioning, Wan Mahmood admitted that the report in circulation “looks the same, contents are the same??? as the original report.  Then why did the hospital go into the redundant measure of setting up a three-man committee to probe into the authenticity of the circulating report - which bears all the hallmarks of typical Barisan Nasional tactic to delay and prevent the truth from emerging?

Dr. Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid who examined Saiful Bukhari Azlan at 2 pm on June 28, 2008 clearly stated in his report on Saiful that the patient had no bleeding, tear or scar in the rectal/anal area and that he appeared “alert, comfortable, not pale???.  Under the heading “diagnosis???, Dr. Osman wrote: TRO Assault (Sodomy) (TRO stands for to rule out).  It means Dr. Osman ruled out sodomy.  Under the heading “rawatan??? (treatment), Dr. Osman wrote: Advise to go to the government hospital (plan to do police report).  It means that the doctor asked Saiful to go to a government hospital for a check up as required by law, since he was going to make a police report. 

This medical report, though brief, is a true record that Dr. Osman had examined Saiful and found no physical evidence of sodomy.  Such a report could preclude subsequent medical finding to the contrary, considering that four hours after Dr. Osman’s examination, Saiful visited Kuala Lumpur Hospital where he made a police report and subjected himself to another medical examination, the contents of which are now being zealously guarded by the police.

With regards to Dr. Osman’s competence, both Wan Mahmood and Kamaruddin said they “had no doubt on Mohamed’s credibility as a doctor??? and further commented that “he was a good doctor???.  With such appraisal, it is puzzling how Dr. Osman, who is 56 years old and has twenty years of medical experience, could be considered as unfit to carry out a simple examination on a sodomy assault.  In fact, Dr. Osman’s report is not only relevant in the court of law, it is also invaluable to the police engaged in their preliminary investigation on the veracity of this sodomy allegation. 

But instead of treasuring this evidence, the Deputy Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar called the disclosure of this evidence as an attempt to “sabotage??? police investigations and  to “confuse??? the public, while he inexplicably refused to comment on this medical report.  Unless he considered the report a fake, how on earth could he condemn it as an act of sabotage?  The refusal by Ismail and other government leaders and officials to comment on the substance of this report while steadfastly calling for punishment against the informer who leaked this report is exemplary of the long established government policy of "nailing the whistle-blower to protect the culprit".
 
Isn’t the government’s deafening silence on this report an emphatic admission that it is genuine and relevant?  Isn’t Hospital Pusrawi’s feeble attempt at deception a manifestation that the authority concerned lacked the courage to discredit this report by itself?

It is pertinent to ask:  Is the present police exercise an attempt to find out the truth about the sodomy allegation or is it an all-out effort to fix Anwar Ibrahim?  The latter seems to be the case, judging from Deputy IGP Ismail’s response to Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar’s admonition to the police to wrap up its work “as soon as possible??? following the explosive revelation of the Saiful medical report.  Ismail said the police had been “relentlessly seeking relevant and the latest information …..  constantly looking for new leads.???  That sounds like some one who has been hunting down a serial murderer, rather than investigating an alleged sodomy rapist who does not appear to have committed the offence –- as per Dr. Osman’s report and Anwar’s purported alibi.

 
This Hospital Pusrawi debacle is only the latest in a series of tactics that betray ill intent to persecute Anwar, such as:

* Denying Anwar a copy of Saiful’s police report without reason.
* Ambushing and arresting Anwar in a high-handed manner that befits a top international terrorist, forcing him to sleep overnight on a cold cement floor, resulting in a flare-up of his spinal injury, which was inflicted during a similar sodomy charge 10 years ago.
* Police and top leaders harassing Anwar to submit to DNA sampling when it is neither needed nor called for. Anwar refused the requests on the ground that it may be used for fabricating false evidence just like it was done in a similar trial 10 years ago.
* Constantly casting aspersions as a sodomite against Anwar in the government controlled press and TV channels.

It is the unanimous opinion at home and abroad that the current sodomy allegation is a political conspiracy to prevent Anwar from leading Pakatan Rakyat in an imminent take-over of power from a crumbling Barisan Nasional administration.  Many consider this a replay of  the event ten years ago when Anwar was similarly accused and persecuted.  However, unlike the 1988 event when the prime mover was the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the present Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi does not seem to be playing a similar role.

In fact both the PM and Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar whose portfolio includes the police force do not appear to be on top of the police force which seems to be the mover and shaker of events that are fast changing our political landscape.  Like the plot to fix Anwar, his Hollywood style arrest, the recent gridlock of traffic in Kuala Lumpur and sealing off of Parliament House  -  all these high-handed measures had incurred the wrath of the people, and all Abdullah and Hamid could do was to act as apologists for the police.  Another example was the issue of Anwar’s DNA.  Both seemed to have been duped into making a fool of themselves by publicly demanding Anwar to submit to a new DNA test when the government is already in possession of Anwar’s DNA.  Did Abdullah and Hamid know about the ulterior motive of collecting Anwar’s fresh blood sample now?  I bet not.

The police force is ruled with an iron fist by Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan.  He and Attorney-General Gani Patail had played leading roles in the infamous trials of Anwar Ibrahim ten years ago and are now under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Agency for alleged fabrication of evidence against Anwar then.  Though Abdullah said a few days ago that both Musa and Gani would not be involved with the current Anwar sodomy investigation, how convincing are such assurances when both remain bosses in their respective departments?

We have no doubt of Abdullah’s sincerity when he asked for another two years for him to carry our reforms that he had failed to do previously, and we think the current crisis created by the sodomy allegation is a golden opportunity for him to stamp his mark as a reformer by righteously exercising the immense power vested in his hand as prime minister and order that rule of law be strictly observed in the resolution of this crisis.

Considering our vastly changed political landscape and the precarious economic and political situation we are in now, any repetition of the unjust treatment meted out to Anwar in 1998 will surely bring unimaginable consequences to the nation.

_________________________

The writer, Kim Quek, who is an accountant by profession, has written extensively on the socio-political issues confronting the nation. His collection of past writings and essays had been collated and published in a book entitled "Where to, Malaysia?".
 

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SODOMY NEVER TOOK PLACE

 
By Yong Thye Chong aka Kim Quek

August 9,2008
 

Sodomy allegation against PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has all but collapsed on the day he was charged in court (Aug 7), following several events that occurred simultaneously on that day.

First, there was the surprise climb-down of the charge from the anticipated “sexual assault??? to one of consensual sodomy.  After a month-long propaganda in UMNO-controlled media depicting Anwar as a sex-offender, when even the prime minister alluded to “rape??? on the eve of court hearing when questioned whether the complainant would also be charged, the prosecutor’s charge of Anwar under Section 377B of the Penal code (for consensual sodomy) was an anti-climax.  

It gives the impression that despite all the high drama of high-handed police actions and tough talks by top political leaders, the fact remains that police have failed to come up with basic evidence to prosecute and prosecutors have to scramble at the last moment to put up a make shift charge.  This impression is further strengthened by prosecution’s failure to produce a list of witnesses – a departure from the norm where the list is ready when the prosecutor presses the charge in court.  This is in addition to the highly abnormal and unethical police conduct of persistently failing to give the accused a copy of the police report lodged by complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan more than a month ago without reason.

Second, even hours before the court session, Dr. Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid whose medical report had earlier stunned everyone with his finding that Saiful was not sodomised, dropped another bombshell – this time having his statutory declaration (dated Aug 1) and a medical statement (dated June 30) published in Malaysia Today website, re-affirming his earlier finding with indisputable clinical details while alleging police harassment and distortion of his testimony.  He intimated  at the end of his affidavit that in order to escape such constant harassment he has since left Malaysia with his family for their own safety.

Dr. Osman’s affidavit, which details what transpired during his examination of Saiful hours before the latter’s police report and the subsequent encounters with the police, shows unquestionable professional integrity and should serve as a powerful deterrent to any one who may contemplate to concoct physical evidence of sodomy on Saiful.

Third, Anwar’s lawyer Sankaran N. Nair disclosed after leaving the court that his client had a watertight alibi which was already disclosed to the police during their interrogation on Anwar earlier.  At the material time of the alleged offence (3.01 pm to 4.30 pm on 26 June 2008), Anwar was having a meeting with several of his friends in the condominium apartment mentioned in the charge.

Anwar later explained that he often used the apartment which belongs to “a very close family friend??? to conduct secret meetings with government leaders, businessmen and politicians.  On the day of the alleged sexual assault, he was having talks there with an economist and a former banker, among others, to discuss economic strategies for the Pakatan Rakyat-controlled states.  The police have already questioned those involved in the meeting, in addition to questioning owners of the apartment for 25 hours.

SAIFUL’S SECRET MEETING WITH POLICE

If there is any lingering doubt of Anwar’s plea that “This is a malicious and treacherous slander, I am not guilty??? which he repeated twice before Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court judge S M Suppiah, then the revelation by Malaysia Today website of a secret meeting between Saiful and a senior police officer three days before the police report should be sufficient to put the issue to rest.

In an article dated 30 July 2008, titled “Rodwan met Saiful three days earlier??? under the column “The Corridors of Power??? in Malaysia Today website, the writer disclosed that Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) II Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof met Saiful at 2.30pm on July 25 in room 619 of the Concorde Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Prior to the meeting, Rodwan and Saiful spoke on the phone at least eight times.  Three days later, on July 28, Saiful visited Hospital Puswari at 2.00pm where he was examined by Dr. Osman.  Four hours later, he was at Kuala Lumpur Hospital (KHL) where he reported to the police that he was sodomised by Anwar on July 26.

On the same day the article was published (July 30), SAC Rodwan was asked whether he really had a secret meeting with Saiful three days before the police report, and Rodwan answered that he was not prepared to respond to this issue, according to the Oriental Daily dated July 31.

And Rodwan is noted for his dubious role in the infamous trials of Anwar ten years ago, as explained in a statement by Anwar’s lawyer R. Sivarasa:

“In 1998-1999 trials, Anwar experienced the phenomenon of fabrication of DNA evidence.  We had SAC Rodwan illegally removing DNA samples from forensic custody.  In cross-examination of the prosecution’s witnesses it was exposed that DNA taken from blood samples was planted on the infamous mattress.???

What conclusion can we draw from Rodwan’s refusal to respond to such serious allegation in Malaysia Today?  Wouldn’t he have promptly refuted the allegation if it was untrue?  What discussion he could have had with Saiful in such secret meeting if it was not about Saiful’s impending accusation against Anwar?

Now, the crucial question that will reveal the truth:  If there was a pre-plan to fix Anwar as indicated by the Rodwan-Saiful meeting, why didn’t Saiful rush immediately (after the  sodomy) to the KHL where Anwar’s semen could be extracted from Saiful’s anus and its DNA matched with a previous sample collected from Anwar ten years ago, if it was true that Saiful was sodomised by Anwar on July 26?  Why should Saiful have waited for two days before visiting Hospital Puswari?

It is important to note that when Saiful met Dr. Osman on July 28, he complained of anus pain for two days, and said he could not sit down because of such pain.  It was only after Dr. Osman completed the examination and told Saiful he found no abnormality in his anus that Saiful intimated that he was sodomised by a VIP (no name mentioned) and wanted to make a police report.  Thereupon Dr. Osman advised Saiful to visit a government hospital as it was a criminal case.

The inference we can draw from this sequence of events is that Saiful would not have dared to visit any doctor for an anus examination on July 26, the day he was allegedly sodomised, because there was no sodomy. 

His visit to Hospital Puswari on July 28 to complain of anus pain for two days was probably done with the purpose of procuring a prescription for his so-called anus pain with only a perfunctory examination.  Little did he know that he would be subjected to a thorough rectal examination through a proctoscope as that performed by Dr. Osman.

However it is looked at, it is not credible that a man of normal intelligence like Saiful could have failed to go for a medical examination immediately after a genuine sodomy had takn place.  The only explanation for such failure is that "sodomy never took place".
_________________________

The writer, Kim Quek, who is an accountant by profession, has written extensively on the socio-political issues confronting the nation. His collection of past writings and essays had been collated and published in a book entitled "Where to, Malaysia?".

 

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By Yong Thye Chong aka Kim Quek

July 26, 2008

 

Explosive new evidence implicating deputy premier Najib Razak in Altantuya’s murder case was thrown out by the court when it resumed session on July 23 to hear the submissions of both prosecution and defence after the prosecution wrapped up its case one month ago. Both prosecutor and defence lawyers – traditional protagonists in a criminal trial – had strangely stood on the same front to block the emergence of this new evidence, which could potentially alter the entire configuration of this murder case.

In rejecting the application by lawyer representing Altantuya’s family and the Mongolian government, Karpal Singh, to re-open the prosecution case to hear this new evidence, the presiding judge Zaki Yasin said that “the court will only exercise its discretional right to call for any witness when the need arises???.

But alas, the court is already on the brink of deciding whether there is prima facie case, so if this is not the right time to hear this vital piece of new evidence, then when it is?  After the accused are discharged for lack of prima facie evidence?

The latter scenario is not entirely far-fetched, considering that the only hard evidence – confession of the second accused – had already been thrown out by the court at the early stage of the trial and the court has been drifting rather directionlessly for one year without a compelling motive and without revealing the authority that prompted the first two accused (who were Najib’s bodyguards) to commit their act.

This is where the new evidence – a statutory declaration by private investigator P. Balasubramaniam revealing astounding intimate details – is considered to have come in at the nick of time to prevent a major miscarriage of justice by casting an important new light on the case.

In fact, it was this desire to see justice done that prompted Balasubramaniam to present his affidavit at that time.  The private eye was alarmed that the court was about to hear the submissions, and yet vital information he had furnished earlier to the police implicating Najib had not surfaced in court.  This might therefore result in the court dismissing the case without calling for the defence of the three accused.

Through his affidavit, Balasubramaniam has brought in a new player, Najib.  Allegedly, Najib was the original lover of Altantuya, who was passed on to best friend Razak Baginda (the third accused) when Najib wanted to keep a distance of Altantuya from the deputy premier.  Then in October 2006, Altantuya arrived in Malaysia to press Razak for the payment of USD 500,000 as purported commission for services rendered in the submarine deal in Paris.  Balasubramaniam was engaged as a private investigator by Razak to fend off Altantuya.

When Altantuya’s harassment got out of hand, Najib’s aide-camp DSP Musa Safri sent the second accused to meet Razak for the first and only time one day before the murder to overcome Altantuya’s harassment.  The rest is history.

BALASUBRAMANIAM’S AFFIDAVIT NOT HEARSAY

It is important to note that Balasubramaniam was engaged to protect Razak and his family from Altantuya’s harassment on an around-the-clock basis for periods preceding and after the disappearance of Altantuya, during which periods Balasubramaniam was privy to many intimate details as well as witness to many occurrences surrounding the main players.  His affidavit was a conscientious account of what he saw and heard over events that actually transpired.  In fact, Bala’s affidavit contained many important direct evidences, such as:

* Altantuya’s demand for her alleged commission of USD500,000 at the Brickfield police station on 14 Oct 2006.
* On the night of murder on 19 Oct 2006, Bala witnessed the first two accused and lance corporal Rohaniza taking Altantuya getting away in a red Proton Aeroback in front of Razak’s house.
* On the day of Razak’s arrest, Balasubramaniam was with Razak in the office of Razak’s lawyer at 6:30 am.  Razak was reported by Balasubramaniam t have said he sent Najib an SMS the night before as he refused to believe he was to be arrested, but he did not receive a reply.  Then at 7:30 am, Razak received an SMS from Najib and showed the message to Bala and the lawyer.  The message read:
                  “I am seeing IGP at 11 am today ……matter will be resolved…..be cool???.

During his seven-day detention (after the arrest of Razak), Balasubramaniam told the police all he knew including everything Razak and Altantuya told him about their relationship with Najib, but when he came to sign the statement, all parts relating to Najib had been obliterated.
It will be seen that Bala’s affidavit valuable missing links which should let the truth emerge in an otherwise muddled case. 

The government’s response to this affidavit has been most disappointing.  It not only failed to set up an independent panel to probe the contents therein as required in any country in accordance with the rule of law, but not even the police or the prosecutors have shown any seriousness to investigate these alarming revelations.  And now the latest, a flat rejection by the court to entertain Karpal’s motion through concerted objection by all participating legal officers who have sworn to uphold the law – prosecutors, defence lawyers and the judge. 

That makes us wonder, is the primary objective of the court to seek truth and serve justice or is it to protect criminals who happen to be persons of power and influence?  If it is the former, shouldn’t the court have at least postponed the hearing of the submissions pending investigations of the affidavit, however slow the investigations may be?  

By bulldozing the case forward with complete disregard to alarming signals that justice might have been transgressed in such an internationally controversial case is to expose Malaysia to new depths of international disrepute of our already wretched justice system.

And for the family of the victim who was slain in such cruelest of fashion, what can they do other than to continue to weep in silence?


The writer, Kim Quek, who is an accountant by profession, has written extensively on the socio-political issues confronting the nation. His collection of past writings and essays had been collated and published in a book entitled "Where to, Malaysia?".

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