A five-meter long crack is seen in a road of Kota Kinabalu, state of Sabah, Malaysia, June 30, 2010.
Archive for June, 2010
Five-meter long crack seen in East Malaysian road
June 30, 2010PAC to table report on Pos Malaysia’s alleged RM546 mil loss
June 30, 2010
Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will soon table its report on the alleged losses suffered by Pos Malaysia, PAC chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid said.
“We have listened to the explanation given by Khazanah Nasional and today, we called in former Pos Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Adam Kadir to give his account on the issue.
“We are studying the findings and should be able to table the report during the current Dewan Rakyat sitting,” he told reporters after meeting the former Pos Malaysia chairman Wednesday.
Adam had recently claimed that Pos Malaysia, a government-linked company, suffered losses to the tune of RM546mil.
He was also quoted in a newspaper saying that the Government’s investment arm, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, as the Pos Malaysia’s main shareholder, had not provided the true picture of the company’s losses.
Azmi said the committee would also call in the Finance Ministry to seek clarification over the issue.
“We will get written answers from both sides. We will be asking a few more questions to Khazanah after listening to Tan Sri Adam today, also a few questions to the ministry,” he said.
Azmi also said that Pos Malaysia did not suffer losses.
“If there are losses, it could be due to the drop in the Transmile shares to 14 sen (in 2007). Now the price is 39 sen. Pos Malaysia has 15% stake in Transmile,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adam said he had said what needed to be said to the PAC.
“It’s up to the PAC. I have my own information and I have shown it to them,” he said.
Felda: Husam ups the ante with another revelation
June 30, 2010
Harakahdaily
Amid lack of explanation from government officials and threats to take critics to court, Kelantan Exco member Husam Musa (pic) has offered to unravel the mystery behind the Federal Land Development Authority’s loss of reserves.
“If Felda has no time to explain transparently and honestly about its mismanagement by gambling on settler’s fate, I have no problem to reveal it bit by bit,” he said.
He said about half a billion ringgit had been squandered by an architect firm owned by an UMNO Youth division chief in Terengganu for projects by Felda which Husam said was outside of Felda’s scope of activities.
In an brief blog posting tinged with sarcasm, Husam described how the firm had made good use of their ties with families of certain government leaders to use Felda’s money “for the love of Felda’s settlers”.
He said together they developed two community colleges in Terengganu for RM 18 million and Sabah for RM 22 million, RM 200 million to upgrade water quality in Pahang and another RM 120 million to construct Maktab Rendah Sains Mara, a college under the government’s MARA agency.
“What has Felda got to do with MARA? The college costs RM 120 million and Felda happily paid for it.
“Perhaps they have too much cash in hand that they don’t mind sponsoring projects not related to their scope of work,” he wrote.
Husam added that luxury bungalows, shop lots and other ingredients of a modern township were built by the same architect firm at a cost of RM152 million on the premise that Felda was moving towards the modern era and in need of futuristic town that reflects settlers’ modernisation concept dubbed ‘Feldajaya’.
“So far, four Feldajayas have been developed in Mempaga, Trolak, Serting and Cini.
“Whether these new shop lots and bungalows can be sold, it doesn’t bother Felda. What’s important is that those building are for future’s settlers,” he said, adding that as long as was ‘futuristic’, it did not matter whether the cash dried up.
Husam’s latest allegation is set to further fuel critics who have questioned the agency’s huge funds depletion.
He has so far ‘audited’ RM1.3 billion of Felda’s money, including RM800 million which he said was invested by the agency in the US and Canada.
On advice of AG, MACC chickens out of London meet
June 30, 2010
Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle
FINAL UPDATE As expected, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has chickened out of plans to meet private investigator P Balasubramaniam in London next week.
“This doesn’t speak well about their ability to be fearless or even serious corruption fighters. It also underscores the walls of conspiracy in the whole Altantuya murder-Scorpene submarines scandal,”
PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
“There is no need to ask who the Attorney General and the MACC are trying to protect, it is obviously our Prime Minister Najib Razak. But if they are trying to save him embarrassment, this is the worst way because it only incriminates him even more and tarnishes the already wafer-thin credibility of our institutions.”
Both the MACC and the Attorney-General’s chambers report directly to the Prime Minister.
Bad advice from the Attorney-General
According to a report from online news portal Malaysiakini, MACC deputy chief of operations Mohd Shukri Abdull had said his commission decided to cancel the London interview due to ‘legal considerations’.
Instead of meeting face-to-face, Shukri said Attorney-General Gani Patail had asked that questions be submitted to Bala’s lawyer and the answers be returned in an affidavit form. “We will submit the questions to the witness’ lawyer tomorrow,” said Shukri.
Shukri said witness statements recorded overseas may not be admissible in court based on a past case involving tycoon Eric Chua . Another MACC director Abdul Razak Musa said even if Bala’s lawyers sent them the affidavit, the document would not hold much weight unless Bala himself agreed to testify in court.
“This begs the question of why then does our AG Gani Patail give such advice. If they know the affidavit won’t hold water, then why use this route when a nice cozy meeting place has already been arranged in London,” PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin told Malaysia Chronicle.
“This time, the rakyat must not let Najib or Gani Patail off the hook. The AG should be grilled for giving bad advice and for not taking steps to protect taxpayers money. His performance should be rated and his KPI publicly announced by Najib.”
Death Squad
Three MACC officers were due to meet Bala and his lawyer at the Holiday Villa in London on Monday and Tuesday. This is not the first time that the MACC has drawn fire for its snail’s-pace work on the Altantuya-Scorpenes scandal.
Since Bala re-surfaced late last year, after implicating Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor in a statutory declaration in 2008, the MACC has been under pressure to explain why it did not accept Bala’s offer to help in investigations.
Bala had invited the MACC to record his statement. His conditions were that it be held in a neutral country like the United Kingdom and that his lawyers were present. But the Malaysian authorities stonewalled. From the choice of countries to the type and location of the venue and even the number of lawyers that Bala could take to the interview was disputed.
No wonder then that the MACC’s sudden acquiescence late last week sparked a rash of red-hot and bizarre speculation. Commentators on the Internet began punting that Najib would send a hit-squad to finish off Bala, who is believed to hold in the palm of his hand information so momentous it could topple the BN government, and even put the PM and his wife behind bars.
“My sixth sense told me that these MACC officers are not sent to London to interview Bala but could be on a mission to silence Bala and his lawyers in London. These are the so-called “Death Squad”. They are prepared for any eventuality, even to the extent of spending time in the London jail. The stakes are much too high for Najib to ignore!”
This was just one such comment that Malaysia Chronicle highlighted on Tuesday. It reflects the depth of mistrust that Malaysians on the whole feel for their top leader.
Too good to be true
Indeed, Najib has only himself to blame for not coming clean on the scandal. This latest pullout by the MACC erases the little credibility he snatched back when he swore on the Quran that he had never known the beautiful Altantuya Shaariibuu.
“We were pleasantly surprised when the MACC finally agreed to meet Bala and allowed his lawyer to be present. But it was too good to be true,” SUARAM director Cynthia Gabriel told Malaysia Chronicle.
In his statutory declaration (see below) Bala said the 28-year Mongolian translator, who was murdered in Malaysia in 2006, had come to collect her US$500,000 share of commission from submarines deal from Najib’s friend, Razak Baginda.
Bala also said Baginda had told him it was Najib who introduced Altantuya at a diamond show in Singapore. According to Bala, the PM, who was the defense minister at that time, had had a sexual relationship with Altantuya and wanted to pass her onto Baginda.
In 2002, Najib ordered two Scorpene submarines worth RM6.7 billion from France’s DCNS, while an obscure firm controlled by Baginda was given a 114 million euros or RM570 million contract that was booked as co-ordination fees. Civil rights groups have however argued it was a thinly-veiled kickback paid with taxpayers’ money.
Bala retracted his declaration with 24 hours of making it. He has said he was offered RM5 million by Najib’s brother, Nazim Razak, and a friend of Rosmah’s, Deepak Jaikishan, to leave the country and keep silent.
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(Below is the statutory declaration Bala lodged in 2008)
STATUTORY DECLARATION
I, Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal a Malaysian Citizen of full age and residing at [deleted] do solemly and sincerely declare as follows :-
1. I have been a police officer with the Royal Malaysian Police Force having jointed as a constable in 1981 attached to the Police Field Force. I was then promoted to the rank of lance Corporal and finally resigned from the Police Force in 1998 when I was with the Special Branch.
2. I have been working as a free lance Private Investigator since I left the Police Force.
3. Sometime in June or July 2006, I was employed by Abdul Razak Baginda for a period of 10 days to look after him at his office at the Bangunan Getah Asli, Jalan Ampang between the hours of 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m each working day as apparently he was experiencing disturbances from a third party.
4. I resigned from this job after 2 ½ days as I was not receiving any proper instructions.
5. I was however re-employed by Abdul Razak Baginda on the 05-10-2006 as he had apparently received a harassing phone call from a Chinese man calling himself ASP Tan who had threatened him to pay his debts. I later found out this gentleman was in fact a private investigator called Ang who was employed by a Mongolian woman called Altantuya Shaaribuu.
6. Abdul Razak Baginda was concerned that a person by the name of Altantuya Shaaribuu, a Mongolian woman, was behind this threat and that she would be arriving in Malaysia very soon to try and contact him.
7. Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that he was concerned by this as he had been advised that Altantuya Shaaribuu had been given some powers by a Mongolian ‘bomoh’ and that he could never look her in the face because of this.
8. When I enquired as to who this Mongolian woman was, Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that she was a friend of his who had been introduced to him by a VIP and who asked him to look after her financially.
9. I advised him to lodge a police report concerning the threatening phone call he had received from the Chinese man known as ASP Tan but he refused to do so as he informed me there were some high profile people involved.
10. Abdul Razak Baginda further told me that Altantuya Shaaribuu was a great liar and good in convincing people. She was supposed to have been very demanding financially and that he had even financed a property for her in Mongolia.
11. Abdul Razak Baginda then let me listen to some voice messages on his handphone asking him to pay what was due otherwise he would be harmed and his daughter harassed.
12. I was therefore supposed to protect his daughter Rowena as well.
13. On the 09.10.2006 I received a phone call from Abdul Razak Baginda at about 9.30 a.m. informing me that Altantuya was in his office and he wanted me there immediately. As I was in the midst of a surveillance, I sent my assistant Suras to Abdul Razak Baginda’s office and I followed a little later. Suras managed to control the situation and had persuaded Altantuya and her two friends to leave the premises. However Altantuya left a note written on some Hotel Malaya note paper, in English, asking Abdul Razak Baginda to call her on her handphone (number given) and wrote down her room number as well.
14. Altantuya had introduced herself to Suras as ‘Aminah’ and had informed Suras she was there to see her boyfriend Abdul Razak Baginda.
15. These 3 Mongolian girls however returned to Abdul Razak Baginda’s office at the Bangunan Getah Asli, Jalan Ampang again, the next day at about 12.00 noon. They did not enter the building but again informed Suras that they wanted to meet Aminah’s boyfriend, Abdul Razak Baginda.
16. On the 11.10.2006, Aminah returned to Abdul Razak Baginda’s office on her own and gave me a note to pass to him, which I did. Abdul Razak Baginda showed me the note which basically asked him to call her urgently.
17. I suggested to Abdul Razak Baginda that perhaps it may be wise to arrange for Aminah to be arrested if she harassed him further, but he declined as he felt she would have to return to Mongolia as soon as her cash ran out.
18. In the meantime I had arranged for Suras to perform surveillance on Hotel Malaya to monitor the movements of these 3 Mongolian girls, but they recognized him. Apparently they become friends with Suras after that and he ended up spending a few nights in their hotel room.
19. When Abdul Razak Baginda discovered Suras was becoming close to Aminah he asked me to pull him out from Hotel Malaya.
20. On the 14.10.2006, Aminah turned up at Abdul Razak Baginda’s house in Damansara Heights when I was not there. Abdul Razak Baginda called me on my handphone to inform me of this so I rushed back to his house. As I arrived, I noticed Aminah outside the front gates shouting “Razak, bastard, come out from the house”. I tried to calm her down but couldn’t so I called the police who arrived in 2 patrol cars. I explained the situation to the police, who took her away to the Brickfields police station.
21. I followed the patrol cars to Brickfields police station in a taxi. I called Abdul Razak Baginda and his lawyer Dirren to lodge a police report but they refused.
22. When I was at the Brickfields police station, Aminah’s own Private Investigator, one Mr. Ang arrived and we had a discussion. I was told to deliver a demand to Abdul Razak Baginda for USD$500,000.00 and 3 tickets to Mongolia, apparently as commission owed to Aminah from a deal in Paris.
23. As Aminah had calmed down at this stage, a policewoman at the Brickfields police station advised me to leave and settle the matter amicably.
24. I duly informed Abdul Razak Baginda of the demands Aminah had made and told him I was disappointed that no one wanted to back me up in lodging a police report. We had a long discussion about the situation when I expressed a desire to pull out of this assignment.
25. During this discussion and in an attempt to persuade me to continue my employment with him, Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that :-
25.1 He had been introduced to Aminah by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a diamond exhibition in Singapore.
25.2 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak informed Abdul Razak Baginda that he had a sexual relationship with Aminah and that [deleted by nat out of respect to the family of the deceased].
25.3 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak wanted Abdul Razak Baginda to look after Aminah as he did not want her to harass him since he was now the Deputy Prime Minister.
25.4 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Abdul Razak Baginda and Aminah had all been together at a dinner in Paris.
25.5 Aminah wanted money from him as she felt she was entitled to a USD$500,000.00 commission on a submarine deal she assisted with in Paris.
26. On the 19.10.2006, I arrived at Abdul Razak Baginda’s house in Damansara Heights to begin my night duty. I had parked my car outside as usual. I saw a yellow proton perdana taxi pass by with 3 ladies inside, one of whom was Aminah. The taxi did a U-turn and stopped in front of the house where these ladies rolled down the window and wished me ‘Happy Deepavali’. The taxi then left.
27. About 20 minutes later the taxi returned with only Aminah in it. She got out of the taxi and walked towards me and started talking to me. I sent an SMS to Abdul Razak Baginda informing him “Aminah was here”. I received an SMS from Razak instructing me “To delay her until my man comes”.
28. Whist I was talking to Aminah, she informed me of the following :-
28.1 That she met Abdul Razak Baginda in Singapore with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
28.2 That she had also met Abdul Razak Baginda and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a dinner in Paris.
28.3 That she was promised a sum of USD$500,000.00 as commission for assisting in a Submarine deal in Paris.
28.4 That Abdul Razak Baginda had bought her a house in Mongolia but her brother had refinanced it and she needed money to redeem it.
28.5 That her mother was ill and she needed money to pay for her treatment.
6. That Abdul Razak Baginda had married her in Korea as her mother is Korean whilst her father was a Mongolian/Chinese mix.
28.7 That if I wouldn’t allow her to see Abdul Razak Baginda, would I be able to arrange for her to see Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
29. After talking to Aminah for about 15 minutes, a red proton aeroback arrived with a woman and two men. I now know the woman to be Lance Corporal Rohaniza and the men, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azahar. They were all in plain clothes. Azilah walked towards me while the other two stayed in the car.
30. Azilah asked me whether the woman was Aminah and I said ‘Yes’. He then walked off and made a few calls on his handphone. After 10 minutes another vehicle, a blue proton saga, driven by a Malay man, passed by slowly. The driver’s window had been wound down and the driver was looking at us.
31. Azilah then informed me they would be taking Aminah away. I informed Aminah they were arresting her. The other two persons then got out of the red proton and exchanged seats so that Lance Corporal Rohaniza and Aminah were in the back while the two men were in the front. They drove off and that is the last I ever saw of Aminah.
32. Abdul Razak Baginda was not at home when all this occurred.
33. After the 19.10.2006, I continued to work for Abdul Razak Baginda at his house in Damansara Heights from 7.00 p.m. to 8.00 a.m. the next morning, as he had been receiving threatening text messages from a woman called ‘Amy’ who was apparently ‘Aminah’s’ cousin in Mongolia.
34. On the night of the 20.10.2006, both of Aminah’s girl friends turned up at Abdul Razak Baginda’s house enquiring where Aminah was. I informed them she had been arrested the night before.
35. A couple of nights later, these two Mongolian girls, Mr. Ang and another Mongolian girl called ‘Amy’ turned up at Abdul Razak Baginda’s house looking for Aminah as they appeared to be convinced she was being held in the house.
36. A commotion began so I called the police who arrived shortly thereafter in a patrol car. Another patrol car arrived a short while later in which was the investigating officer from the Dang Wangi Police Station who was in charge of the missing persons report lodged by one of the Mongolians girls, I believe was Amy.
37. I called Abdul Razak Baginda who was at home to inform him of the events taking place at his front gate. He then called DSP Musa Safri and called me back informing me that Musa Safri would be calling handphone and I was to pass the phone to the Inspector from Dang Wangi Police Station.
38. I then received a call on my handphone from Musa Safri and duly handed the phone to the Dang Wangi Inspector. The conversation lasted 3 – 4 minutes after which he told the girls to disperse and to go to see him the next day.
39. On or about the 24.10.2006, Abdul Razak Baginda instructed me to accompany him to the Brickfields police station as he had been advised to lodge a police report about the harassment he was receiving from these Mongolian girls.
40. Before this, Amy had sent me an SMS informing me she was going to Thailand to lodge a report with the Mongolian consulate there regarding Aminah’s disappearance. Apparently she had sent the same SMS to Abdul Razak Baginda. This is why he told me he had been advised to lodge a police report.
41. Abdul Razak Baginda informed me that DPS Musa Safri had introduced him to one DSP Idris, the head of the Criminal division, Brickfields police station, and that Idris had referred him to ASP Tonny.
42. When Abdul Razak Baginda had lodged his police report at Brickfields police station, in front of ASP Tonny, he was asked to make a statement but he refused as he said he was leaving for overseas. He did however promise to prepare a statement and hand ASP Tonny a thumb drive. I know that this was not done as ASP Tonny told me.
43. However ASP Tonny asked me the next day to provide my statement instead and so I did.
44. I stopped working for Abdul Razak Baginda on the 26.10.2006 as this was the day he left for Hong Kong on his own.
45. In mid November 2006, I received a phone call from ASP Tonny from the IPK Jalan Hang Tuah asking me to see him regarding Aminah’s case. When I arrived there I was immediately arrested under S.506 of the Penal Code for Criminal intimidation.
46. I was then placed in the lock up and remanded for 5 days. On the third day I was released on police bail.
47. At the end of November 2006, the D9 department of the IPK sent a detective to my house to escort me to the IPK Jalan Hang Tuah. When I arrived, I was told I was being arrested under S.302 of the Penal Code for murder. I was put in the lock up and remanded for 7 days.
48. I was transported to Bukit Aman where I was interrogated and questioned about an SMS I had received from Abdul Razak Baginda on the 19.10.2006 which read “delay her until my man arrives”. They had apparently retrieved this message from Abdul Razak Baginda’s handphone.
49. They then proceeded to record my statement from 8.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. everyday for 7 consecutive days. I told them all I knew including everything Abdul Razak Baginda and Aminah had told me about their relationships with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak but when I came to sign my statement, these details had been left out.
50. I have given evidence in the trial of Azilah, Sirul and Abdul Razak Baginda at the Shah Alam High Court. The prosecutor did not ask me any questions in respect of Aminah’s relationship with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak or of the phone call I received from DSP Musa Safri, whom I believe was the ADC for Datuk Seri Najib Razak and/or his wife.
51. On the day Abdul Razak Baginda was arrested, I was with him at his lawyers office at 6.30 a.m. Abdul Razak Baginda informed us that he had sent Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak an SMS the evening before as he refused to believe he was to be arrested, but had not received a response.
52. Shortly thereafter, at about 7.30 a.m., Abdul Razak Baginda received an SMS from Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and showed, this message to both myself and his lawyer. This message read as follows :- “ I am seeing IGP at 11.00 a.m. today …… matter will be solved … be cool”.
53. I have been made to understand that Abdul Razak Baginda was arrested the same morning at his office in the Bangunan Getah Asli, Jalan Ampang.
54. The purpose of this Statutory declaration is to :-
54.1 State my disappointment at the standard of investigations conducted by the authorities into the circumstances surrounding the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu.
54.2 Bring to the notice of the relevant authorities the strong possibility that there are individuals other than the 3 accused who must have played a role in the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu.
54.3 Persuade the relevant authorities to reopen their investigations into this case immediately so that any fresh evidence may be presented to the Court prior to submissions at the end of the prosecutions case.
54.4 Emphasize the fact that having been a member of the Royal Malaysian Police Force for 17 years I am absolutely certain no police officer would shoot someone in the head and blow up their body without receiving specific instructions from their superiors first.
54.5. Express my concern that should the defence not be called in the said murder trial, the accused, Azilah and Sirul will not have to swear on oath and testify as to the instructions they received and from whom they were given.
55. And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Statutory Declaration Act 1960.
SUBCRIBED and solemnly )
declared by the abovenamed )
Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal ]
this day of 2008 )
Before me,
………………………………….
Commissioner for Oath
Kuala Lumpur
More to come
Bala’s lawyer slams MACC for backing out of London
June 30, 2010
Americk Sidhu, Malaysia Today
I refer to the press release by the MACC this afternoon to the effect that they will not be sending their officers to London to interview my client P.Balasubramaniam (Bala), as promised.
The excuses (they do not qualify as reasons), given are as follows:
1. That the MACC will instead submit questions to which my client will give his answers in affidavit form.
2. That the A.G’s chambers had provided advice along these lines to the MACC.
3. That precedence has been established in the Eric Chia case to the effect that a witnesses statement recorded overseas is inadmissible in a Malaysian Court.
4. That even if an affidavit was sworn by Bala it would not hold much weight in court if he was not available to testify.
These statements appear to be full of contradictions, misguided assumptions and ill-devised excuses used to decline the invitation to interview Bala which has been so vehemently pursued by the MACC in the past.
The recording of a witnesses statement can take place anywhere in the world as this statement forms part of the investigations conducted by the MACC for the purposes of a potential prosecution and is not intended to be used as evidence in a Court of Law. If this were the case, then the statement recorded from Saiful in the ongoing Sodomy II trial of Anwar Ibrahim would have been willingly tendered by the prosecution as part of their case instead of being guarded jealously and hidden from view. So this is really no excuse for not recording a statement from Bala. It would never be tendered in court unless it is used to discredit the oral evidence of a witness if that evidence contradicts a previously recorded statement. This process is called impeachment. That is why a statement is first recorded.
The MACC have assumed that Bala will not turn up in Court to testify.
Why have they assumed this?
Bala is ever prepared to testify against those personalities who have caused him and his family untold misery for the past 2 years. Was it not Bala who surfaced to tell his story as soon as he was able? Has he ever shirked from his duty as a law abiding citizen to assist the authorities in whatever way he could without compromising his own safety? All Bala asks is that the authorities concerned ensure that his well being is preserved if he is required to testify. Nothing more nothing less.
Bala could quite easily have gone into forced exile with RM5 million in his pocket and his life would have been a lot easier. Instead he has come forward to expose the misdeeds perpetrated upon him by a host of unsavoury characters who stretch all the way to the personalities holding the highest positions in government and their immediate family members.
If the MACC requires signed depositions from Bala to wrap up their investigations, may I suggest they consult the documents available all over cyberspace in the form of Bala’s 1st SD released in July 2008 and the 3 parts of his Q&A released in November 2009. These documents exhaustively detail all issues involved in this conspiracy and have been available for a long time now. If this is all the MACC required, why suggest that their investigations could not proceed without the cooperation of Bala? Why did Nazri inform Parliament that the MACC were emasculated in continuing with their investigations because Bala could not be found?
Bala was available at all times and the MACC knew this. We have documents to prove we had informed them of our willingness to cooperate as far back as December last year. Why is everyone becoming so coy at the eleventh hour?
It is nothing less than astounding to now realize that an authority such as the MACC, who would have been expected to have done everything in their power to investigate the very serious allegations made against the Prime Minister, his wife and his brother, to now forfeit that opportunity on tenuous and exasperatingly flimsy grounds knowing full well that much preparation has gone into organizing this interview and to then pull out at the very last moment contrary to the false perceptions created by them up till now.
This turn of events has certainly destroyed what little credibility the MACC had left and has confirmed the suspicions held by most right thinking members of society that they are a body existing solely to protect the interests of the powers that be and to ensure that any opposition to the government is dealt with by harsh, brash, unnecessary and lopsided vehemence with the sole purpose of destroying any legitimate questioning of the excesses of the ruling regime so that power is perpetuated in the hands of their masters.
90-year-old man accused of raping 4 Thai sisters
June 30, 2010
CHIANG MAI, June 30 – A 90-year-old Australian was arrested and charged with raping four young sisters whom he allegedly lured to his home in Thailand with imported chocolates and English lessons, police said Wednesday.
One girl was 5 when the alleged abuse began. The sisters are now 7 to 15.
Karl Joseph Kraus was arrested Tuesday at his home near the northern city of Chiang Mai, where police confiscated about 100 photographs of naked children, said Doi Saket police chief Kritapol Yeesakorn.
Some photos showed the elderly man posing naked with other children, and police are trying to identify them and contact their families, Kritapol said. He said police were investigating if Kraus was part of a pedophilia network, noting many of the pictures were emailed overseas.
Kraus, who has lived in Thailand more than a decade, approached the girls’ family in 2008 with an offer to teach the sisters’ English, said Kritapol.
“He would lure them into his house with sweets, usually chocolate from aboard or luxury sweets, and he would ask them to perform sexual acts with him,” Kritapol said. “For the eldest of the four sisters, he recently gave her 4,000 baht instead of sweets.” The sum is about US$120.
The parents recently noticed the girls had lost interest in playing outside and asked them what was wrong, and then took them to police who immediately sought an arrest warrant, the police chief said.
He was charged with rape and sexual abuse.
Kraus’ Australian passport says he was born in Berlin.
Kritapol said Kraus does not have a lawyer yet and has refused to talk to police until he has one.
Neighbors described Kraus as an active 90-year-old who still drove his own car, police said.
But when police arrested him he acted weak, walked with a cane and complained of diabetes and high blood pressure.
Police took him to a Chiang Mai hospital where he remains under surveillance. – entertainment.network
Winter Sonata star dies in apparent suicide
June 30, 2010
SEOUL, June 30 – A South Korean actor and singer who rode the wave of Korean pop culture in Asia was found dead at his home in Seoul Wednesday in an apparent suicide, police said.
Park Yong-Ha, 33, was found in his room by his mother after he apparently hanged himself with an electrical cord, KBS TV said.
Police said it appeared to be a suicide but declined to comment on whether Park had left any note.
Park spent his last moments Tuesday night with his father, who is suffering from cancer, KBS said.
He reportedly massaged his father for a long while before leaving with the words: “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Park shot to fame through the 2002 hit TV drama series “Winter Sonata” and won fans in Japan and other Asian countries. He also released albums as a singer.
He had been chosen for the leading role in a Korean television drama, a remake of the popular 1996 Hong Kong film, “Comrades, Almost a Love Story”. Shooting was set to begin in July.
If confirmed, Park would be the latest of a number of entertainers to kill themselves. They include top movie actress Lee Eun-Joo who committed suicide in 2005 and Choi Jin-Sil who died in 2008.
Suicide is the highest cause of death among those in their twenties and thirties in South Korea, which in 2007 had the highest suicide rate among members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The health ministry says 23.9 in every 100,000 South Koreans committed suicide in 2007, compared with 19.4 in Japan, 16.7 in Finland, 14.2 in France and 14.0 in Switzerland. – entertainment.network
Man kills daughter for crying during World Cup match
June 30, 2010
TEXAS, June 30: The little girl would not stop crying Saturday afternoon as Hector Castro watched the World Cup soccer game at his apartment, police said.
Frustrated, the 27-year-old man clenched his right fist and took two swings at the 2-year-old’s rib cage, according the confession the man gave police.
The girl stopped breathing. Castro tried to revive the child, but it was too late, he told police.
When the girl’s mother returned home, Castro told her the little girl was asleep. The mother told him to wake her up so she could eat, but Castro told the mother to let the girl sleep.
The mother went into the room and found her daughter cold and pale, a screw stuck in her mouth. Castro later told police he put the screw there so it would look as though the girl had choked to death.
Castro was formally charged with capital murder Monday evening in McAllen Municipal Court. Judge Ernest Aliseda set Castro’s bond at $1 million.
Police refused to release the name of the 2-year-old girl Castro admitted to killing after failing a polygraph test about his involvement in her death Saturday afternoon.
But the police investigation reveals evidence the girl had suffered ongoing abuse in the weeks before she died.
McAllen police responded to 3101 N. Eighth Street at 4:17 p.m. Saturday after emergency crews called to the Greens Pointe apartments were unable to revive the child.
Hidalgo County Justice of Peace Rosa Treviño pronounced the girl’s death and ordered an autopsy of her remains.
“A baby, a little angel like this, that cannot defend themselves, nobody who can guard them and keep them away from danger — I just don’t understand how this can happen,” she said.
An autopsy performed Sunday revealed the girl had suffered three broken ribs on her left side and one on her right. Three of her ribs had been broken for several weeks and the other was one or two days old, the complaint states.
Bruises on the girl’s face that emerged Monday suggested that someone had placed a hand or object over the girl’s mouth, according to the coroner’s report.
Texas Department of Family Protective Services spokesman John Lennan confirmed Monday that the state investigated the family once in January 2004 and again in April of this year.
Child Protective Services investigators were unable to confirm neglectful supervision and ruled out physical neglect allegations in 2004, Lennan said in an e-mail. The case filed in April remains open.
The slain girl’s four young siblings remain in CPS custody pending a court hearing in early July.
The girl’s slaying is McAllen’s fifth murder investigation in 2010 and third this month.
Castro, a Mexican national living illegally in the U.S., was set to be transferred to the Hidalgo County Jail late Monday evening.
If convicted of capital murder, Castro could face the death penalty. – the monitor
The chase to be Timbalan and why Syed Husin should defend
June 30, 2010
Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle
With the dust starting to settle on PKR’s controversial week-end retreat, party grassroots and stalwarts including those in Anwar Ibrahim’s inner circle are beginning to think it may be better if Syed Husin Ali defended his Timbalan Presiden post.
The well-respected Husin has already said he wants to make way for younger blood but the recent infighting amongst the next-line leaders, no doubt greatly fanned by the Umno media, has shaken PKR to the bone, even nearly wiping out its support from a long-held bastion – cyberspace. It may not be so wise for Husin to exit so soon, despite calls for a more dynamic No. 2 because when and if the crunch comes, grassroots will always take precedence over ‘net-roots’. This is the aspect that Anwar, the PKR de-facto head, will consider the most in the run-up to the party’s November direct elections.
While no one has yet to declare their intentions, few doubt the three men after the Timbalan throne are vice president Azmin Ali, Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and former law minister Zaid Ibrahim. If Husin decides to defend, chances are high he will retain it, and when he decides to relinquish it will depend on how the next-line shapes up and wins over public confidence. It is also not impossible that after experiencing the intensity of last week’s media storm, the trio might think twice about chasing after Husin’s post. But even if they do, it will not stop arch rival Umno and saboteurs within PKR from stirring up a fresh dogfight to rock the party’s credibility.
Azmin Ali
Of the trio, Azmin has taken the greatest hit. His image is now in tatters – both deservedly and undeservedly so. It may sound cryptic but that’s the reality of politics. Perhaps to win signs of endorsement from Anwar that Azmin was his preferred Timbalan, three or four federal lawmakers loyal to Azmin tried to raise his profile by attacking Khalid’s ability to lead Selangor. That they were trying to grab the MB’s seat as spun by the Umno media is not true because these leaders know full well that such a step can only be taken by the state assembly.
But regardless of their motivation, such tactics don’t work anymore. Firstly, PKR members won’t appreciate any attempt to lay down a cai-dan or menu in the notorious style of the MCA or Umno. But this wasn’t the knockout punch for Azmin. What left him seeing stars was the horde of Umno and Umno-linked enemies jumping onto the bandwagon built by his own short-sighted lieutenants. With so many on-board and all with different degrees of malice aiming poisoned arrows at him, it did not take long for the vehicle to go completely out of control. Now Azmin is seen as corrupt, a relic of PKR’s Umno past, overly ambitious and a ruthless street-fighter. However, this is questionable and grassroots will tell you it is not the complete picture. In fact if Azmin were to stand for Timbalan today, he would still beat Khalid and Zaid because PKR grassroots know him longer. They know he is no saint, but neither is he Satan.
The disadvantage of Azmin as Timbalan far as Anwar is concerned is that firstly, if Azmin were to contest, it would lay PKR open to another round of attack from hostile forces, and this time, it could be fatal for the party. Secondly, if Azmin wins, the negative perceptions that he is now saddled with may dent PKR’s credibility and cast doubts about the party’s ability to be at the cutting edge. So perhaps, Azmin – loyal to Anwar though he may be – will have to face the bitter truth. He has to take the same tests as the others because the party he helped to found has changed. Not only that, the entire political environment has changed.
It is no longer enough to be able to command grassroots support although he can’t do without it either. If PKR is to do well, Azmin must be able to impress people outside of the party with his capabilities and convince them that he is indeed the right successor to Anwar and not just the Jaguh Kampung that he has been unfairly tagged as in the past week. Still, Azmin need not feel disheartened because he is a smart guy, a Mathematics graduate from the University of Minnesota, despite the plodding image his rivals have tried to pin on him both in cyberspace and the mainstream media. It won’t be difficult for him to get going.
Zaid Ibrahim
Then there is Zaid. Although Anwar gifted him with the FT chief post, it does not really mean much – except that he has now got an official reason to roll up his sleeves and knuckle down with the grassroots and party machinery. It is also an opportunity to increase his power base.
Zaid’s role – whether direct or indirect – in last week’s media blitz against PKR, Azmin and Khalid has not gone unnoticed. As usual, Zaid took quickly to the high ground and called on Anwar to sack a so-called Group of 15 rebelling federal lawmakers. The G15 has since been debunked but that is not the issue – Zaid’s advice should be remembered. Because it is indeed sound advice worthy of a hero, and like a hero, Zaid must accept that these words should also apply to him and those close to him should one day it transpires that they too are culprits and abettors – knowingly or unknowingly – in the party’s destruction.
Zaid’s greatest weakness is his distance from the PKR grassroots and not his links with John Soh, a tycoon with a chequered past who was close to party traitor Salehuddin Hashim, or even with Jeffrey Kitingan, whose political reliability has often been questioned by his own Sabahan colleagues. According to party grapevine, the three men have some form of interest in online news portal FreeMalaysiaToday. Sadly, FMT was seen at the front-line of the media attack against Azmin and Khalid, which is not really the issue because it is up to the pair to fight back for themselves. The thing is, the internal rivalry – whether Azmin, Khalid or Zaid chooses to admit it or not – has made PKR an object of national ridicule and put Putrajaya another step further from reach.
So what must Zaid do to rise in PKR? No, he does not have to drop the friends that he has chosen. Even the most ulu of PKR grassroots will tell you that Zaid is not someone you can dictate to. Since leaving Umno in 2008, he has built for himself a small but vocal urban followings. But Hulu Selangor has shown, it is the party grassroots, the man in the street, the ordinary Citizen Voter who matter in the end. Not the cyber elite or his coterie of admirers. Their gushing praise for his undoubted intelligence and racial liberalism is mere masturbation for his ego and will not help him to win at the ballot boxes. If he does not wish to recognize this, he is wasting his time not just in PKR but any other party. Not only is he not helping himself but he may unknowingly be sheltering others, who hide behind his talent to work on their own ulterior agenda.
As Azmin’s challenge is ‘macro’ and outside PKR, Zaid’s is ‘micro’ and inside PKR. Not easy for either man given their personalities and pride. At this point in time, both men are more or less at equal distance from their goal although at different ends of the pendulum.
Khalid Ibrahim
Then there is Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim. His greatest failing is that he does not listen to people. It is quite true that he is Mr I-Know-Best. But few have not noticed the quiet respect he gained at the retreat when he opted to surrender his post as the Selangor PKR chief to help buttress the party. Separating the state administration from party functions is not the quick-fix solution that many pundits think it is. Yet, under stress and attack, Khalid chose not to offer a solution that retaliated against Azmin or marginalized Zaid. He suggested a smart way out and a sincere one that also gave his rivals a chance.
It may be that Khalid does not like the work that comes with the post of Selangor PKR chief, but he is not giving up just a title. The post offers an effective platform from which Azmin can further consolidate his power base. That Khalid gave it up so that disgruntled grassroots can get the better service they were demanding speaks volumes for his good nature. And this is where the MB may have the edge over the other two men – who whether directly or indirectly – nearly tore their party into pieces a’la Ong Tee Keat in the recent the MCA EGM wars.
Khalid is not deaf or hard of hearing. Like Zaid, what he needs is for the grassroots to accept him and for that he has to listen to what they tell him. His edge over Zaid is that he has been longer in PKR, but he is also no nowhere as entrenched as Azmin. Both Khalid’s and Zaid’s rapport with the Malay electorate is also not as good as Azmin’s, but they have a wider appeal with the rakyat. Khalid also has the advantage of the MB’s office from which to showcase his talents. The tools are all with him and he should make the best use of them. The chances of him edging out the other two are good. This itself will provide further ammunition for Umno and make it even easier for them to whip up support for their diabolical plots of jealousy, greed and hate against him.
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Zahrain: There’s a link between Zaid and RPK
June 30, 2010
Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, Malaysia Insider
Ex-PKR MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim claimed today to have proof of links between PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and exiled fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin because the two men had once allegedly stayed at the same hotel at the same time.
Zahrain said Zaid and Pakatan Rakyat’s denial of a “connection” with Raja Petra was a “lie” as he had papers which showed that Zaid had stayed in a same hotel overseas with Raja Petra in October last year.
“I know there is a relationship between the right-hand man of PKR with Raja Petra. Zaid, the heir to the throne of PKR, had made bookings for the same hotel in Manchester, United Kingdom.
“To say that PKR and Pakatan Rakyat has no links with RPK is a lie,” said Zahrain.
The Bayan Baru MP said that the documents he had showed that Zaid had made bookings at Britannia Hotel from October 1-4, while Raja Petra made bookings at the same hotel from October 1-3 in 2009.
“If it’s a coincidence, then it’s a very rare coincidence,” said Zahrain.
Zahrain said that he wants the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) to investigate the source of Raja Petra’s funding as well as private investigator P. Balasubramaniam’s in the murder of Altantuya Shariibuu.
“I want the MACC as well as Minister to investigate… RPK had received money from sponsors,” he said, referring to Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.
“In an email on July 4, a lawyer Amarjeet Singh said that he sent RM470,000 to RPK. This is what I’m going to put forward to the MACC.
“I’m going tell them what I’ve got. I want MACC to realize and Minister to realize. What was he doing in Manchester with RPK. If he is a fugitive, what is a leader for Pakatan Rakyat doing with a fugitive? We don’t want to be deceived,” said the independent MP.
Read more at http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/zahrain-claims-link-between-zaid-and-rpk/
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