Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Posted: 18 May 2011 07:54 PM PDT

However, one of his most interesting answers was to a question on whether lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) could look forward to a non-discriminatory environment if Pakatan were to take Putrajaya, considering Islamist party PAS would be part of the federal government. Anwar was again careful in his answer, but seemed to indicate his coalition would be more tolerant of the marginalised community.

Yahoo News

Is Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim promising Malaysia freedom of religion if his coalition takes over Putrajaya? The opposition leader seemed to indicate so during a live chat session with Yahoo! Malaysia readers.

The PKR advisor was asked - by a reader called 'PK', if he agreed with the decision made by a woman called Lina Joy a few years ago to convert from Islam to Christianity.

Anwar's guarded answer was that while he did not encourage apostasy or the trivialisation of religion, faith and belief was not something which could be forced.

Aside from the Lina Joy question, Anwar was bombarded with all manner of questions during the one hour 20 minute session with Yahoo! users mainly from Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.

Many questions were posed about his legal battles - both his sodomy and corruption trials of 1998 as well as his ongoing court case over fresh sodomy charges. He was also grilled on allegations that he is the man in a recently exposed sex video.

Asked why he hasn't - like his accusers - taken an oath in a mosque to prove his innocence, Anwar replied that it was because such an oath was a matter of religious laws, not politics.

When a user using the moniker 'Nik Abdul' asked for his opinion regarding the alleged confirmation by police that South Korean and American experts had said that the face of the man in the sex video was similar to his, Anwar's terse answer was:

"Typical example how smart guys like you can be duped by Umno media. Which expert? Why can't they be transparent?" was his terse answer.

'Saggy breasts'

Anwar also hinted that he might know who the man in the sex video was.

Anwar Ibrahim (The Malaysian Insider Photo)

"I have some suspects; big stomach and saggy breasts, ha ha," he said, when asked if he knew the identity of the man in the video.

He was also asked why he is apparently seen as 'dangerous' by Umno and replied it was because of his commitment to reform and in combating corruption and cronyism.

Anwar brushed off concerns on whether Pakatan Rakyat has lost ground since its high water mark of 2008, calling such claims 'mainstream media propaganda'.

"The reality on the ground is still promising. Example? the Sarawak elections," he said during the chat session which took place at his party headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

However, one of his most interesting answers was to a question on whether lesbians, gays, bi-sexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) could look forward to a non-discriminatory environment if Pakatan were to take Putrajaya, considering Islamist party PAS would be part of the federal government.

Anwar was again careful in his answer, but seemed to indicate his coalition would be more tolerant of the marginalised community.

"We recognise the importance of family and the institution of marriage. But we should not unduly harass or discriminate others. The answer is through education and PAS accepts this view," he said.

A reader named 'Iwan' then asked if Anwar thought Malaysians could accept a non-Muslim prime minister.

To this, Anwar only offered a non-committal answer of 'respect the constitution and the wishes of the people'.

Abolishing tolls

However, the veteran politician pulled no punches when quizzed about Perkasa, his former mentor Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno.

"Insult to the intelligence of Malaysians with their racist tirade. It's also an Umno ploy to create mischief and racial tension," he said when asked about his stand on Perkasa. He added that only Umno and Perkasa seem desperate to use the race card.

On Mahathir, he described the former premier as a disciplined and hardworking man, but one who was unable to take criticism.

Anwar Ibrahim (The Malaysian Insider Photo)

Touching on his Pakatan's promises to the Malaysian people, Anwar said Pakatan would reduce the price of petrol, abolish highway tolls and make imported cars cheaper.

The chat session got a great response from Yahoo! users, with 26,000 over people taking part. Yahoo! Malaysia also ran polls while the session was going on, with interesting results.

When asked who they would vote for if elections were to be held tomorrow, 77% of users chose Pakatan, while only 17% opted for Barisan, with remaining 6% either being undecided or choosing to vote for 'others'.

Well over half the respondents said dirty politics was the biggest problem in Malaysia, while almost 60% of the people said they'd like to speak to PAS spiritual advisor Nik Aziz Nik Mat in a future Yahoo! Malaysia 'Question Time' session.

For the full chat history with Anwar hosted by Yahoo! Malaysia today, click here.

WikiLeaks and the Altantuya Murder

Posted: 16 May 2011 04:28 PM PDT

Cables show the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur was closely watching the trial

The cables are replete with accounts of a long series of meetings with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, in which Anwar repeatedly told the Americans that Najib was connected to corrupt practices in the acquisition of the submarines as well as the purchase of Sukhoi Su-MCM-30 Flanker fighter jets from Russia. Anwar also repeatedly called attention to Najib's connection to the Altantuya murder case.

ASIA SENTINEL

The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur closely followed the murder trial of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu and frequently discussed whether now-Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was involved in the killing, according to diplomatic cables supplied to Asia Sentinel by the WikiLeaks website, and theorized that the trial of her killers was being deliberately delayed.

Altantuya was murdered in October of 2006 by two of Najib's bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 30 and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, 35. who stood trial and were pronounced guilty in April 2009. Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Najib's best friends and Altantuya's lover, was accused of participating in the murder but was allowed to be freed without having to put on a defense.

The murder has been tied closely to the US$1 billion acquisition of French submarines by the Malaysian ministry of defense, which Najib headed as defense minister during the acquisitions. Altantuya reportedly acted as a translator on the transaction, which netted Razak Baginda's company a €114 million "commission" on the purchase. Reportedly she had been offered US$500,000 for her part in translating. After she was jilted, she vainly demanded payment. A letter she had written was made public after her death saying she regretted she was attempting to "blackmail" Razak Baginda.

French lawyers are investigating whether some of the €114 million was kicked back to French or Malaysian politicians. Despite the scandal, the US government has not publicly backed away from Najib. In April 2010, Najib in fact visited the White House and was praised by US President Barack Obama for the parliament's passage of an act allowing Malaysian authorities to take action against individuals and entities engaged in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The cables are replete with accounts of a long series of meetings with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, in which Anwar repeatedly told the Americans that Najib was connected to corrupt practices in the acquisition of the submarines as well as the purchase of Sukhoi Su-MCM-30 Flanker fighter jets from Russia. Anwar also repeatedly called attention to Najib's connection to the Altantuya murder case.

A Jan. 24, 2007 cable, marked secret, wrote that "Perceived irregularities on the part of prosecutors and the court, and the alleged destruction of some evidence, suggested to many that the case was subject to strong political pressure intended to protect Najib."

In a Feb. 1, 2008 cable, the embassy's Political Section Chief, Mark D. Clark, wrote that a deputy prosecutor had told him "there was almost no chance of winning guilty verdicts in the on-going trial of defendants Razak Baginda, a close advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, and two police officers. She described the trial as interminably long." (That, of course, turned out to be wrong. Sirul and Azilah were ultimately convicted and have appealed their sentence)

"Nearly seven months after the trial began (but with only 83 days of actual hearings), the prosecution now is presenting its 63rd witness out of an anticipated 80 and the defense has yet to make its case." The deputy prosecutor "anticipated the trial would continue for several more months and said that she actively sought excuses to escape from the courtroom monotony."

Clark called the trial a "a prosecutorial embarrassment from its inception, leading many to speculate that the ineptitude was by design. On the eve of the trial Malaysia's Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail dropped his lead prosecutors and replaced them with less experienced attorneys. Similarly, a lead counsel for one of the defendants abruptly resigned before the trial "because of (political) attempts to interfere with a defense he had proposed, in particular to protect an unnamed third party."

The protracted nature of the case, Clark continued, "has led at least one regional newspaper to speculate that "the case is being deliberately delayed to drive it from public view.

Malaysia's daily newspapers rarely mention the case's latest developments, and it is unprecedented in Malaysian judicial history that a murder trial could drag on for seven months and still not give the defense an opportunity to present its case. Such an environment has led many to conclude that the case was too politically sensitive to yield a verdict before
the anticipated general elections."

A January 2007 cable called attention to Abdul Razak Baginda's affidavit confirming that he sought the help of Musa Safri, later identified by reporters as Najib's aide-de-camp, in ridding him of the jilted woman, and in other cables pointed out that Musa had never been called for questioning.

In another cable, dated May 16, 2007, Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, a deputy home affairs minister in Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi's cabinet told US embassy officials that he was "certain that government prosecutors would limit their trial activities to the murder itself and the three defendants; prosecutors would not follow up on allegations of related corruption or other suspects."

In the Jan. 27 2007 cable, marked "Secret," embassy officials wrote that "In December we heard from one of (Anwar's) lawyers that Razak Baginda's wife was in contact with Anwar and Wan Azizah, suggesting one possible source for Anwar's information."

Razak Baginda's wife, during one of his first appearances in court, screamed that Razak "doesn't want to be prime minister." That was taken by observers as a reference to the fact that Najib reportedly had been having an affair with Altantuya but passed her on to Razak Baginda because it would be unseemly to have a mistress when as expected he succeeded Abdullah Badawi as premier. Najib has offered to swear on the Koran that he had never met the woman.

However, in July 2008, P Balasubramaniam, a former policeman and private detective who had been hired by Razak Baginda to protect him from Altantuya, filed a sworn statement saying he had been told by the accused man that Najib not only knew the murdered woman but had an affair with her and introduced her to him, passing her on because he did not want the onus of having a mistress in the event that he would become prime minister.

In a telephone interview on May 9, Anwar, however, told Asia Sentinel that Razak Baginda's wife was not the source of his knowledge of Najib's connection and that instead he had been told of the connection by Setev Shaariibuu, Altantuya's father, who said he had wished to present evidence of the then-vice premier's involvement, but was not allowed to do so. Multiple attempts to contact Setev by Asia Sentinel have been unsuccessful.

Almost immediately after he made the statement, Balasubramaniam was picked up and driven to a police station, where he was forced to withdraw the statement and write a new one saying Razak Baginda had told him nothing of the sort. Balasubramaniam fled Malaysia for India. He later said Najib's brother, Nizam, and wife, Rosmah Mansor, had met with him and that he was offered RM5 million (US$1.48 million) to forget his statement connecting Najib to Altantuya. Balasubramaniam displayed a flock of checks drawn on the account of an associate of Najib's wife. The former private detective has continued to make a series of statements from outside the country about Najib's involvement and the Malaysian mainstream press has done its best to ignore.

A February 2008 cable from Political Section Chief Clark gives a hint that then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may have been trying to get rid of Najib by forcing Razak Baginda to implicate him in the murder.

"In the latest turn of the ongoing Altantuya murder trial (reftels), accused political insider Abdul Razak Baginda, who has remained calm and composed through most of the proceedings, unleashed an emotional tirade shortly after the February 20 noon recess on the trial's 90th day," Clark wrote. "Referring to the Prime Minister by his nick-name "Pak Lah," Razak reportedly exclaimed: "You can die, Pak Lah! (in Malaysian - "Matilah kau, Pak Lah!") I'm innocent!" according to unpublished journalist accounts.

"Local newspapers and the government news service Bernama reported the fact of the outburst, but did not print Razak's statements. The short-lived exception was the English language newspaper The Sun, which included the quotations from Razak in its early morning February 21 edition. Sources at newspaper confirmed to us in confidence that the Ministry of Internal Security compelled The Sun to withdraw and recall thousands of copies of their first run paper in which the original quote was included. Prime Minister Abdullah serves concurrently as Minister of Internal Security."

During the trial, Clark wrote, Razak Baginda, "appeared uneasy throughout the morning session of court on February 20. Razak's father, Abdullah Malim Baginda had whispered something to him shortly before the trial had begun for the morning and apparently upset the accused. Razak had remained quiet throughout the morning hearings, but just after the noon recess was called and as he was leaving the courtroom he kicked and banged the door and yelled "You can die, Pak Lah! Die, Pak Lah! I am innocent. I am innocent." He was later seen crying before his lawyer while his mother attempted to comfort him."

"Speculation is rife in Malaysia's on-line community concerning what it was that set off Razak Baginda outburst, including conspiracy theories alleging the Prime Minister's office had urged Razak to implicate Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak … in return for sparing Razak a guilty verdict and its mandatory death sentence.

Regardless, the Internal Security Ministry would want to limit any possibly inflammatory reference to the Prime Minister at the trial, and particularly at this juncture due to the proximity of Malaysia's general election to be held on March 8. Any connection between the Prime Minister and the murder trial would be scandalous. The GOM (government of Malaysia) reportedly has worked hard to "drive (the case) from public view" … and is not about to allow the case to influence the coming elections."

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Jumaat, 20 Mei 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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