Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- MACC says Deepak postpones interview on Bala’s SD2 again
- Umno-BN has lost moral right to rule
- Get Anwar to testify if needed, RCI told
- Karpal: Charge Ibrahim Ali
- ‘Tell RCI the truth, Anwar’
| MACC says Deepak postpones interview on Bala’s SD2 again Posted: 22 Jan 2013 02:05 AM PST
Md Izwan and Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed today that controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan had again postponed his interview with the anti-graft body. Last Saturday, the MACC said that Deepak had claimed he was "not in the (right) state of mind" to be questioned over his claims regarding private investigator P. Balasubramaniam's second sworn statement in 2008 over the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuyaa Shaariibuu. Deepak said he did not appear at the MACC's office today. "No, I didn't come. I spoke to them at 4pm. I'm meeting them at 5pm tomorrow," Deepak told The Malaysian Insider in a text message today. When contacted, a MACC official confirmed that Deepak had told them that he would not be coming today. "Yes, Deepak did call to tell SPRM that he cannot make it today," the official wrote in a text message to The Malaysian Insider. Both Deepak and the MACC official did not state why the interview was moved to tomorrow evening. Last Friday, Deepak told The Malaysian Insider that he expects to reveal everything to the MACC after he had recently admitted that he helped to get Balasubramaniam to repudiate his earlier statutory declaration on the matter, including finding two lawyers to draft the new statement. But later that day, Deepak had said that MACC officers had asked him to return at a later unspecified date with documents to back up his allegations. MACC then responded with a statement last Saturday saying that Deepak had asked to have his interview postponed to today. "Deepak was greeted by one MACC officer (yesterday) and he subsequently told the officer that he was supposed to be at the MACC office because he had made an appointment with a reporter. "When asked if he was ready to give his statement, Deepak told the officer that he was 'not in the state of mind' to have his statement recorded and requested that he does so on January 22, 2013, at 5pm," the commission's Deputy Chief Commissioner, Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull, said in a statement. The Bar Council is currently investigating the identity of lawyers and possible misconduct in the drafting of Balasubramaniam's second sworn statement about the murder of Altantuya. A cloud of mystery has hung over the identity of the lawyer who drew up Balasubramaniam's second SD, dated a day after his first on July 3, 2008, regarding Altantuya's 2006 murder, for which two elite police commandos have been convicted and are facing death sentences. Balasubramaniam's lawyer Americk Singh Sidhu had previously said M. Arunampalam's role as the lawyer who had drafted the investigator's second SD had been dispelled by well-connected businessman Deepak, who is also in the centre of the controversy surrounding Balasubramaniam's two SDs.
|
| Umno-BN has lost moral right to rule Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:15 PM PST The present Umno-BN government is illegitimate and should not be allowed to continue, says STAR chief Jeffrey Kitingan Queville To, FMT KOTA KINABALU: Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) believes that ruling Barisan Nasional has lost the moral right to rule as a legitimate government. Citing disclosures made in the ongoing RCI on illegal immigrants and the issuance of citizenships to foreigners in Sabah, STAR chief Jeffrey Kitingan said "the present government should not be allowed to continue to rule". "From the RCI disclosures, we can see that we have been governed by leaders who would not have been elected if not for illegitimate voters. The present Umno-BN government is illegitimate and should not be allowed to continue. It should be replaced by a non-partisan caretaker government. "Whilst we cannot change what has happened and leave it to the powers that be to untangle the mess that Sabah is in and punish the culprits and their mastermind, we, all Sabahans, can make a difference and determine our own future and our own destiny," he said. Jeffrey said people must not leave it to Sabah leaders alone, especially those in the Umno-BN government, to save Sabah from further damage and control by foreigners. "No government in the world that is patriotic and loves its citizens would do what Umno and the BN government have done to Sabah. It is treason of the highest degree and in past history, many would have been beheaded or hanged for lesser offences," he said. Jeffery doubted Sabah BN component parties leaders of PBS, UPKO, LDP would leave BN and stand on the side of Sabah and its people as they do not care for its future. Solution imperative He said even if they did care, they cannot do anything about it as they are beholden to their political masters in BN, besides the fact that many of them have files and dossiers on them. "At best, they will leave it to Umno, their big brother in BN. We cannot expect thieves to catch thieves," he said. He said with the general election around the corner, a solution was imperative. "If people leave everything to the RCI, by the time it completes its investigation in six months time, it would be too late. "Even then there is no guarantee that action will be taken to rectify the grave injustice done to Sabah and legitimate Sabahans, particularly the natives, whether they are KDMs, Bajaus, Suluks, Ubian, Iranun, Kedayan, Bisaya, Rungus, Sungei, Lun Bawang, Sino-natives, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and the many others. "Therefore, we the ordinary Sabahans must unite and kick out this illegitimate Umno-BN government," he said. He stressed that whoever the next Chief Minister of Sabah is going to be, he must take every action to safeguard the interests of Sabah and Sabahans. "We regret the view of one of our past Chief Ministers who, by his own admission, failed in his duty in protecting Sabah, when he nonchalantly stated that it was the prerogative of the federal government to grant citizenships," he said. Jeffrey said STAR's stand is that Sabah is a nation by itself and an equal partner in Malaysia, thus the Federal government cannot and should not grant federal citizenships or the right to vote to every Tom, Dick and Harry, regardless of their nationality and religious background. "We should only award citizenships to qualified people who can contribute to the country. In granting citizenships, it is by way of operation of law or by naturalisation. Granting of citizenships to children of citizens is by way of law. Giving MyKads based on fraudulent declaration of place of birth in Sabah is not naturalisation. It is fraud," he said. 'Malaya is not Malaysia' He also censured former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed for defending the granting of citizenships. "He may be right in saying that giving of citizenships is not wrong if it is done according to law, but he should have added that granting citizenships not according to law is wrong and that the perpetuators should be punished." Mahathir, Jeffrey said, had completely missed the point when he compared granting of citizenships to foreign nationals during the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1957 to doing so in Sabah in the 1990s when he was prime minister.
|
| Get Anwar to testify if needed, RCI told Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:06 PM PST S Ambiga wants the Royal Commission to subpoena all those who were in the know about 'Project IC'. G Vinod, FMT The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) must subpoena all those who knew or were involved in "Project IC" in Sabah, said Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson S Ambiga today. Responding to a question whether this should include former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim, she replied:"Why not?" She was speaking at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. Also present were Bersih co-chairperson A Samad Said, steering committee members K Arumugam and Liau Kok Fah and Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap) research assistant Lee Wee Tak. Earlier, Sabah Bersih chairman Andrew Ambrose, via Skype, urged the RCI to subpoena former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Sabah chief minister Haris Salleh and Attorney- General Abdul Gani Patail to testify on "Project IC." In a surprising move, Ambrose also wanted RCI panel members Herman Luping and KY Mustafa to testify, claiming they were in the know of what was happening in Sabah. He made this remark despite being sued by Luping for the allegation in October last year. Luping was a former Sabah state attorney-general in the 80s while Mustafa was the state secretary from 2000 to 2007. Over the recent weeks, the RCI had heard testimonies from various witnesses on how MyKads were given to foreigners with no proper documentation. Sabah former National Registration Department chief Ramli Kamarudin even implicated former deputy home minister, Megat Junid Megat Ayub, in the matter. Meanwhile, Ambiga, a former Bar Council chairman, urged the Election Commission (EC) to clean up the electoral roll before the general election. She also said it proved that what Bersih had been saying all along was true, that there were massive problems in the electoral roll. "EC must respond as they have a duty to the public," she added. While she concurred that the RCI had yet to reach its conclusion, Ambiga said this was not the first time such cases of irregularity was found in Sabah's electoral roll.
|
| Posted: 21 Jan 2013 04:51 PM PST DAP national chairman lodges a police report against Ibrahim Ali over his remarks that Bibles which contained the term "Allah" should be seized and burnt. Jared Pereira, FMT Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali's call to burn Malay Bibles which use "Allah" is seditious and can incite religious discord. This was the stance of Bukit Gelugor MP and DAP chairman Karpal Singh, who lodged a police report against Ibrahim Ali for asking Muslims to "seize and burn" Bibles which used the "Allah" term. "Muslims must unite to protect their religion. They must seize those Bibles, including the Malay editions, which contain the term Allah and other Arabic religious words, and burn them," Pasir MAS MP Ibrahim has said on Saturday. Talking to the media after lodging his report, Karpal said that what Ibrahim did not realise was that by calling for the burning of such Bibles, he was indirectly calling for the burning of "Allah's" name. "I don't think he knows that he's also calling for Allah to be burnt," he said. Karpal called for Ibrahim to be charged under the Sedition Act 1948. "He [Ibrahim] should be charged under the Act for what he had said could pass off as seditious and the Attorney-General [Abdul Gani Patail] should initiate investigations on him immediately," Karpal said. However, both Karpal and his son, Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo were annoyed with the AG seemingly acting "weak" on this matter. "AG is apparently waiting to act on Ibrahim only if there are Bibles which are actually burnt…and this shows that he is not doing his job as the legal head of the country," said Gobind. "I blame the AG for this mess….he is very weak and is not suitable to be the legal head of the country," added Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M Manoharan, who was also present at the press conference. The AG told FMT yesterday that he was "not concerned" about Ibrahim's statements and that he would only probe the case if reports were lodged. Karpal said: "Now that we [DAP] have lodged a police report, we hope that he will act…but then again, this is wrong. As the AG, he should act if there is an offence regardless of police reports being lodged or not. Gobind added that if the AG refused to act even after the police report has been made against Ibrahim, DAP will lodge a report against the AG. "We will get the court to issue a mandamus order, which is an order for the AG to act under his powers and carry out his responsibility which is in the nature of public duty," he said. When asked if there was a timeframe in which they expected the AG to act, Karpal said investigations should not take long and they were giving the AG two weeks.
|
| Posted: 21 Jan 2013 04:16 PM PST Sabah Umno liaison deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak challenges Anwar to shed some light on the illegal immigrants issue in Sabah. (FMT) -- Sabah Umno liaison deputy chief Salleh Said Keruak has challenged opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to tell the truth about the illegal immigrants to the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) tasked with looking into the long-standing problem in the state. He said that Anwar was duty-bound to do so as he was deputy prime minister at that particular period, adding that "he was a powerful man and knew what was going on in Sabah". "Don't be a hypocrite, perharps with the inside knowledge, Anwar can help shed some light… so tell the truth to RCI. He must not play politics. At least Najib Tun Razak, our Prime Minister, is prepared to seek the truth and approved the formation of RCI to identify the roots of the problem. "We should not come into a conclusion and blame certain parties just because of statements by few ex-ISA [Internal Security Act] detainees. We should let RCI complete its works…What we want is a permanent solution," he told Bernama after attending a meet-the-people session at SK Sembirai, near here today. In this respect, Salleh, who is also State Legislative Assembly Speaker, said the people should praise and support Najib for his bold move to form the RCI. "Once RCI completes its task then the government will study and act on it accordingly to resolve the matter once and for all. "Those who were qualified and obtained their citizenship through proper procedure should not be punished and those who obtained it through illegal or dubious means must have their citizensip revoked. That should be the way," he said. Expressing confidence that the illegal immigrants' problem would be resolved by the government under Najib, Salleh said genuine Sabahans must be patient to wait for a permanent solution. Meanwhile, Parti Bersatu Sabah, which may have been a victim of Umno's citizenship-for votes scam in the 1994 elections, also wants Anwar to testify at the ongoing RCI. PBS information chief Johnny Mositun said Anwar was the deputy prime minister at the time and privy to information exclusive to the top most leadership.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan