Bourdon to be deported at 11.30pm tonite

French lawyer William Bourdon will be deported at 11.30pm.

At KLIA, Bourdon was asked to sign deportation papers in Malay. He flatly refused. Instead, he and his wife Lia wrote a statement in French, asserting they had not violated any law in Malaysia and protesting strongly against their detention.

They had no access to lawyers for five hours.

“They (the authorities) wanted to detain him for three days because his (return) ticket is on Sunday,” according to lawyer Fadiah Nadwa at KLIA.

Bourdon protested and made arrangements to return to France later tonight. The lawyer, who is working pro-bono for human rights group Suaram, had been scheduled to speak tonight in Petaling Jaya and in Ipoh on Saturday. One of the speakers last night had mentioned that more information on the Pakistan angle of the Scorpene investigation would have been revealed at the PJ event.

Organisers of the PJ dinner said the fund-raising event tonight to raise money for legal costs in France had already recorded a net surplus of RM150000. Last night’s dinner in Penang raised another RM100000.

Bourdon, speaking softly with a French accent, revealed last night the investigation into the Scorpene submarines deal in France were close to unravelling unusual cashflows and the parties involved in the deal. “We are determined to ensure this investigation will go as far as possible (in the courts),” he told some 600 diners. “There is no democracy if there is no complete eradication of corruption.”

Despite the complexity of the case, the bespectacled Bourdon, whose scruffy hair makes him look more like an artist putting the finishing touches on a masterpiece, was philosophic that the truth would one day be revealed. “This requires determination and solidarity.”

-anilnetto