Suaram: Stop misusing civil service

The rights movement claims that the government is using the civil service to discredit Suaram due to the Scorpene probe.

PETALING JAYA: The government should not misuse the civil service in its attempt to discredit Suaram, said the rights movement.

Its executive director E Nalini said that in any democratic country, the civil service is expected to remain independent from the government of the day.

“But since we raised allegations of corruption in the purchase of Scorpene submarines in the French courts, the Malaysian civil service is shamefully used in the attempt to discredit us,” she added.

Yesterday, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said there was something “highly suspicious” in the accounts of Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd, a company linked to Suaram.

“Based on preliminary findings, we found there is something suspicious and confusing, so we will continue our investigation in greater detail,” he had added.

Suaram was investigated by the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) after a pro-government NGO, Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM), alleged that the former was not registered as a NGO with the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Instead, it was registered as a company called Suara Inisiatif.

The probe on Suaram came after the movement filed a case in the French Court, alleging there were corrupt elements involved when the Malaysian government purchased two Scorpene submarines from a French defence company, DCNS in 2001.

In her rebuttal, Nalini said that Suaram was initially set up in 1989 to assist families who had their loved ones detained under the now defunct Internal Security Act, check on police misconduct, champion civil liberties and others.

“But due to restrictions placed in the Societies Act 1966, Suaram and other NGOs had no other choice but to register as a company in order to champion human rights,” she said.

Nalini challenged the government to also probe the submarine deal in the same vigour as the investigation on Suaram.

“It needs no guessing that the attacks on Suaram are highly political in nature,” she claimed.