Anwar to SUARAM lawyers: Urgent need to update Parliament & verify authenticity of documents

Messieurs William Bourdon, Joseph Breham,

Briefing to the Malaysian Parliament on the ongoing judicial inquiry at the Tribunal De Grande Instance into the payment of alleged illegal and/or corrupt commissions for the purchase of two Scorpene submarines by the Government of Malaysia from the firms Direction des Construction Navales Services ( "DCNS" ), Thales and Armaris in 2002

I refer to the above ongoing judicial inquiry at the Tribunal De Grande Instance in Paris presided over by Judge Roger Le Loire and Judge Serge Tournaire into the complaint by SUARAM, a Malaysian human rights non-governmental organization alleging that corrupt and illegal payments were made by the French suppliers DCNS and Thales and their joint venture company Armaris to Malaysian citizens and officials in relation to the purchase of the submarines in 2002 which were at the material time authorized by the then Malaysian Defence Minister and current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, where payments of up to 700 milliom ringgit were received by companies ( Perimekar Sdn Bhd and Terasasi ) owned by his adviser and close associate, Abdul Razak Baginda.

As Leader of Opposition in Parliament, I write to request your presence as lawyers acting for SUARAM, a party to the ongoing inquiry, to deliver a briefing on the status and development of the inquiry to interested Malaysian Members of Parliament during this current session of the Malaysian Parliament which will run until 22" November 2012. I propose to invite all members of the Malaysian Parliament to this briefing.

7 witnesses

I am informed that a delegation from SUARAM comprising board members Mr Kua Kia Soong, Ms Cynthia Gabriel and Ms Fadiah Nadwa Fikri on 19 April 2012 appeared before Judge Roger Le Loire represented by your goodselves and assisted the inquiry with documents and facts substantiating their complaint of corruption with regard to the Scorpene purchases at the Tribunal De Grande Instance.

I understand that Judge Le Loire, after having heard SUARAM's testimony has accepted a list of seven proposed witnesses including Prime Minister Najib Razak, the current Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi and also Abdul Razak Baginda.

Many members of the Malaysian Parliament are following the ongoing inquiry closely. This inquiry is vital to shed light on many unanswered questions arising from the purchase of the submarines by the Government of Malaysia. For some years now questions in the Malaysian Parliament regarding the payment of 114 million Euro to Abdul Razak Baginda's company Perimekar Sdn Bhd for so-called "logistical support for training" have not received satisfactory answers. Perimekar &in Bhd was known to the French suppliers as a company with no track record for such training support.

Tax-deductible 'bribe': More corrupt payment uncovered

Despite reports to the Malaysia Anti-Coruption Commission, no result has been achieved despite the obvious suspicious nature of the payments. I note that Gerard Phillippe iVtaneyas, former finance director for DCNS, has in fact claimed a tax deduction for 32 million Euros allegedly used to bribe Malaysian officials for the purchase of the Scorpenes using legal provisions prior to France adopting OECD anti-corruption procedures and rules in 2002.

Following the commencement of the inquiry on 16 March 2012, SUARAM, being a party to the inquiry, has gained full privileged access to 153 documents from the Public Prosecutor's office and has made public some of the contents of the investigation papers in several media conferences. Based on the content of these documents, SUARAM has also exposed a hitherto unknown further large payment of about 30 million Euros from the French suppliers to a company called Terasasi in Hong Kong which is controlled by Abdul Razak Baginda.

I am informed that many, if not all of these 153 investigation papers can now be viewed on the Internet news portal called "Asia Sentinel" at www.asiasentinel.com. Based on the content of some of these documents, there are clear indications that the payment of 114 million Euros and 30 million Euros to Abdul Rank Baginda companies are in fact corrupt payments made to facilitate the purchases of the submarines.

Top secret Malaysian navy document seized during DCNS raid

I note that these documents contain references to the fact that a top secret document belonging to the Malaysian Royal Navy was in the files seized by the French Anti-Corruption authorities from DCNS which was sent to it by Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd. Again police reports and questions in Parliament have not led to revelation of how this serious breach of secrecy took place.

In light of the above, there exists an urgent need for interested members of the Malaysian Parliament to be kept abreast of the developments in the ongoing inquiry to enable us to pursue accountability for the illegal acts of corrupt payments that are believed to have taken place. We would also like to be advised on the authenticity of the documents available on the Asia Sentinel website and the implications of their contents.

My office would be pleased to have early confirmation of your arrival dates to make all the necessary arrangements. For your information, we have also invited Messieur Olivier Metzner who acts for DCNS to also attend the briefing. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Anwar Ibrahim

Telefon: 20721955 Ruj. Kami: Rttj.Tuan:

20721707 Fax: 26932529

2nd October 2012

Cabinet BOURDON VOITURIEZ & Associes Avocats au Barreau de PARIS

156, Rue de Rivoli — 75001 PARIS

Malaysia Chronicle