Perkasa: Scorpene probe making Najib seem guilty

Malay rights group Perkasa said while it was supportive of the truth, the French probe into alleged corruption in the Scorpene deal had unfairly created a perception that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was involved in the scandal even before the court had handed down its judgment.

“Of course all people want the truth, no-one does not love the truth, but the problem is... when the investigation process is ongoing, before a judgement is made, someone should not be said to be guilty until proven guilty.

“Now it is as if a judgment had been made in the court of public opinion. They (Suaram) created a perception as if Najib is really involved but the reality is that it has yet to be decided,” said Perkasa information chief Ruslan Kassim (right).

He was rebutting Suaram founding member R Sivarasa on Mob.tv’s talk show ‘Let’s Talk’ yesterday that the ultimate goal of the probe was to reveal the truth to Malaysians.

Ruslan speculated that this perception was deliberately generated to influence the next general election.

“If this was done by the opposition party, people may not be easily influenced. But this is being done by an NGO like Suaram - the third force. They are trying to influence the rakyat’s thinking so that tomorrow they can change the government and replace it with someone they want,” he said.

Responding to this, Sivarasa, is who now Subang MP, pointed out that it was the government which controlled the mainstream media and used them to influence perception.

‘Conduct probe locally’

However, he added that if the government was still concerned about perception, then it should conduct the probe in Malaysia in an open and transparent manner.

“What Suaram did was based on facts, this is clear. But if the perception of BN’s corruption is a problem, then do an investigation here so Suaram will not need to take it to France.

“Make an open investigation conducted by free and credible parties, lay out the evidence before the rakyat,” he said.

Sivarasa (left) explained that Pakatan Rakyat had already exhausted its attempts to raise the matter in Malaysia as it fell on deaf years with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and in Parliament.

On accusations that Suaram intended to topple the government with foreign funds, Ruslan reiterated Perkasa’s call for a new law to regulate foreign funding.

“At least we can know where the money is going and where it is coming... there is no such thing as free,” he said.

To this, Sivarasa said he agreed for such legislation but it should merely geared towards declaring information to the public on such funds instead of restricting them.

“Don’t forget that this law will not only apply to NGOs but also the government,” he said.

However, he stressed that should such a law be implemented, it must be in the context where human rights is guaranteed  and abolishing draconian laws such as the Official Secrets Act 1972.