The Rise and Rapid Fall of Suaram’s Cynthia Gabriel

 

THE CHOICE

Just days ago Cynthia Gabriel was set to be a key figure in the GE13 election campaign. Suaram, of which she is a board member and key spokesperson, was strutting the Malaysian political stage on the back of the Scorpene submarine issue and they thought they had BN on the run.

After all, at the height of the Scorpene saga it was suggested mysteriously that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was set to be whisked off to France to testify at a trial. If he didn't go, said Suaram's media friends, our trade with the European Union would suffer. It was total fiction but for Suaram and Pakatan Rakyat they were happy days as the story dominated the media. They went on with their spin and stories.

Except as we now know, there is not and never has been any trial.

A visiting French lawyer Yves Charpenel, who also happens to be a former French prosecutor, torpedoed that story in a five minute press conference in Kuala Lumpur this week.

This has left Suaram reeling. Far more than the revelations about the web of foreign interests that funds this politicised and Pakatan-backed "human rights" group, the "no trial" revelation harmed Suaram because it struck at the heart of its integrity.

Gabriel knew this when she shuffled forward to face the music Wednesday. Asked why her organisation let everyone believe that the Scorpene submarine deal was the subject of a trial in France she answered weakly: "Suaram has no control on how (the) media are reporting this matter."

But as The Choice has reminded her, this isn't actually true. At any time Suaram could have corrected the false story doing the rounds but chose not to do so. Nor did it suit its friends in Pakatan Rakyat and the phalanx of foreign interests happy to see cleverly crafted untruths undermine our political independence.

Now that Gabriel has suffered such a painful come down her opponents are on the attack.

Without naming Suaram, Independent MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim told the Dewan Rakyat: "The people were hoodwinked by these group of people who collected donations from the public for the so-called trial."

"I believe the government has a solid ground take up a defamation suit against the perpetrators."

He also proposed a law to "monitor the activities of suspected foreign agents who interfere in the internal affairs of the country". Again, he didn't name anyone but he might as well have been carrying a photo of Suaram donor George Soros.

But another press briefing in KL definitely did name Suaram accusing it of the "biggest lie in the country's political history."

Young Journalists Club President Dzulkarnain Taib produced a court document from France showing that French judges Roger Le Loire and Serge Tournaire rejected Suaram as a plaintiff in the case on March 13 this year.

"This means that the case by Suaram in relation to Scorpene has been thrown out by the French court since March 2012," he said.

This will further embarrass Gabriel personally because in her defence of Suaram this week she said: "There is no confusion on our part that the case is on the second stage, at the criminal inquiry process when Suaram is accepted as a civil party in March this year."

She really needs to clarify that statement in the light of the document that Dzulkarnain has reportedly uncovered.

So where does that leave Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim? Time and time again he has proven that his key political strategy is to hitch a ride on big headline story and see if he can cash in on any damage it causes to the Government.

NFCorp, Bersih 3.0, Suaram. These are all very different issues but what they have in common is that they allow Anwar to score a few points without having to do anything as serious as articulate his own policies. And they all eventually fizzle on him.

Want proof of this? Have a look at the pride of place the Suaram story received on his website. It sits beneath his smiling face complete with a first paragraph that repeats the "Scorpene trial" myth.

Now is a good time to wave goodbye to the Scorpene issue. It is also a good time to silence Cynthia Gabriel and stop paying attention to Suaram although to be fair, they really should disappear from view for a while to assess the damage to their reputation.

Maybe they could offer to make it up to Anwar? They could use their self-professed expertise to help him develop some policies. If they did that the public might actually forgive them for their deception and they would be doing Anwar a real favour.

Substance, not phony controversies is what Anwar needs ahead of GE13.