AFRAID OF SCORPENE LAWYER: Hisham refuses to clear Bourdon's trip to brief Parliament

There's only a week to go but Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein has refused to give the green light for French lawyer William Bourdon to enter Malaysia where he is due to brief Members of Parliament on the latest in the Scorpenes corruption trial, in which Prime Minister Najib Razak has been heavily implicated.

"We fear the worst given the way the Najib administration has been attacking SUARAM and even banned non-MPs from accessing the Parliament press conference lobby. If there is no guilt, why not allow Bourdon to come in and brief us all. If Najib is innocent, there is no need to deport Bourdon or to shut up SUARAM. Instead, as PM, he should welcome the chance to clear his name for himself as well as for his country," PKR MP for Batu Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Political intrigue, greed and murder

Bourdon was due to arrive by November 22. He was deported from Kuala Lumpur when he came to brief his client SUARAM in July 2011. Nevertheless, he agreed to come again to update Malaysian lawmakers when invited by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim last month but on the condition that the authorities would assure his safety and not deport him again, thus wasting his trip and time.

Anwar had then written to inform Hisham and to seek an assurance that Bourdon would not be turned away upon arrival. But with the clock ticking down, the chances of securing such an agreement are now slim - reflecting Najib's fear that Bourdon may reveal further explosive details that could pin down his involvement in the controversial deal.

The RM7.3 billion Scorpenes acquisition is perhaps the most explosive of all the corruption scandals dogging Najib and his Umno party. Intertwined into the purchase is the murder of a Mongolian woman in Malaysia, Altantuya Shaariibuu, by two of Najib's former bodyguards. Despite finding the duo guilty, the Malaysian courts could not establish a motive for the killing and the general belief amongst the public is that she was killed because of her knowledge of the Scorpenes deal so as to 'shield' Najib from being implicated.

Indeed, she had been blackmailing Razak Baginda, a close associate of Najib's and one of the negotiators for the submarines. A private investigator hired by Baginda has revealed that Altantuya had demanded for her cut of the RM540million 'commission' allegedly paid illicitly by DCNS. Najib's hand in the deal is also too visible to be denied as he was the Defense Minister who sealed the procurement from French naval firm DCNS.

It is DCNS that SUARAM had accused of bribing top Malaysian officials including Najib to secure the acquisition and inflating the purchase price that has to be ultimately borne by the Malaysian people as a result. After failing to get the Umno-led federal government to probe the purchase, SUARAM lodged a complaint in Paris against DCNS. The arms giant is now on trial with an investigative judge supervising the proceedings.

The entire case will be escalated into a full trial if the judge so decides. So far evidence uncovered by French financial police show a paper and payment trail that leads to Baginda and Umno leaders including former finance minister Daim Zainuddin. The Malaysian case laden with political intrigue and greed offers a window into the high-stakes, black world of international arms wheeling and dealing, where 'cuts', illicit commissions, blackmail, unexplained deaths and murder are part and parcel of the game.

Fear of EXPLOSIVE revelations from Bourdon

News that Anwar's invitation to Bourdon to come to the Malaysia Parliament had been accepted sparked a furious fight back from Najib's camp. SUARAM's status as an NGO was challenged and the its office raided by the Registrar of Companies. It was also accused of taking money from the Open Society, a well-known foundation started by billionaire George Soros to spearhead human rights and pro-democracy projects.

SUARAM was also painted as being Anwar's lackey and Anwar in turn accused of being a traitor and a tool through which the Jewish Soros wanted to control the Malaysian government. However, despite the intense media onslaught by the government-controlled press, TV and radio networks, the overly bizarre accusations failed to convince and instead boomeranged, focusing even greater public anticipation on Bourdon's visit and what he was due to reveal that Najib and Umno feared so greatly.

"I think we all know that Najib and Umno are playing for time. But Malaysians can expect their worst suspicions to be spot on as far as both the Scorpenes bribery and Altantuya murder are concerned. That Najib and his strategists have to enlist (former premier) Mahathir Mohamad to back them up by dredging up the Jewish-Islamic bogeyman just to discredit SUARAM's French trial already confirms it," said Tian.

The PM's office is concerned that they will not be able to contain all the 'dirty details' that may be revealed. Not only would this sink Najib's already shaky hold on power, it would further erode public support for Umno at the next general election due to be held by mid 2013 at the latest. Indeed, even Umno's secretary-general Tengku Adnan recently admitted that corruption, cronyism and elitism were "perceptions" that could hurt the party's chances the most in GE13.

Malaysia Chronicle