NGO group accuses Anwar of approving Scorpene deal

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim approved Malaysia’s controversial purchase of Scorpene submarines when he was Finance Minister in 1995, a group of non-governmental organisations campaigning against Suaram’s role in pushing for investigations, said today.

French shipbuilding giant DCNS won the €1 billion contract in 2002, when Anwar was still serving a jail sentence for his 2000 sodomy conviction, but the group alleged today that he had approved it when he was Finance Minister in the 1990s.

“Why didn’t Suaram reveal that the Scorpene purchase was actually made by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the Finance Minister of Malaysia?” Dzulkarnain Taib, president of the Young Journalists Club, asked at a press conference today.

He alleged that the Scorpene issue was discussed in Cabinet in 1991.

“In 1995, the then Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had approved the Scorpene purchase,” Dzulkarnain said.

He traced the chronology of the purchase of the two Scorpene submarines, saying that the deal was inked between the Malaysian government and French companies in 2002, while the vessels were handed over to Malaysia in 2010.

Shahbudin Embun, a Malay Consultative Council (MPM) member who was present at the press conference, said the NGOs were not funded by the government.

“We are not being paid by any organisation, by the government, we are not paid by any politicians.

“We are just citizens of this country who come forward to defend the government...we found out that there was no misleading, no misinformation (by the government) and all the deal was done above board,” Shahbudin said.

Others present at the press conference today were the Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) Federal Territories chief and a former Navy man.

The NGOs today continued to accuse Suaram of misleading and lying to the public over the Scorpene issue, with those who had signed the joint statement including the Muslims Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM), Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM), Lembaga Kesedaran Pencegahan Jenayah Malaysia (LKPJM) and Lembaga Perlindungan dan Kebajikan Pengguna Malaysia (LPKPM).

These same NGOs had on October 11 said Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) had misrepresented its status as a plaintiff to a French inquiry of the multi-billion Scorpene submarine deal.

Dzulkarnain had claimed that French judges had in a court document rejected Suaram as plaintiff on March 13 this year, adding that the human rights NGO had on March 16 then applied to be a joint plaintiff, as it works together with the International Federation for Human Rights.

He alleged that the rejection was due to Suaram’s attempt to cheat the French judiciary, claiming that it is not a NGO or human rights group as it is not registered with the Registrar of Societies.

He had declined to show the two court documents, but instead gave the court reference number for the documents.

When asked today if the NGOs knew if the French judiciary had made its decision on Suaram’s purported application to be a joint plaintiff, Dzulkarnain said they “have not heard anything” on the March 16 application.

He also was asked if they had received information of a denial of the joint plaintiff status for Suaram.

“We have not had any information because as we have said, our information is only up until 16 March,” he said.

Suaram had on October 17 said that they are still a party to the French investigations, saying that they had testified before the French judiciary on April 19.