Jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has expressed concern for not being able to attend the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) hearing on Bank Negara's foreign exchange (forex) losses.
In a media statement this afternoon, he noted that his name had cropped up several times during testimonies.
Anwar, who was finance minister when Bank Negara incurred the losses, said his lawyers have made numerous requests for him to attend the RCI to no avail.
"It is evident that I qualify as a '(person) in any way implicated or concerned in the matter under enquiry' under Section 18 of the Commission of Enquiry Act 1950.
"Despite this, I can only follow the proceedings through my meetings with lawyers at the Sungai Buloh prison," he added.
Anwar said it was unfair that witnesses could provide testimonies that were detrimental to his credibility while he had no avenue to defend himself.
"I will repeat my statements to the RCI if I am called to assist this investigation. I stress 'if' I am called," he added.
Putrajaya established the RCI to probe the forex losses in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which critics allege is an attempt to exact political revenge against former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and deflect attention from the 1MDB scandal.
On Monday, during its first day of the hearing, the six-member RCI concluded that the actual losses were RM31.5 billion and this was not reflected in Bank Negara's reports.
The RCI's chairperson Mohd Sidek Hassan said the commission must determine who wanted the figures concealed.
Meanwhile, former Bank Negara assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid, in his testimony, claimed that Anwar told him in 1994 he would need to resign as finance minister if the actual losses were made public.
In his statement today, Anwar denied this, calling it a “malicious insinuation” that he had implied on the need for a cover-up. - Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.