French Scorpene lawyer seeks Defence Ministry meeting in July

William Bourdon, the lawyer engaged by NGO Suaram to file a legal suit in France involving Malaysia's purchase of two Scorpene submarines, has indicated that he is willing to brief the new government about the case.

When contacted, Bourdon said his team of lawyers - who were previously barred from entering the country in 2011 after attending a Suaram event - would like to meet new Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu as soon as possible.

"We can come to Malaysia as soon as July, we would like the new government's assurance that we will no longer be barred from entering the country.

"We are prepared to brief the entire administration on the details and entirety of the case and update them on the status of the case in the Paris court.

"The briefing to the new Defence Ministry team is crucial as we had not been able to obtain any cooperation before from the Malaysian government," Bourdon told Malaysiakini in a telephone conversation.

Malaysiakini has contacted the defence minister and is awaiting a response.

It is learned that other than indicting political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda in July last year, the French courts are also planning to indict then-defence minister Najib Abdul Razak, who oversaw the purchase of the submarines from Thales and DCNS in 2002.

Suaram's civil suit, which was filed by director Kua Kia Soong and former director Cynthia Gabriel, had led to the indictment of several officers from the shipbuilder company for allegedly paying millions in kickbacks to Malaysian officials linked to the deal.

Active, efficient and constructive cooperation

In a statement today, Bourdon also expressed satisfaction that recent political changes can pave the way to a "more active, efficient and constructive cooperation" between Malaysia and France.

He said the will to investigate this sale, as expressed by the new Malaysian authorities, opens up doors to such cooperation. 

After taking office on Monday, Mohamad vowed to probe BN-era scandals in the Defence Ministry. He stressed, however, that this would be based on facts and not "hearsay."

Bourdon also confirmed he has received a mandate from Suaram to facilitate and foster this cooperation - which could involve not just information exchange, but the issuance of letters rogatory by French judges to Malaysia and vice versa.

Tesarasi probe

The lawyer told Malaysiakini that French judicial authorities faced a deadlock when they failed to cooperate with Hong Kong authorities to probe Hong Kong-based Terasasi - a company that allegedly received remunerations redistributed as kickbacks.

Terasasi, which allegedly received millions in “consultation fees,” is owned by Razak Baginda and his father.

"This absence of cooperation obstructed the identification of the beneficiaries of those potential kickbacks. 

"Within this context, it will belong to the new Malaysian authorities to obtain from Hong Kong what the French judicial authorities have requested in vain to this day," he added.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy reminded the government that other than the 1MDB scandal, it must also reopen the probe on the Scorpene submarine scandal that was unresolved during the regime of the outgoing prime minister. 

"It is high time for the ministry and the MACC to reopen its investigation into the allegation of corruption in the purchase of the two Scorpene submarines, and collaborate with its French counterpart to secure justice for Malaysia," he said in a statement today.

The Scorpene corruption scandal centres on the payment of €114 million (RM570 million) in kickbacks from Thales and DCNS to Malaysian officials, via Perimekar Sdn Bhd, for the purchase of two submarines by the Malaysian navy.

Perimekar was a company controlled by Razak Baginda. - Mkini