Archive for category Crime

Pakatan Harapan’s Challenge – Turn the crisis-ridden Malaysia into an opportunity to initiate fundamental political and socio-economic changes to transform Malaysia into a vibrant, progressive and forward-looking nation instead of heading in the direction of a failed state

Something has gone very wrong with Malaysia.

How did a country which was hailed as a model of Asian development and set to be one of the “Tiger” economies in the early nineties had so lost its way that it is today battling with a surfeit of negative developments and running the serious risk of becoming the “sick man of ASEAN” en route to become a failed state?

Three events illustrate that this Malaysian disease is reaching a terminal stage.

Firstly, there was yesterday’s charge of artist Bilqis Hijjas for dropping yellow balloons with the words “Justice”, “Democracy” and “Free Media” onto an event attended by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife.

This is a reflection of a government which is petty-minded and insular instead of being visionary and inclusive.

Why can’t Najib be charitable and big-hearted enough to laugh off the incident and forgive Bilqis, instead of being vengeful and vindictive, demanding his pound of flesh for Bilqis’ creative and patriotic infraction?

Better still, if Najib could have met up with Bilqis and assure her that he is as concerned as her and others with the goals of justice, democracy and free media! Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments

In loving memory of Kevin Morais

Jessica Sidhu
Malaysiakini
19 Sep 2015

Kevin Morais was a pure professional, highly ethical, very hardworking and humble. He possessed no ego of any form.

In his work he was very thorough, often asking as many questions as it required to understand every permutation completely.

He took his work as a prosecutor very seriously, often missing meals, and constantly suffered from red watery eyes from reading law through the night.

He gave his all to the cases he took on and sometimes when witnesses turned hostile or the case went awry for reasons beyond Kevin’s control, it affected him deeply. It hurt him to talk about those cases.

You see, Kevin was married to his work. He had no social life. He took on cases others left behind as if they were too complicated. His dedication to serve justice was uppermost in his mind. He endeavoured to make sense, get a thorough grasp so he could fight for justice. Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

Najib cannot remain silent or passive when Al Jazeera stands by its “Murder in Malaysia” documentary and Jolley calls for new probe by Malaysian police into fresh evidence in Altantuya murder case

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, cannot remain silent or passive when Al Jazeera stands by its “Murder in Malaysia” documentary and Al Jazeera reporter, Australian-based Mary Ann Jolley calls for new probe by Malaysian police into fresh evidence into the horrific Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.

A day after Al Jazeera Doha headquarters spokesperson said that the network stood by its 101 East current affairs programme “Murder in Malaysia” and denied any ulterior agenda apart from a “detailed and thorough report into a murder mystery that continues to have many unanswered questions” as well as reporting “new developments” relating to condemned convict Sirul Azhar Umar currently held in immigration detention centre in Sydney, Jolley has urged Malaysian police to investigate fresh evidence that she had uncovered and reported in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case amid a probe against her.

Jolley pointed out in a Malay Mail Online email interview that the text messages sent by former police commando Sirul – who was convicted together with Azila, another ex-police commando of killing the young Mongolian woman – to a man named Abdul Salam Ahmad on January 17 this year, in which he had asked for millions of dollars to “remain in Australia and not bring down the PM”, was not hearsay.

The first-hand account of a conversation between Sirul and his relative, in which Sirul alleged that Altantuya’s ex-lover Razak Baginda had shot her, was not hearsay either. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

Is there a conspiracy involving the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Attorney-General and Inspector-General of Police pretending not to understand the real nature of national and international concerns about the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has accused Al Jazeera’s 101 East current affairs programme “Murder in Malaysia” on the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu as part of an international conspiracy to topple him.

The Attorney General Tan Sri Mohamned Apandi Ali yesterday issued a statement declaring that Najib was never implicated during the course of the trial over Altantunya’s murder.

He said the murder trial was comprehensive with all relevant witnesses being called to testify.

He said: “Every piece of evidence and testimonies of witnesses were subjected subsequently to intense curial scrutiny by both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.”

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar meanwhile is on a war-path, vowing to investigate the Al Jazeera journalist Mary Ann Jolley under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code related to “statements with the intent to cause, or is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public” as well as her informants, although Khalid did not explain how the police is going to investigate the Australian-based journalist as she had been deported from Malaysia in June while carrying out investigations on her programme. Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

Najib must live with the reality that for the rest of his life, he will be haunted and hounded by the Altantunya Shaariibuu murder case so long as there is no full investigation to ferret out the motive and mastermind of the heinous killing

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak today played the role of a victim and complained that the revival of the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder is part of a foreign plot to topple him, similar to the toppling of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.

He pointed out that Saddam was ousted by the United States based on false claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

He said:

“Now look at Iraq today. They had no proof and yet they invaded the country.

“Now the Americans have regretted their actions and the Bush name can no longer be accepted.”

Najib is doing himself no service by likening himself to Saddam Hussein, as if claiming that he was being victimised in the same way that Bush Senior had victimised Saddam.

Is Najib suggesting that he is being victimised by Obama or his predecessor as US President, Bush Junior?

May be Najib should clarify and explain what he is trying to say. Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments

Why is the case of the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu so sensitive that Aljazeera’s current affairs programme 101 East Asia journalist Mary Ann Jolley had to be deported?

Why is the case of the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu so sensitive that Aljazeera’s current affairs programme 101 East Asia journalist, Mary Ann Jolley had to be deported when she was doing an investigative piece on her brutal murder?

Is investigative report into Altantuya’s murder strictly out-of-bounds in Malaysia for any journalist, print or online, local or foreign?

In response to Aljazeera’s investigative piece “Murder in Malaysia” on Altantunya’s murder, which was aired today, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement reiterating that “The Prime Minister did not know, has never met, has never had any communication with and has no link whatsoever with the deceased”.

Since Najib had strongly and repeatedly denied knowing or having met Altantuya, his story should be able to stand up to any scrutiny, whether by Aljazeera’s investigative reporter or even by a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Altantuya’s murder, as many questions remain unanswered in her murder, the most serious of which was that the motive of the murder had not been found as the two persons convicted of the brutal murder of Altantuya, former police commandoes Sirul Azhir Umar and Azila Hadri, had not met or known her before the murder. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments

Tony Pua, Rafizi Ramli and Tong Kooi Ong looking at criminal charges which may sent them to jail for up to 20 years

The police have said that DAP MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua, PKR MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli and Edge Media Group owner Tong Kooi Ong are being investigated under Section 124 of the Penal Code.
A senior police source has confirmed with Malaysiakini that the three are being probed for alleged activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy.

Pua, Rafizi and Tong are looking at criminal charges which may sent them to jail for up to 20 years.

The offences of “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” are new-fangled offences in Sections 124B to 124N introduced by the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2012 which was passed by Parliament in 2012, given the Royal Assent on 18th June 2012 and gazetted on 22nd June 2012. Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments

Seeking a meeting with Najib on establishment of Royal Commission of Truth and Reconciliation on the Low Yat Race Riot to ensure that there will be no recurrence of race riots because of petty crimes

I have written to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak seeking a meeting on the establishment of a Royal Commission of Truth and Reconciliation on Low Yat Race Riot to ensure that there will be no recurrence of race riots because of petty crime.

In my email to the Prime Minister, I also suggested that the terms of reference of the Royal Commission of Truth and Reconciliation on the Low Yat Race Riot should include the following seven items:

• How Malaysia can be a world model of a successful, united, peaceful and harmonious multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation;

• Whether the police could have acted pre-emptively to prevent the petty crime of mobile phone theft from being transformed into a race riot involving a few hundred people;
• The attack on journalists;

• The role of social media with Ministers blaming it as a main culprit of the Low Yat Mob Incident;

• Whether one major cause of the Low Yat riot was the incessant incitement of hatred as a result of irresponsible politics of race and religion in recent years.

• Whether the Low Yat Incident is proof of the failure of nation-building policies, particularly the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia signature policy and decades of Biro Tata Negara’s “racist” courses.

• A blueprint to ensure that there will be recurrence of race riots from petty crimes, which is particularly important for a plural society like Malaysia.

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

Not just Low Yat Plaza but whole of Malaysia is a time bomb if race hatred, religious intolerance, breakdown of rule of law and collapse of good governance not resolved urgently

Utusan Malaysia today said Low Yat Plaza is a ticking “time bomb” waiting to explode.

I say it is not just Low Yat Plaza but the whole of Malaysia is a time bomb waiting to explode if race hatred, religious tolerance, breakdown of rule of law and the collapse of good governance are not resolved urgently.

I fully agree with former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah who yesterday expressed the hope that everyone would bury the hatchet to strengthen the relationship among the different races in the country.

This is why I had called for a Royal Commission of Truth and Reconciliation on the Low Yat Race Riots last Sunday to ensure that there would be no recurrence of a petty crime of theft of a mobile phone mushrooming into a race riot involving hundreds of people.

Malaysia cannot continue to adopt the “sweeping under the carpet” mentality, which was why there had been no Commission of Inquiry into the May 13, 1969 race riots to learn from the disasters of our history to ensure an united, peaceful and better future for all Malaysians. Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments

The special task force into allegations of PM misconduct by Najib has zero credibility and legitimacy when DPM and Cabinet Ministers completely in the dark about its establishment, composition, terms of reference and latest change of Chairmanship

The special task force investigating into allegations of Prime Ministerial misconduct by Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in particular into Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report and allegation on July 3 that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) were deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013, shortly before the dissolution of Parliament on April 3, 2013 and the holding of 13th general elections has zero credibility and legitimacy.

How can the “special task force” have credibility and legitimacy when Cabinet Ministers, and even the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, do not know about its establishment, composition, terms of reference and the latest change of Chairmanship of the special task force?

Yesterday, former Attorney-General Tan Sri Abu Talib urged the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to disassociate himself from the special task force, saying this would help enhance public perception and integrity into the probe.

Abu Talib’s views were also shared by lawyers who said the top government lawyer should not be part of the investigation or else his office would not be seen as being independent.

Talib and the lawyers said Gani’s immediate disassociation from the task force would enhance public confidence and integrity over the three investigating bodies – police, MACC and Bank Negara – in executing their duties.

The principle of check and balance between investigation agencies and the public prosecutor must be observed to ensure justice to all parties, including the public.

Talib, who was A-G from 1980 and 1993, said it was not desirable for Gani, as the public prosecutor, to be a member of the task force. Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

Call for Royal Commission of Truth and Reconciliation on Low Yat Mob Incident headed by Rafidah Aziz to ensure that there will be no recurrence of race riots because of petty crimes

This is the fourth day of the Low Yat Mob Incident on Sunday, July 12, 2015 and situation is returning to normal.

The term of “Low Yat Incident” which is the official terminology for the rioting on Sunday, reminds me of May 13 Incident, the race riots which took place in Kuala Lumpur after the 1969 general election where official figures put the casualties as less than 200 although different unofficial figures were much higher, even as high as suggesting four-figure numbers.

In my first speech in Parliament in February 1971 when Parliament reconvened after a 20-month suspension, I had called for a Commission of Inquiry into the causes of the May 13 racial riots and to propose a blueprint to reconcile the different races and build a united Malaysian nation.

But this proposal was rejected and up to today, there had been conflicting, divergent and even fictitious accounts about the causes of the May 13 riots 46 years ago.

This “sweeping under the carpet” mentality is still at work, for after the refusal to have a Commission of Inquiry into the May 13, 1969 race riots, there was also no inquiry into the causes and the events of the race riots in Taman Medan 14 years ago in 2001.

This is most unsatisfactory and unacceptable. Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments

Call on Police to uphold law and order and on all Malaysians regardless of race and religion to be calm and unite against corruption and abuses of power

The Low Yat rampage in Kuala Lumpur is a stain on Malaysia’s reputation.

The Police have established that it was a simple case of theft.

This is clearly reported by the media, for example the New Straits Times, “Low Yat theft case solved, says police”, which stated:

“Police have solved a theft case at Low Yat Plaza in Bukit Bintang, here, which sparked a riot incident on Saturday.

“Police sources said the case was a clear-cut theft involving a 22-year-old suspect, who took away a cellular phone from a shop there without paying.

“’Investigation revealed that the man had stolen a phone, which led to him being arrested by public members. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

Call on IGP to re-open investigations into the murder of AmBank founder Hussein Najadi in broad daylight in centre of Kuala Lumpur on 29th July 2013 to ascertain whether it had any links with 1MDB scandal

The situation faced by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his government today is best described by the Chinese expression “草木皆兵” – which literally means “every bush and tree looks like an enemy soldier” where the Najib Government is so nervous, suspicious, insecure and panicky about its position that it is virtually “jumping at shadows”.

This is the reason for the Najib government’s foolish and myopic decision to sabotage and frustrate the holding of a meeting of progressive MPs and NGO representatives on the grave Wall Street Journal (WSJ) allegation against Najib for Prime Ministerial misconduct and the criminal offence of embezzlement, by refusing MPs the use of Bilik Taklimat and reneging on the Parliamentary administration’s earlier agreement for the use of the meeting room for the occasion.

As a result, progressive MPs and NGO representatives have to hold their meeting at the Parliament square, sitting on the ground – unheard of for the Malaysian Parliament as well as commonwealth and global Parliaments.

Why is the Najib administration so jumpy and panicky about the meeting of progressive MPs and NGO representatives on the WSJ allegation and Najib’s future that MPs have been locked out of Parliament Bilik Taklimat and forced to meet in the open at the Parliament square? What has the Najib government got to hide and to be so panicky about!

This is the fifth day of the grave WSJ allegation of Prime Ministerial misconduct in committing the criminal offence of embezzlement in its report last Friday that Malaysian investigators have found almost US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) of 1MDB’s funds deposited into Najib’s personal bank accounts, and Najib’s failure to categorically deny the WSJ allegation.

Malaysians are all asking why Najib finds it so coy or difficult to put to rest once and for all the WSJ allegation of Prime Ministerial misconduct and the grave offence of embezzlement, when all he needs to do is to categorically deny that he ever had personal accounts in his name in AmBank or that some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) had been deposited into his bank accounts in 2013. Read the rest of this entry »

13 Comments

Malaysian Leader Faces Risk of Criminal Charges Over Fund

by The New York Times,
Associated Press
July 5, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s prime minister is facing the risk of criminal charges over allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars were funneled from an indebted state fund to his personal bank accounts, the first time a Malaysian leader has faced criminal allegations.

The country’s attorney general confirmed late Saturday that he had received documents from an official investigation that made the link between Prime Minister Najib Razak and the investment fund 1MDB. The existence of the documents was first reported by The Wall Street Journal’s Asia edition on Friday, showing some $700 million were wired from entities linked to the fund into Najib’s accounts.

The documents sent to the attorney general pave the way for possible criminal charges.

It is one of the worst political crises for Najib, who has come under increasing criticism over his leadership.

Najib, who has denied taking any money for personal gains, said Sunday that he would consult with his lawyers to decide his next course of action on the “malicious accusations” against him. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments

Meeting of progressive MPs in Parliament at noon tomorrow provides ideal platform for Najib to clear himself of WSJ allegation of embezzlement – and the Prime Minister is most welcome

The meeting of progressive Members of Parliament in Parliament at noon tomorrow provides an ideal platform for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to clear himself of the Wall Street Journal allegation of embezzlement – and Najib is most welcome to make use of the platform.

Progressive MPs are meeting in Parliament tomorrow on the theme “Quo Vadis Malaysia with a Prime Minister accused of embezzlement” because responsible and patriotic MPs are most disturbed and shocked by the Wall Street Journal report last Friday that Malaysian investigators have found almost US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) of 1MDB’s funds have been deposited into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

The Wall Street Journal allegation has shaken Malaysian body politics to its very core for two reasons:

• No categorical denial by the Prime Minister of the existence of such personal bank accounts or the deposit of some US$700 million (RM2.6 million) funds into the personal bank accounts in the past three days in an information era which operates on 24/7 basis;

• Confirmation by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail that he has viewed documents collected by a government special task force quartet comprising Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) relating to the alleged transfer of 1MDB funds into Najib’s bank accounts.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

Has Gani Patail joined Mahathir’s camp in the “political sabotage” of Najib when the AG confirmed that government probe on 1MDB had found documentary evidence on the RM2.6 billion deposit into Najib’s private account?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak blamed his predecessor and one-time patron, Tun Dr. Mahathir of being the “mastermind” for the latest allegation of him siphoning money from 1MDB.

Najib said he believe that Mahathir, “working hand in glove with foreign nationals, including the now discredited political attack blog Sarawak Report, is behind the latest lie”.

The Prime Minister made this accusation in reference to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report on Friday which alleged that US$700 million (RM2.6 million) of 1MDB’s fund was deposited into the Prime Minister’s private account.

Najib declared that he had never taken the government’s money for personal gain.

He said the latest allegation is part of a series of “unsubstantiated and many simply outrageous” claims made against him and his family when he refused to implement Mahathir’s personal demands.

Najib said: “I refused, because I do not believe it is right for Malaysia to be ruled by proxy.”

Nobody knows what Najib is actually referring to with regard to Mahathir’s personal agenda, as it is for him to spell out Mahathir’s “personal demands” for the public to judge whether to believe the Prime Minister or the former Prime Minister.

However, I am not the only one in Malaysia who, in the last five years, had been bamboozled and bewildered by one of the longest and elaborate “smoke and mirrors” displays in the nation’s history – the RM42 billion MDB financial scandal. Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments

As Najib has admitted in FAQ to a direct interest in Altantuya case, he should withdraw from all decision-making whether there should be a RCI into Altantuya’s murder to avoid conflict of interest

(Scroll down for BM version of this statement / Terjemahan BM di bawah)

What has not attracted sufficient notice in the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s FAQ on the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case is that it was a clear admission that he has a direct interest in the case, although it was couched in the language of denial, denying that he had anything to do with the issue and his Sumpah Laknat.

His direct interest in the nine-year Altantuya case was in Paragraph 3 of the FAQ on Altantuya issue, where he said:

“What is important is that the judgment brings justice to everyone, most importantly to the family of the victim, to the accused and even to me.”

Now the nine-year Altantuya case, which concluded in the Federal Court in January with the conviction and death sentence passed on the two accused, former police special commandoes, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar is the subject of increasing public controversy both nationally and internationally because it had failed to deliver justice to everyone as well as to the family of the victim, the two convicted accused and even to Najib himself. Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

Which one of Najib’s highly-paid consultants was responsible for the most contrived, damaging and tell-tale statement in the Prime Minister’s FAQ admitting that there is serious public perception that Najib is implicated in the Altantunya murder?

(Scroll down for BM version of this statement / Terjemahan BM di bawah)

I do not think I am the only one mulling over the statement in the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s FAQ on his blog with regard to “Allegations regarding the Altantuya issue”, as the more one thinks about it, the more one is astounded by it.

Which one of Najib’s highly-paid consultants was responsible for the most contrived, damaging and tell-tale statement in his FAQ admitting that there is serious public perception that the Prime Minister is implicated in the murder of the Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu nine years ago.

This is the statement I am referring to:

“What is important is that the judgment brings justice to everyone, most importantly to the family of the victim, to the accused and even to me.”

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

Najib naïve to think that his FAQ would put to rest the queries about the motives for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is very naïve to think that his FAQ on his blog would put to rest queries about the motives for the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu nine years ago.

It would in fact have the opposite effect – firing up anew questions why there had been a “conspiracy of silence” in the past nine years by the relevant authorities and persons involved to avoid inquiring as to the motives for Altantunya’s murder.

The contention in Najib’s FAQ on Altantunya’s murder that the nine-year-old case had been “investigated, tried and concluded in the Federal Court” and two persons had been found guilty of the crime of carrying out the heinous deed of killing Altantunya can be no acceptable arguments as to why there should not now be a full-scale inquiry into two public interest questions:

• Who ordered Altantuya to be killed; and

• Whether there had been a nine-year “conspiracy of silence” involving the Police, the Attorney-General and the judiciary as well as others to avoid probing into the motives for the killing of Altantuya.

Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments

Is criticising Putrajaya more serious crime than kiddie porn, ask student activists

by Diyana Ibrahim
The Malaysian Insider
6 May 2015

Majlis Amanah Rakyat’s (Mara) decision to give a “second chance” to child porn convict Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin gives the impression that sexual crimes are less serious than criticising Putrajaya, said two student activists.

The duo, who had disciplinary action taken against them by their respective universities, said students who disagreed with the government faced suspension or expulsion from their institutions of higher learning.

Adam Adli Abdul Halim said Mara’s proposal was unfair because the same opportunity was not given to undergraduates fighting for their rights and vocal in defending democracy. Read the rest of this entry »

6 Comments