Bala surfaces in London and Paris
Interestingly, one of the people who ‘persuaded’ Bala to release SD2 was the younger brother of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who during a meeting near The Curve in Damansara said, “If you love your family, just follow what Deepak (Jaikishan) tells you to do.”
Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysian Mirror
WHEN something threatens to become public, and the people in power have no desire for you to know the details, an official investigation is arranged. This way, a good old-fashioned whitewash supported by selected facts is guaranteed. Meanwhile, the truth is obscured.
When private investigator P Balasubramaniam (Bala) discovered that his testimony as a witness in Altantuya’s murder was not revealed, and evidence was suppressed by both the police and the prosecution, he felt it his public duty to make a statutory declaration (SD1).
He reasoned that if people were to judge truth from lies, in an objective manner, then access to the facts would be crucial. If the whole truth were not to be given during an official inquiry, the findings only amount to a whitewash that robs the public of their chance to determine what really transpired.
So when it appeared that Bala was not going to keep silent, behind-the-scenes activity resulted in Bala retracting his statutory declaration. The day after, he issued a sanitised version of SD1. This second statutory declaration (SD2) omitted all references to the deputy prime minister and defence minister at the time, Najib Abdul Razak.
Did Bala receive RM5 million?
Interestingly, one of the people who ‘persuaded’ Bala to release SD2 was the younger brother of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who during a meeting near The Curve in Damansara said, “If you love your family, just follow what Deepak (Jaikishan) tells you to do.”
Deepak is a carpet salesman and a good friend of Malaysia’s “First Lady”.
Another extraordinary point was that when Deepak promised Bala RM5 million to guarantee both his family’s safety and his silence, it is also alleged that ASP Suresh, who was to facilitate matters for Bala, was offered RM4-million to act as the middleman.
The press conference in London, on 7th July 2010, held by Bala and his team of lawyers, was supposed to be a platform to discuss issues raised during a scheduled interview of Bala by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). When the MACC cancelled at the last minute, their non-appearance generated more questions than answers.
According to the lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon, “What we intended to do if MACC had turned up in London, was for Balasubramaniam to highlight a whole series of events surrounding this Altantuya matter that pointed to the centre of a conspiracy web. A conspiracy at the very highest level to keep out all references to Najib.”
Bala’s interview with the MACC, which was to have taken place on 5 and 6 July 2010, would have focused on the two SDs and the payment made to Bala to withdraw SD1.
Bala believes his former client, Abdul Razak Baginda, to be innocent of Altantuya’s murder. He said, “Abdul Razak Baginda is a scapegoat. He has got nothing to do with the murder. Yes, he was financing her and he had a relationship with her, but as far as I am concerned, he is innocent. In fact, my testimony in court saved him.”
He reasoned that if Abdul Razak Baginda hired him until 26 October, 2006, then he can’t have known that Shaariibuu would be murdered on the night of 19 October 2006.
This is a naïve assumption. What if Abdul Razak Baginda is smarter than we imagine? What is a week’s fees if all semblance of innocence can be preserved? That would be the perfect cover and a good decoy. Bala says that Abdul Razak Baginda is a coward and that he lied in his (Baginda’s) earlier press conference, soon after his release.
