Seeking support for Ops Scorpene fund raising dinner
Ops Scorpene is a fundraising and awareness campaign to further pursue the case in the French courts as a national issue. It seeks to instil interest amongst Malaysians to question arms spending and transparency in arms procurement of the country. Ops Scorpene aims to raise RM100,000 via events planned during the visit of the French lawyers to Malaysia.
For this, SUARAM will be organizing two events in Penang and Kuala Lumpur during the French lawyer’s visit in Malaysia and give a chance to ordinary citizens and Civil Society Organisations to grasp the facts of the scandal that has shaken the nation.
Other speakers including Cynthia Gabriel (SUARAM), Lim Kiat Siang (DAP), Tian Chua (PKR), and Mat Sabu (PAS).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5KIhPPnF0E
The following are the details about fundraising dinner in Penang:
Date: 21 July 2011 (Thursday)
Time: 8.00p.m.
Venue: Banquet Hall Function Room 2, Level 4, Sunshine Square Complex, Penang (Halal cuisine)
If you cannot make it for the dinner, we welcome donations. Please contact me if you wish to donate.
The following is for your reference:
Table class A — RM 5000
Table class B — RM 3000
Table class C — RM 2000
Table class D — RM 1000
Table class E — RM 500
For further enquiries, contact [email protected] or [email protected] or contact Ong Jing Cheng at 012-7583779. We thank you in anticipation for your involvement.
Background:
The submarine commission issue is not a single issue but the national issue with domino effect concerning all the Malaysians, about how money was spent on arms spending and the “rights to know” of our rakyat. Therefore, Suaram Penang would like to call upon a meeting with all the concerning group, to have a briefing and further discussion on this issue and we would like to seek for your assistance to make the event a success.
On the 5th June 2002, the Malaysian Government signed an agreement with French DCNS and Spainish Navantia for the procurement of two Scorpene class submarines. The procurement contract was through direct negotiation with the manufacturing companies, said to be with the service of Perimekar Sdn Bhd. Razak Baginda is the owner of Perimekar.
According to the Government explanation, the contract was divided into two parts:
1. Cost of two Scorpene submarines together with the package that covers Integrated Logistic Support and training amounted to Euro 969.15m (however on 14 May 2008, Najib told the Parliament that this part cost Euro 999.15)
2. Payment to Perimekar Sdn Bhd in the name of “coordination services” for a period of six years, the sum was Euro 114.96m.
On 23 December 2009, SUARAM through our networks in France linked up with leading human rights lawyers in France, to file a complaint with the French judicial system, with the hope that a preliminary investigation would be initiated. This was done to enable access to information, to the government contracts signed with PERIMEKAR and other information classified as government secrets in Malaysia.
In April 2010, the lawyers representing SUARAM, informed us that the courts had accepted the request to investigate the claim of corruption for a payment amounting to Euro 114 million made as commissions from DCNS to Perimekar.
The French, practising the Civil Law system where a judge assumes the role of an inquisitorial and investigative referee, has so far kept the findings of its investigations confidential.
Our lawyers however, have informed us that the investigation is coming to an end, and should move to full trial after it decides whether or not there is sufficient evidence to pursue the matter in open court.
Sincerely,
Ong Jing Cheng
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
Penang Branch Coordinator,
63B-01-07, University Heights,
Jalan Sungai Dua,
11700 Penang.
Tel / Fax: 04-6582285
E-mail: [email protected]
http://suarampg.blogspot.com/
