NGOs say Suaram misrepresented itself as plaintiff in Scorpene inquiry
(From left) Dzulkarnain, Mohd Mustaffa Hamzah (Muslims Consumers Association of Malaysia), Sharifuddin Abdul Hamid (Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia) and Shahbudin Embun (Malays Consultative Council) at the press conference in Kuala Lumpur October 11, 2012. — Picture by Choo Choy May
Ida Lim, The Malaysian Insider
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) had misrepresented itself as a plaintiff to a French inquiry of the multi-billion Scorpene submarine deal, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) alleged today.
“We view the claim that SUARAM has been accepted or recognised as ‘civil party’ (plaintiff) as a biggest lie in the country’s political history…” Dzulkarnain Taib, president of the Young Journalists Club, said at a press conference today.
“This means that the case by Suaram in relation to Scorpene has been thrown out by the French court since March 2012,” he claimed.
Dzulkarnain pointed to a court document dated March 13 this year, signed by the French judiciary, purportedly rejecting SUARAM as plaintiff for the Scorpene inquiry as proof.
He claimed that SUARAM’s lawyers had applied for the human rights watchdog to be made a “joint civil party” (joint plaintiff) together with the International Federation for Human Rights, based on a court document dated March 16 this year.
But Dzulkarnain said the French judiciary have yet to decide on whether to allow SUARAM to be a joint plaintiff over the inquiry into the Scorpene deal.
He declined to show the two court documents to reporters, saying that it will be revealed at an “opportune time”.
He gave the court reference number for the documents instead, with the first being “No du Parquet:1115196025 and No Instruction: 2292/12/4” and the second being “No Parquet: 1115106025 and No Instruction: 20F/11/52”.
Other NGOs present at the press conference include the Muslims Consumers Association of Malaysia, Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia and Malays Consultative Council.
