Who got the money that Abu Sayyaf didn’t?
It’s easier to believe that ransom was paid than to buy the story about RM12 million being given to charity.
V. Shuman, Free Malaysia Today
Malaysians are obviously relieved that four Sarawakian sailors have been freed from the clutches of Abu Sayyaf. However, many must be appalled by the farcical way in which the authorities have tried to explain matters pertaining to the ransom demanded by the militants.
We have heard various versions of what has happened to the RM12 million that the families of the four raised from well wishers and the sale of their own assets.
First came an announcement from the families that they had passed the money to the Special Branch in Sandakan and that it was to be paid to the kidnappers.
The police initially did little to counter the families’ version of the story, but subsequently decided to make a vehement denial that a ransom was paid. Police officials insisted that the militants were pressured into freeing their hostages following a barter trade ban imposed by Malaysia on the Southern Philippines.
Note that this flew in the face of assertions by negotiators and Filipino authorities who have dealt with Abu Sayyaf that it would never release its hostages without a ransom payment.
And then, yesterday, we heard an explanation from Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in his classic obscure style.
Zahid said the RM12 million was not paid to the kidnappers, but would be passed to “legally and religiously sanctioned” organisations and agencies in the Philippines. He said these organisations, the names of which he could not disclose, were involved in welfare and various other legal activities.
He explained that this was in line with the government’s “pay no ransom” policy. He denied that the money was still with the police. When pressed further, he said he would get the police to release details surrounding the case to the public in due time.
The government probably thinks it deserves a pat on the back for a so-called charitable act that benefits foreign organisations, forgetting that the money was not its own, but came from well-wishing taxpayers and the families of the hostages.
