Court finds duo guilty, arrest warrant for Sirul

 

LIVE REPORTS

10.20am: Kamarul Hisham, the lawyer who represents Sirul, confirms that he has lost contact with his client for six months.

"The last time I was contacted by my client was probably a week after the hearing in the Federal Court (from June 23 to June 25, 2014), after that (I couldn't) contact (Sirul)," he says.

"I have absolutely no idea where he is.

"From the last contact I had with him, I have absolutely no basis to say he acted strangely; I have reason to believe he will turn up for today's (verdict)," he adds.

He would also rather not use the stronger worded "disappeared" to describe the current situation with Sirul, but instead explained that Sirul is not around because he failed to receive notice to be present in court.

10.15am: In an immediate reaction, prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid says: "There is nothing much to say except we are glad it is over and our hard work has paid off."

10.02am: Azilah is seen discussing with his lawyers, Hazman Ahmad and J Kuldeep Kumar.

He hugs lawyer Kamarul Hisham (right) before being led by the police to prison through the side entrance of the courtroom.

10.01am: Azilah, wearing a dark suit, is spotted shaking hands with Tun Abdul Majid, who had been on his way out after the decision.

He also hugged his lawyers, who look visibly saddened by the outcome and offered him comforting words, before Azilah is led by police out from the court a few minutes later.

While Azilah mostly shown his back to the public gallery, only can see noticed he looked expressionless from at one or two glimpse.

10am: Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid says the court will issue an arrest warrant for Sirul.

Azilah appeared tense throughout the 30 minutes when the verdict was being read.

9.56am: Justice Suriyadi says the respondents had failed to cast reasonable doubt on the prosecution's case.

"The prosecution has successfully proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court orders the Court of Appeal ruling be set aside and restore the death sentence," he says in allowing the prosecution's appeal.

Azilah looks expressionless on hearing the verdict. Tun Majid asks for a warrant of arrest to be issued for Sirul.

Justice Arifin agrees to issue warrant of arrest.

9.52am: Justice Suriyadi says Azilah did not deny his presence at Hotel Malaya - the hotel where victim Altantuya Shaariibuu stayed.

He says Azilah's girlfriend was the last to see Altantuya alive when she left them (Azilah, Sirul and Altantuya).

"There is irresistible conclusion that Sirul retrieved the jewellery from Altantuya. Whether he took it prior to the killing or after is irrelevant."

"The first respondent (Azilah) was with the second respondent (Sirul) in Puncak Alam. They must have been there and also managed to pinpoint the scene of the crime," he says.

We are satisfied the prosecution has managed to prove common intention.

"The defence of alibi is unsustainable," declares the judge.

9.48am: Justice Suriyadi says there is not much detail which DSP Musa Safri, then aide of deputy prime minister Najib Razak, could produce.

"We observe Musa never instructed the first respondent (Azilah) how to assist Abdul Razak. The non-calling of Musa has not caused unfairness to the defendant," he rules.

9.45am: Justice Suriyadi now refers to the jewellery found in Sirul's house.

He says Sirul led ASP Zulkarnain to his house and used the key to open the padlock.

"While taking the said jacket, the accused said he kept the jewellery in the jacket.

"A pair of earrings (and) a watch was retrieved. When the police officer asked whether these were the items seized (from the deceased), Sirul admitted they were," he says.

9.43am: Justice Suriyadi reads out the police officers' evidence about Azilah leading them to the scene of the crime.

"We are satisfied the police did not know the scene of the crime. They went separately and independently.

"The second respondent (Sirul) had agreed to show the scene and the second respondent had led the police to the same scene," he says.

The accused are police officers of an elite unit, and they could not be easily intimidated when being interrogated, says the judge.

9.40am: Justice Suriyadi rules the calls are admissible and Azilah's defence as a mere denial.

9.35am: Justice Suriyadi says there are calls made by Azilah from Kampung Subang as well as Puncak Alam.

The judge scrutinises the phone calls further. He says the calls made at 11.16pm on Oct 19 at Puncak Alam, affirmatively confirmed the prosecution's case.

"From the analysis of information, none of the calls made were from Wangsa Maju or Bukit Aman at that time (Azilah's alibi).

"The respondent (Azilah) could not be at any places other than Puncak Alam."

9.33am: Justice Suriyadi says although the notice of alibi is made, it is not sufficient until the prosecution has successfully produced a prima facie case.

"Azilah says he was not at Puncak Alam."

There is a record that Azilah retrieved a Glock pistol from Bukit Aman. He says only the maker of the entry (in the police armoury) can verify this.

Now he goes on Azilah's phone data.

9.30am: Justice Suriyadi notes Abdul Razak was acquitted but the two accused were convicted of murder.

However, they were later acquitted by the Court of Appeal.

He then spells out the alleged errors mentioned by the three-member Court of Appeal panel.

9.25am: Delivering the verdict, Justice Suriyadi reads the background of the case, saying that Abdul Razak Baginda was charged with abetment.

He says Azilah had sent a notice of alibi.

"This piece of evidence was produced at the prosecution's stage and the station diary was also produced. The entry to the station diary was marked."

9.22am: Despite Sirul's absence, Justice Suriyadi begins reading his 88-page judgment on behalf of the five-member Federal Court panel. He says he will read only the relevant parts.

9.20am: Azilah walks to the front the dock.

Prosecutor Tun Majid informs the judges that the court notice to Sirul could not be served to the second accused.

9:19am: Court buzzer sounds. The five-member Federal Court panel headed by chief justice Arifin Zakaria walks into the courtroom.

This is the panel hearing the prosecution's appeal. Still no sign of Sirul.

9.15am: Sirul's lawyers are looking around the courtroom trying to find their client. However, there is no sign of the second accused.

9.04am: Head of the prosecution team, deputy solicitor-general I Tun Abdul Majib Tun Hamzah is also in court.

Some reporters who arrived late are standing in the public gallery as the courtroom is already full.

8.58am: One of Sirul's three lawyers, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, enters the courtroom. The public gallery is already filled to the brim.

There is still no sign of Sirul's family members or the accused.

8.55am: Some 20 journalists and photographers are waiting outside the courtroom, hoping to get pictures of the two accused, whose faces have been carefully concealed since day one of the murder trial.

Lawyers J Kuldeep Kumar, Hasman Ahmad and DPP Manoj Kurop are seen having a chat outside the courtroom, near a side staircase.

8.50am: One of the two accused, Azilah Hadri, enters the courtroom from the side court entrance wearing a black jacket, white long sleeve shirt and a blue tie.

There is no sign of the other accused, Sirul Azhar Umar, yet.

8.45am: Ahmad Zaidi Zainal, who is lawyer for second accused Sirul Azhar Umar, walks into the courtroom.

The public gallery is filled with journalists but there is no sign of family members of the accused.

8.38am: Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) P Manoj Kurup and lawyer J Kuldeep Kumar for Azilah have just arrived.

A group of journalists for the foreign media is in court to cover the decision.

8:20am: Azilah Hadri's lawyer Hazman Ahmad enters the court room. No sign of the accused yet.

8.15am: The verdict will be delivered at Federal Court 1. It is understood besides the Altantuya Shaariibuu decision, there is another decision to be delivered by the apex court bench on a civil matter.

7.45am: A five-member bench will today deliver its verdict on two members of the police Special Action Unit (UTK) members, chief inspector Azilah Hadri and corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, charged with the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu.
                                  
The panel headed by Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria, will deliver its verdict on whether to allow the prosecution's appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision in August 2013 to acquit the two.

Sitting with the country's top judicial officer on the bench are Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Justice Richard Malanjum, and Federal Court judges Abdull Hamid Embong, Ahmad Maarop and Suriyadi Halim Omar.

Azilah and Sirul were jointly charged with murdering the Mongolian translator between 10pm on Oct 19, and 1am on Oct 20, 2006 at a jungle clearing in Puncak Alam near Shah Alam.

A military-grade C4 explosive was used to kill Altantuya (right), where evidence showed she was shot first and her remains blasted.

Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, who admitted having an affair with Altantuya, was also charged at the Kuala Lumpur High Court with abetting to murder Altantuya.

However, the former close confidante to then Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was acquitted without his defence called.

The two UTK officers were found guilty of murdering the Mongolian by Shah Alam High Court judge Justice Mohd Zaki Yasin, who subsequently handed down the mandatory death sentence.

However, on appeal, the three-member appellate court acquitted the two based on several misdirection by the High Court judge, which were listed by Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat in an unanimous decision.

Both accused were members of the security detail of then deputy prime minister Najib, and the appellate court said among the material witnesses not called to testify included Najib's aide de camp DSP Musa Safri.

However, this controversial murder case may not end as Altantuya's father, Shaariibuu Setev (left), has also filed a civil suit against the Malaysian government.

The prosecution is headed by deputy solicitor-general I Tun Abdul Majib Tun Hamzah and DPP Manoj Kurup, who is head of the Appeals and Trials division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Lawyers Hazman Ahmad and J Kuldeep Kumar appear for Azilah while Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, Hasnal Rezua Merican and Ahmad Zaidi Zainal are representing Sirul.

Malaysiakini is covering the verdict live.

Minister vs ex-minister over 'Taliban' M’sia

 

In a tweet for tat, an Umno minister and a former Umno minister have offered different takes on whether Malaysia is a Taliban state.

The issue was sparked off by Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) executive director Eric Paulsen, who in a tweet, accused the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) of sowing seeds of extremism.

Paulsen was arrested last night and is being investigated under the Sedition Act.

Urban Wellbeing Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan said if the accusation was true, Malaysia would be a Taliban nation right now.

In a series of tweets today, he pointed out that Malaysia had 2,652 Friday sermons to date, and no Muslim has ever turned violent after listening to them.

“But if we are not careful, a lot would (turn violent) after listening to Paulsen’s sermon,” he said on a sarcastic note.

Although the minister did not name the state, it was an obvious reference to the Pakatan Rakyat-controlled Selangor.

LFL was co-founded by PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya and PKR's Padang Serai MP N Surendran.

Meanwhile, former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim had a different take, and roped in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak into the issue as well.

“Malaysia (is) already a Taliban country, and the sermons referred to by Paulsen all started during Najib’s rule,” he tweeted.

The former Umno lawmaker also suggested that Abdul Rahman and others propose a motion that Malaysia is not a Taliban nation.

“I (would) like to oppose that motion,” he said.

Paulsen (left) has been remanded until tomorrow to facilitate investigations and Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar has warned all parties not to politicise the arrest.

“It is a lawful arrest, made to ensure harmony in this multiracial society.

“I would like to warn certain parties not to politicise or manipulate the issue of the arrest until it can affect public security,” he said.

Najib, ex-aide to be called for Setev’s suit

Lawyer Ramkarpal said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his former aide de camp DSP Musa Safri are potential witnesses to be called in the civil suit filed by Setev Shaariibuu.

Ramkarpal, who has been elected as Bukit Gelugor MP following the sudden death of his father Karpal Singh, said his firm will write to the High Court in Shah Alam tomorrow.

"We will be asking for an early case management date following today's decision on the two accused of Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder.

"The civil suit (against the government) could not go on pending this criminal trial. Following the judgment of the Federal Court today, we will ask for a hearing date," Ramkarpal (left) told Malaysiakini when contacted.

"Najib and Musa are certainly potential witnesses to be called," he added.

Karpal, who originally respresented Setev, said when commenting on the acquittal of Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar by the High Court in Shah Alam, that his client intended to call Najib and Musa as witnesses.

Citing the United States case of former American football star, OJ Simpson, who was acquitted of murdering his wife, Karpal in commenting on the acquittal of the two UTK officers said the civil suit against Simpson found him liable of the offence.

Setev filed a RM100 million suit against the government following his daughter's death.

The Federal Court, which is the highest in the country, today convicted Azilah and Sirul of Altantuya's murder, overturning their August 2013 acquittal by the Court of Appeal.

The Federal Court ruled that the phone calls Azilah made that fateful night, along with the jewellery of Altantuya found in Sirul's jacket, had proven the prosecution's case beyond reasoanable doubt.

 

Isma warns of 'ultra liberals' igniting discord

 

Ultra liberal elements in this nation are fanning the flames of discord with their excessiveness, warned the conservative NGO Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma).

Its president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman also described the arrest of lawyer Eric Paulsen under the Sedition Act as a lesson for the ultra liberals who accuse Islamists as extremists.

“What they have done is a crime of sedition which can divide the nation and threaten harmony,” he added in a statement.

Ironically, the right-wing movement itself has often been accused of churning out divisive and incendiary remarks, while Abdullah himself has been charged with sedition.

Blaming the “liberal media” for this, he said attacks against Isma had intensified over the last two weeks with the movement accused of being extreme and fanatical.

“Describing the struggle to defend Islam, the position of the Malays and bumiputera and Malay unity from a foreign agenda as extreme is a hate-filled slander which is dangerous,” he warned.

He said due to their excessiveness, these ultra liberals go overboard and behave aggressively.

Abdullah said the liberals would work with media organisations that share a similar agenda to incite the people to hate each other to the point that one might act beyond the ambit of the law.

“This means, they have abused their freedom of expression to carry out provocative, slanderous and seditious actions,” he added.

Abdullah also said that Islam is not an extreme religion.

Paulsen (left) was arrested last night over his tweet that the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) was promoting extremism.

The Lawyers for Liberty executive director has been remanded until tomorrow to facilitate investigations.

Charlie Hebdo Prints Magazine Cover With Prophet Mohammed As Millions Of Copies Published

By Jessica Elgot

The Prophet Mohammed, with a tear in his eye, is on the front cover of the first Charlie Hebdo edition published since Islamic extremists killed 12 people at the satirical magazine's offices in Paris.

French newspaper Libération published the Charlie Hebdo cover online late Monday night, ahead of the satirical magazine's sale on Wednesday. The cartoon shows a bearded man in a white turban, ostensibly the Prophet, with a tear streaming down his cheek, and holding a sign reading "Je suis Charlie". Overhead is the phrase: "Tout est Pardonne" - "All is Forgiven".

Many newspapers in Europe and the United States have chosen to publish the magazine's front cover, though only the Independent in Britain chose to print it. Speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme, London Mayor Boris Johnson said that the magazine had "no choice" but to publish a cartoon of the Muslim prophet.

But one of the magazine's columnists, Zineb El Rhazoui, who was on holiday in Morocco during the attack, said that the team did not feel obliged to use such a cartoon while they were putting the issue together. "It wasn't necessary, no, it was important though," she said.

The cover was announced with a flourish in their temporary newsroom at the headquarters of Libération. One of the magazine's senior editors Gérard Biard, told the New York Times: “We asked ourselves: ‘What do we want to say? What should we say? And in what way?’ About the subject, unfortunately, we had no doubt.

“We don’t know how to do anything but laugh. We decided that we would do a normal edition, not a memorial issue. They killed people who drew cartoon characters. That’s it. That’s all these guys do."

Several staff members are still seriously ill in hospital. Simon Fieschi, the magazine's social media and web editor, is in a medically induced coma following surgery after a bullet ricocheted off his spinal vertebrae and perforated one of his lungs. Fabrice Nicolino, an environmental reporter for the weekly, has had to have part of his legs amputated, and Philippe Lançon, the TV columnist, was shot in the face but is expected to pull through. Cartoonist Laurent Sourriseau, known as Riss, was shot in the shoulder and is still recovering.

The publication of the magazine, in such dire circumstances, has been described as a victory for free expression.

Muhyiddin’s ‘no extremism’ another boo boo . . .

Lim Kit Siang says the DPM should be careful with his statements and speeches.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s faux pas claiming that extremism had never existed among Muslims in Malaysia is in the same class as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s faux pas praising and glorifying Islamic State terrorism last June, said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang in a statement.

“Muhyiddin’s latest faux pas joins the DPM’s host of infamous “quotes” like “I am Malay first, Malaysian second” and “Malaysian youngsters are receiving better education than children in the United States, Britain and Germany”.”

Lim, who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP, didn’t mention Muhyiddin also claiming that “Malaysia had the best civil service in the world” and remaining silent when the EC claimed that the “electoral rolls were the cleanest in the world”.

If there are no extremists among Muslims in Malaysia, how come the Bukit Aman Special Counter Terrorism Division had arrested 51 persons suspected of being Malaysian militants?

That’s what Lim wants to know from Muhyiddin.

Lim has more questions:

Furthermore, why have the number of Muslim Malaysians fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria gone up from 39 to 59 since October?

And why have Muslim Malaysians even gone to the extent of taking personal loans from banks and money-lenders to pay for their passage to Syria to join the Islamic State and to fund their living expenses there, knowing that repayment of their loans was very slim?

Why have at least six Muslim Malaysians died in Iraq and Syria fighting for the Islamic State?

Is Muhyiddin also suggesting that Najib’s Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) has no relevance, role or importance to Malaysia but only for the rest of the world?

The fact is that there are extremists among all races and religions, whether in Malaysia or in the international arena . . . people who are so bigoted with racial and religious hatred and intolerance that they pose serious threats to the future of Malaysia and even the world, added Lim.

“This is why moderates in Malaysia, regardless of race, religion, region or politics, must stand united on this one common issue, to forge the unity of the moderates to save the country from the bigots and extremists and ensure that the majority voices of moderation, inclusion, tolerance and harmony drown out the voices and rhetoric of extremism, hatred and disharmony.”

Rule of law and the administration of justice in Malaysia

Lim warned Muhyiddin to be careful with his statements and speeches, for his call for “stern action” to be taken against Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) executive director Eric Paulsen was followed up by swift police action the same night, involving about 20 police personnel arresting him under the Sedition Act for his tweet accusing the Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) of promoting extremism.

Was it necessary for the police to stage such a major show of force, when Paulsen had agreed on Monday to be in Bukit Aman to co-operate with police investigations?

“Paulsen’s arrest under the Sedition Act has only highlighted the selectivity of law enforcement, from selective police investigations to the Attorney-General’s selective prosecutions, which have given Malaysia a bad name in the world with regard to the rule of law and the administration of justice in Malaysia,” said Lim.

Guan Eng challenges IGP to arrest Mashitah, Ibrahim Ali

Double standards . . . Eric Paulsen held under the Sedition Act but Mashitah and Ibrahim Ali left free.

FMT

GEORGE TOWN: The DAP Secretary-General is taking issue with Inspector-General of Police(IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar warning certain parties not to manipulate or “politicize” the sudden arrest last night of activist lawyer Eric Paulsen under the Sedition Act, which he claimed was lawful based on a tweet Paulsen made last week.

“Khalid said that Eric’s arrest was lawful, made to ensure harmony in this multiracial society,” said Lim who is also Bagan MP and Penang Chief Minister.

“DAP challenges BN and Khalid to prove that they do not practice double-standards, and are committed towards maintaining harmony in multiracial Malaysia, by arresting former Deputy Minister and Wanita Umno leader Dr. Mashitah Ibrahim for her inflammatory lies during the Umno General Assembly that the Chinese community in Kedah had burned the Quran in a prayer ritual, and Perkasa President Ibrahim Ali for threatening to burn the Malay and Iban versions of the Bible.”

Lim has questions for both BN and the IGP.

Can the IGP explain why no such arrests were made against both Mashitah and Ibrahim Ali?

By failing to act, isn’t both the IGP and BN giving the unfortunate impression that there is nothing unlawful to make malicious and evil lies against the Chinese community in Kedah or call for the burning of the Malay and Iban versions of the Bible?

“What is most disturbing is Mashitah’s lies were raised in an inflammatory and provocative manner in falsely claiming that the Chinese community in Kuala Kedah had burned the Quran, page by page during a prayer ritual,” said Lim. “The Kedah Menteri Besar had denied this in an earlier statement before her Umno speech.”

“The Kedah Menteri Besar had said the Quran was not burnt but torn by a Malay Muslim who was mentally unbalanced and sent to hospital for treatment.”

There was no plea for forgiveness by Mashitah for causing religious disharmony and racial discord in falsely blaming the Chinese community and neither was there any action taken by the police despite numerous reports being lodged against her, lamented Lim. “Can the IGP explain why Mashitah and Ibrahim Ali can escape punishment?”

Clearly there are double-standards and abuse of power practiced by both BN and the IGP when it involves those who support BN against PR, pointed out Lim.

“Their failure to act impartially and fairly gives rise to suspicion that the BN is trying to distract attention from the failure of the Federal Government to deal effectively with the recent floods, the worst in living memory, and the numerous scandals such as 1MDB and trillions of ringgit lost to illicit funds and corruption.”

‘I must be damned powerful’, Marina says of varsity ban

A local university has banned social activist Marina Mahathir from speaking at their campus.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Social activist Marina Mahathir has shrugged off the decision of a local university to ban her from speaking to its students at their campus, saying it must be because she is a “powerful” public figure.

Keeping the name of the university under wraps, Marina took to Facebook and announced the ban, saying, “Well, well, well….got invited by students from a public university and (what a surprise!) the same thing happened.”

She was referring to being banned for the fifth time by a local university and said, “That makes it the fifth time I’ve been ‘banned’ from a public university. I must be damned powerful.”

Marina was told that the Student Affairs Department at the university were “strict” about the ban as all public institutions of higher learning had taken the same approach.

Sounding upbeat all the same, Marina said, “It’s OK. Tomorrow I’m going to speak at a private college. And the students from the public university who had to cancel my invitation have a standing invitation from me to come and have a chat anytime.”

Last year, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was banned from speaking at Universiti Malaya, a ban he chose to defy that resulted in the students who organised it, getting suspended and fined.

How to end ‘insult to Islam’ claims

If someone screams “insult to Islam”, the media should take out the Quran and ask him to point out the verse that supports his claim.

FMT

It can be said at the very outset that there’s only Islam and no such thing as the “real Islam” or “political Islam” or any other Islam. As the late Ayatollah Khomeini said: “The Quran, not a word more, not a word less.”

It’s said that the Charlie Hebdo cartoon, swearing by the right to free speech, had a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad lamenting, “Why are so many of my people extremists?” Three individuals apparently decided that this, and caricaturing the Prophet, was “an insult to the Prophet” and allegedly went on a murderous rampage there instead of taking advice on what remedies were available for them within the French system.

Probably, the system does not allow for any remedies because none are possible in a society that thrives on individualism to nurture inventiveness, innovation and creativity. The copycat culture is one that’s frowned on even if made more palatable by using the euphemism “reverse engineering”.

One issue with Muslims in the west is the right to free speech, one of the many sacred cows in western civilization. Westerners believe in defending someone’s right to free speech even if they disagree with what is being said. Those who can’t reconcile themselves with this mindset obviously cannot continue to stay in the west if they want to keep their sanity. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. If you can’t beat them, join them.

The west will not buy into quelling criticism on the grounds that something can be deemed “an insult to Islam”. Nearer home Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen raised this issue in the media.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, uncharacteristically energetic, has urged authorities to investigate Paulsen for a statement in which he claimed that the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) promotes extremism through Friday sermons. If that’s happening, no one would be surprised because the public perception of religious authorities cannot be any worse. Between Paulsen and Jakim, there are no prizes for guessing who the people will believe.

So, we have “insult to Islam”, “extremism”, “political Islam”, “fundamentalism”, “militancy”, “terrorism”, “preaching hate” among the terms being bandied about around the globe with reference to Muslims.

In secular nations, wedded to the rule of law, some of these terms wouldn’t normally be on the agenda for a dialogue between the government and the people or among the people. It’s dialogue, and a continuing one at that, that would prevent people taking the law into their own hands, whether it’s call terrorism or comes under some other label like “preaching hate”, for example.

It’s disingenuous to say that westerners have nothing better to do than to sit around every day, thinking up ingenious new ways to “insult Islam”. The fringe media, with an eye on the bottom line, is not the sum total of western civilization. Still, it’s the “outrageous” actions of the few that grab headlines, not the quiet work of many good people.

Silent majority

However, a solution must be found so that the silent majority – here we are talking about the Muslim silent majority – would not feel trapped between their own “timidity and ignorance”, for want of better terms, on Islam and a vociferous minority which is willing to risk all and run amok at the drop of a hat whenever the word Islam is mentioned in an allegedly derogatory manner. It seems that they are willing to sacrifice the ummah (the community of the faithful) for no rhyme or reason just to flex their political and “religious” muscles in somebody’s else’s land which has welcomed them with open arms.

The solution lies in non-Muslims in the media, the west in particular, arming themselves with a copy of the Quran.

If someone screams “insult to Islam”, the media should take out the Quran, point at it, and tell those screaming, “look at the Quran and point out any verse which supports your claim”. The media should take the lead.

If they say, “It’s not in the Quran, but in the Sira – the biography of the Prophet – or the hadiths (the sayings of the prophet) or the syariah”, or some fatwa from somewhere, the media can politely decline to accept the claim and sources cited.

Only the Quran, Muslims will agree, is “from God”. So, the media does not have to entertain sources which are not from God.

The media lost an opportunity when Muslims took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya to claim without an iota of proof that “Allah was exclusive to Muslims”, a line apparently taken by the Home Minister when he directed the Herald, a Catholic weekly, not to use the term Allah in Malay print to refer to the Christian faith. The directive was ostensibly on “security grounds”, a point noted by the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

It’s syirik (blasphemy) in Islam to concede that there’s more than one God. In fact, to say that there’s more than one God is the biggest sin in Islam.

Shock Altantuya Murder Verdict in Malaysia

By John Berthelsen

Federal Court rules Mongolian woman’s killers were guilty after all

Malaysia’s highest court has written a new chapter in one of the country’s most spectacular and controversial crimes by condemning two of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s former bodyguards to death for the 2006 murder of Mongolian translator and international party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu.

The question is whether the verdict, reversing a 2013 appellate court ruling that freed the men, will impel Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azahar Umar to tell the full story of the crime. Who offered to pay them RM50,000 to RM100,000 (US$13,900-27,800) to “settle the case,” as Sirul said in a sworn confession that was never introduced in court despite the fact that Sirul had been read his rights and the statement appeared to be in order? The court never asked nor heard an answer to that question.

The guilty verdict shocked political circles in Kuala Lumpur. It had been expected that the Federal Court, which is closely aligned with the ruling Barisan Nasional and its leading party, the United Malays National Organization, would simply ratify the appellate court’s acquittal, given that the not guilty verdict had been issued without any particular controversy besides cynicism 16 months ago.

“It certainly is an uncharacteristic decision although a correct one,” said a longtime western observer based in Kuala Lumpur. “On the surface it does appear to be something that wouldn't please Najib. It’s worth noting however that it was the government prosecutors who were asking the court to overturn the acquittal.”

Onetime US Ambassador to Malaysia John Malott called Altantuya “the woman who knew too much” and added on Facebook that “the fact that Malaysia's courts, which are highly politicized, made this decision spells the beginning of the end for Najib.”

The prime minister, despite being photographed playing golf last month with US President Barack Obama, has been floundering politically in recent months, with Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister who left office in 2003, having stepped up efforts to get rid of him. Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister, is said to be in Mahathir’s camp.

The verdict has also raised hopes on the part of Altantuya’s family and such groups as the human rights organization Suaram, which has pushed the case both in France and Malaysia, that it might be possible to get to the bottom of who ordered her murder. Many critics have pointed out that Azilah and Sirul had never met the woman and had no reason to kill her except for hire,

The affair peripherally involved allegations that €114 million in bribes were paid by the French munitions maker DCN and funneled to UMNO as the result of a US$1 billion purchase of submarines. Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Najib’s closest friends, was an agent for the deal. Altantuya, 28 when she died, was Razak Baginda’s lover and had performed a minor role in the deal as a translator.

The case struggled through the courts for eight years before today’s verdict. The two, from the elite Special Action Force, had been assigned to Najib’s office as bodyguards. Although Azilah showed up for the verdict in the federal court, Sirul was nowhere to be seen. He has repeatedly told others he was a scapegoat and there were reports that he may have left the country and was reported to be in Australia. His lawyer, who represented him in court, said he hadn’t heard from his client since last June after the appellate court’s acquittal.

Altantuya, who is believed to have been pregnant at the time of her death, helped translate in the late stages of the purchase of the Scorpene submarines by the Malaysian Ministry of Defense. According to a note found after her death, she had come to Malaysia from Mongolia to “blackmail” US$500,000 from Razak Baginda. According to a sworn statement by the late private detective Perumal Balasubramaniam, Razak Baginda “inherited” the woman's affections from Najib, who wanted to get rid of her before becoming prime minister. Razak Baginda apparently also grew tired of her after a whirlwind trip through Europe.

With Altantuya standing outside his home and demanding to see him, Razak Baginda, as he acknowledged in a sworn statement, called Najib’s aide de camp, Musa Safri, and asked for help in getting rid of her in October of 2006. A police car swooped down in front of his house and she was taken away and never seen alive again. She was dragged from a car in a patch of jungle near the suburban city of Shah Alam. According to Sirul’s statement, as she begged for her life and that of her unborn child, the two shot her in the head, wrapped her body in C4 explosives, and blew her up, possibly to destroy the DNA of the fetus. Her bones were found later after the two bodyguards led officials to them.

After a 159-day trial that ended in April of 2009 – in which all efforts were made by both sides to keep the names of prominent figures hidden – the court ordered the two bodyguards to be hanged. Substantial evidence connected Najib to the case, including text messages to Razak Baginda assuring him not to worry and saying Najib would fix things. The two bodyguards were later acquitted on a technicality in 2013. Despite his involvement in the case, charges against Razak Baginda were dismissed by the trial judge without a defense. He subsequently left Malaysia for an extended period although he has been seen in Kuala Lumpur.

The story began with Najib’s whirlwind tenure as defense minister, during which he sought to update the country’s defense capability through the purchase of submarines, patrol boats and Russian fighter jets. All of the purchases were later suspected of involving substantial kickbacks and bribes.

French prosecutors looking into massive bribery and kickbacks on the part of the government-owned DCN in half a dozen countries found voluminous evidence of the involvement of French officials up to then-Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in the case, and spelled out that the €114 million “commission,” paid to Razak Baginda’s wholly-owned company, Perimekar Bhd, was to be steered to UMNO. Another €36 million was routed through a Hong Kong shelf company called Terasasi Ltd., wholly owned by Razak Baginda and his father.

Call on Cabinet tomorrow to convene a special Parliamentary meeting end of this month to present a revised 2015 Budget

The Cabinet tomorrow should do what it should have done at its last Cabinet meeting for 2014 on Dec. 17 – to convene a Special meeting of Parliament this month to present a revised Budget 2015.

When the Budget 2015 was drawn up, it was based on the oil price assumption of US$100 (RM357) per barrel.

Since the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak presented Budget 2015 on Oct. 25, Brent crude prices had fallen from US$100 to a six year-low of US$47.36.

Oil and gas-related income is a backbone of the Malaysian economy as it currently accounts for 30% of the government’s total revenue.
With the plunge in crude oil prices, the Government is duty-bound to revise the 2015 Budget and seek parliamentary approval for revision of the 2015 Budget.

The Cabinet should decide on convening a Special Parliament before the end of January now that Prime Minister who is also Finance Minsiter has finally conceded today on the need to restructure the 2015 Budget.

The revised 2015 Budget is urgent and imperative as a result of economic and financial developments with far-reaching implications, like the Malaysian ringgit hitting a 5 ½ low versus the dollar, touching a low of 3.5870 versus the dollar as of 0626 GMT, it lowest since July 2009 and the RM36 billion fall in Malaysia’s foreign reserves in 2014.

The 2015 Budget of RM273.9 billion is clearly not sustainable as a result of the plunging commodity prices, not only oil, but also palm oil and rubber. In fact, economists are warning that Malaysia may be facing a deflation.

A special Parliament meeting should also debate the many urgent issues confronting the country, including (1) the worst floods catastrophe in living memory; (2) the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Illegal Immigrants in Sabah; (3) the RM1.3 trillion illegal capital flight in the ten years from 2003 to 2012; and (4) the urgent need for moderates in Malaysia regardless of race, religion, region or politics to unite and defeat the rhetoric and politics of hate, bigotry, intolerance and extremism.

PM Pledges Aid For Businesses Hit By Floods

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today the government would provide help for all types of flood-hit business, including retail and stall, to resume their operations.

He said the government would determine the form of assistance to be given to the traders after getting a comprehensive picture of the problems they faced.

The Bumiputera Economic Council (BEC), at a meeting today, discussed the status of the traders and entrepreneurs who were affected by the floods and the aid they would need from the government to resume their business, he said.

"A list will be compiled of all the affected businesses that require help," said Najib, who is also the finance minister, at the presentation of certificates to the winners of the third and fourth series of the 'Skim Usahawan Permulaan Bumiputera' or Bumiputera start-ups known as Superb, here.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar were also present at the event.

Najib, in his speech at the event, said the BEC meeting chaired by him agreed to provide an allocation of RM50 million as initial funding for the Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia.

The money would be used to implement economic improvement programmes from 2015 to 2019, he said.

The Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia is a national wakaf (endowment) entity established on July 23, 2008, under the Trustees (Incorporation) Act 1952 by the Department of Awqaf, Zakat and Hajj in the Prime Minister's Department.

Najib also announced an allocation of RM15 million by the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (TERAJU) to the Sabah BEC Special Committee for the implementation of programmes for capacity development and entrepreneurship financing in 2015.

-- BERNAMA

Muhyiddin: Sejak bila Islam di Malaysia ekstrim?

'Raped and forced to give blood to jihadi captors': Yazidi sex slave held by ISIS with her baby reveals how they forced girls to give transfusions to keep wounded fighters alive

• First Yazidi sex slave to bravely reveal her identity exposes horror of ISIS
• Hamshe describes being held captive by jihadis with her young baby boy
• The 19-year-old was seized after her husband was murdered by militants
• She says: 'They forced Yazidi girls to give blood to wounded fighters'
• BBC Arabic investigation finds pioneering activist tracking hundreds of kidnapped victims

By Larisa Brown For Mailonline

A pregnant teenager who was captured by Islamic State militants has revealed how girls are being forced to give blood transfusions to keep their attackers alive.

Hamshe – who is understood to be the first Yazidi slave to reveal her identity – has told of how sickening Islamist jihadists have been using the blood of captured women and children for wounded fighters in the battlefield.

The 19-year-old, who also has a baby with her husband who is believed to have been murdered by militants, was held captive for 28 days before she escaped.

She said: 'When each of them took a Yazidi girl, one of them took me to his house and locked me inside a room and told me 'I will not give you food or water if you refuse to marry me'.'

'They forced the Yazidi girls to donate blood to IS wounded fighters. Which God allows these acts?'

Dressed in all black and wearing a headscarf while slumped on a dirty floor in Iraq, she described how she managed to run away from her captors while holding her baby.

'One night my baby was crying from thirst. I knocked at the door and saw all the guards sleeping outside. I took a bottle of water from them and I ran away with my baby and walked for four hours', she said.

She said she came across an Arab man who took her into his home and looked after her for three days. She added: 'Then they drove me to a Peshmerga checkpoint in Barda Rash. I was at the checkpoint for 7 hours. Then my brother came and took me back home.'

Her mother added: 'I couldn't imagine that my daughter will come back. We thank God for that. Our family is destroyed. The Yazidi community has been destroyed.

'This tragedy has done us enough damage for the rest of our lives.'

Speaking of the moment she was captured by IS militants and moved to a different location in Iraq, Hamshe added: ‘I can never forget when they separated men and women from each other. It was very painful to witness women and girls being taken as a war spoils.

‘Each IS fighter was holding the hand of a Yazidi girl and took her for himself. It was harder than facing death.’

Her plight – and that of many others – is revealed in a new documentary, Slaves of the Caliphate, which will screen on BBC Arabic tonight.

Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2906312/I-raped-forced-blood-jihadi-captors-Yazidi-sex-slave-held-ISIS-baby-reveals-forced-girls-transfusions-wounded-fighters-alive.html

Central Command’s Twitter Account Hacked…As Obama Speaks on Cybersecurity

By Kim Zetter

Twitter and YouTube accounts belonging to the military’s US Central Command were hacked on Monday. Hackers supportive of the terrorist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS, took credit and issued a warning to the US military.

“AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS,” the hackers tweeted through the account for the US Central Command, which is the military command for the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. The tweet included a link to a statement that read in part:

“While the US and its satellites kill our brothers in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan we broke into your networks and personal devices and know everything about you,” it read. “You’ll see no mercy infidels. ISIS is already here, we are in your PCs, in each military base. With Allah’s permission we are in CENTCOM now. We won’t stop! We know everything about you, your wives and children. U.S. soldiers! We’re watching you!”

The group also replaced the Twitter profile image with an image of a person wearing a black and white keffiyeh, and the text CyberCaliphate and “i love you isis.”

Forty minutes after the first hacked tweet, Twitter suspended the account.


According to news reports, the hackers also posted images of spreadsheets that purported to contain the home addresses and other contact information for retired US Army generals and other images purporting to be US military maps and plans. The Pentagon appeared to confirm the authenticity of the information, telling reporters that the exposed information was not classified and that the images came not from the government but from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

ISIS threatened Twitter last year, after the social networking site deleted an account it was using to publish videos showing the beheading of journalist and aid workers in the Middle East. In this case, it’s likely that the person responsible for maintaining CENTCOM’s social networking accounts was probably hacked, giving the hackers access to the Twitter and YouTube accounts.

The hack on Monday coincided with an address President Obama was giving about cybersecurity and identity theft at the Federal Trade Commission. His speech, meant to bolster cybersecurity legislation that the White House wants Congress to pass, called for better data protection and better disclosure about breaches. The White House hopes Congress will pass a bill that would require companies to notify customers within 30 days if their personal information is stolen in a breach. The president cited the recent hacks at Target, Home Depot and Sony as primary reasons why Congress should pass the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act. The bill would help unify a multitude of state breach laws that currently exist. Lawmakers have tried for nearly a decade to pass a federal bill to replace the patchwork of state laws, but have repeatedly failed, in part because either the laws didn’t go far enough or went too far.

Authorities want girls’ help in K-Pop band ‘hugs and kisses’ probe

Local religious authorities have asked for the three tudung-clad Malay girls, who were seen behaving in an improper way on stage with a K-Pop band, to come forward over the controversy, The Star Online reported today.

The three had been seen in a YouTube clip getting hugs and kisses from members of the K-Pop band B1A4 at a mini-concert held at the Live Centre in Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night.

Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) said today that the three K-Pop fans will be able to assist in its investigations.

The Star Online quoted Jawi director Paimuzi Yahya as saying that the actions of the women and band members went overboard, as it was against Islamic teachings and offended the sensitivities of the Muslim community.

"The Jawi enforcement division has opened an investigation under Section 29 of the Syariah Criminal Offences ( Federal Territories ) Act 1977 (Act 599 Indecent Acts in Public Places.)

"Those who are involved are asked to come forward to help in the investigation," he said in a statement today.

According to The Star Online, Paimuzi explained that the particular Act can be enforced against people who behave indecently and in contravention of Islamic law in a public place, and is punishable with fines of not more than RM1,000 or six months jail or both.

The three-minute video clip of the B1A4 stars hugging and kissing the female fans on stage went viral on social media yesterday, drawing much criticism from viewers.

The Star Online also reported that TGM Events, the organiser of the mini-concert have since expressed their regret over the incident and declared that the three Malay girls had willingly stepped onto the stage. – January 12, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/authorities-want-girls-help-in-k-pop-band-hugs-and-kisses-probe#sthash.WU2rKuVH.dpuf

What about the real culprits behind the indelible ink fiasco, asks PKR

After whistleblower Major Zaidi Ahmad's dismissal from the Armed Forces, PKR and election watchdog Bersih 2.0 want to know what has been done to penalise the real culprit – the company that supplied the controversial ink that washed off easily, leading to claims that the May 2013 general election results were compromised.

PKR's Rafizi Ramli told The Malaysian Insider that even if the contract for the supply of the ink was given to a government crony company, the supplier should have delivered the right product.

"Even if the company that supplied the ink was a crony (of Putrajaya), the least they could have done is to make sure that the ink was indelible," the Pandan MP said.

"And if Major Zaidi was punished for merely stating the truth, then a more severe or harsher punishment should be given to those who are responsible for the whole mess in the first place."

Rafizi, who is PKR secretary-general, had revealed in Parliament last year that the indelible ink contract was given to a Mohamed Salleh Mohd Ali, who is closely linked to country’s leadership and the Election Commission’s (EC) top officials.

He said Integrated Challenger Malaysia Sdn Bhd, one Mohamed Salleh’s companies, not only secured the contract to supply the ink but also T-shirts and caps for GE 13 in May 2013. Salleh, he had said then, was a “pro” at conducting direct negotiations with the government. He had even secured contracts from the Defence Ministry.

The PKR lawmaker had earlier revealed that his investigations showed that the contract for the ink supply was given to a company owned by a Singaporean who had no expertise on the matter.

He also disclosed that the company did not have the capital for the job and had met a Kampung Baru businessman to acquire a RM7 million loan.

Rafizi further demanded the resignation of the entire EC as the public had lost confidence in it.

He told The Malaysian Insider that the EC officials who had chosen Integrated Challenger as the ink supplier should also be hauled up.

"Until today, no one has been held accountable for the supreme wrong that happened. No one in the EC has been hauled up or punished for selecting this company to supply the ink."

He said after GE 13, even the EC had admitted it had made a mistake in ordering the substandard ink.

"In that sense, I cannot understand why someone is being penalised for stating the plain truth, which was reinforced by the thousands of reports nationwide about the ink," Rafizi said.

"Contrastingly, the punishment given to Major Zaidi and his subsequent sacking from the military gives the impression that one will penalised for stating the truth."

Zaidi, 45, was yesterday dismissed from the Royal Malaysian Air Force after 26 years of service for breaching two standing orders by giving a media statement without the consent of the Defence Ministry, and for leaking confidential information without the consent of the Armed Forces Council.

The gist of his media statement was the indelible ink used in the general election washed off easily, thus allegedly compromising the integrity of the polls.

"The politically motivated conviction and punishment, I believe, is to send a signal to the public that if you tell the truth that puts the ruling government in a bad light, you will be penalised," Rafizi, who is also PKR vice-president, said.

"Major Zaidi is one of the brave ones who dared to come forward to tell the truth."

Election watchdog Bersih 2.0 also highlighted the fact that despite Zaidi's efforts, no action has been taken against the EC to date.

"No one from the EC has ever had to account for this sham. Nothing has ever come from the hundreds of police report lodged against the EC over this, except for this particular one, which resulted in punishment for the whistleblower instead of the wrongdoer," it said in a statement.

"Major Zaidi has played his role as a citizen to highlight the biggest scandal among the irregularities that marred the 13th general election. For that, he has paid a heavy price, while Malaysia, too, has lost a fine soldier."

Bersih said it was "extremely disappointed" with the verdict, adding that the army man had only lodged a report over the failure of the indelible ink as he did not want the elections to be marred.

"Bersih 2.0 knows how committed Major Zaidi is as a citizen, a family man, and a soldier. It is precisely because of his personal, professional and societal commitment that he lodged a police report over the failure of the indelible ink during early voting in the 13th general election.

"He also wanted to protect the military’s image from being tarred alongside that of the EC – because, to him, keeping silent would be complicit to the farce being perpetuated on the people.” – January 13, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/what-about-the-real-culprits-behind-the-indelible-ink-fiasco-asks-pkr#sthash.IfFiwWo0.dpuf

Perkasa: G25 the real racists and extremists

Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali has denied claims made by the group of ‘eminent Malays’ (G25), who said that the NGO comprises extreme and religious fanatics.

He instead shot back at the group, denouncing them as the "real" extremists and racists who were hiding behind the label of ‘moderation’.

“The group of ‘eminent persons’, as well as the liberals and moderates, are the real extremists and racists.

“They are shrouding behind such a stand to hide their extremist and racist agenda from being revealed and ridiculed by the majority of Malaysians,” Ibrahim Ali said in a lengthy statement today.

He added that the attack on Perkasa was to divert the attention of the public from the main purpose of the NGO, which is to “defend the sanctity of Islam, uphold the federal constitution, the sovereignty of the Malay rulers and the socio-economical welfare of the indigenous (bumiputera) people”.

“The attack on Perkasa was also done as a reverse psychology strategy, to wage a psychological war by implying Perkasa as extremist and racist.

“They (the G25) are ignorant about the goals of Perkasa, which is to defend the rights of the indigenous people and the federal constitution,” Ibrahim Ali stressed.

The G25 became prominent when it wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last month, urging for the voice of moderation and asking him to show leadership in the wake of intolerant voices from right-wing groups such as Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and Perkasa.

Altantuya murder: D-Day for Azilah and Sirul

 

Come tomorrow, the Federal Court will reveal its verdict on the final appeal related to the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Malaysiakini revisits the case, which made domestic and international news, and saw two police personnel being sentenced to death without the motive being established.

Rewind to 2006

A beautiful woman was blown up with explosives in the middle of a jungle, and the blood trail led to the doorsteps of some powerful personalities, including the then deputy prime minister.

Najib Abdul Razak’s close associate Abdul Razak Baginda (left) was charged with abetting the murder of the Mongolian national, but he was later acquitted without his defence being called, while Najib went to the extent of swearing, in the name of God, that he had no links to the matter.

It was a case that spawned numerous conspiracy theories, which even linked the brutal murder to the procurement of two French submarines when Najib was defence minister.

Abdul Razak was the owner of Perimekar Sdn Bhd, the company entrusted by the government to purchase and maintain the two submarines. The purchase and alleged kickbacks from the deal are still subjects of an investigation by the French authorities.

The political analyst had admitted having an affair with Altantuya, but his defence was not called after the prosecution completed its case in the High Court in  Shah Alam in 2008, on the grounds of Abdul Razak's sworn affidavit filed during his bail proceedings being accepted by the court.

The prosecution raised eyebrows when it decided not to file an appeal over Abdul Razak's acquittal after the 14 days given to file a notice had elapsed.

The police also cleared Najib of any wrongdoing.

Two police special operations officers were convicted of the murder that took place between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006, at a secluded forest in Puncak Alam, near Shah Alam.

Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar were, in April 2009, sentenced to death by the High Court inShah Alam for the murder of Altantuya.

Misdirections found

However, the Court of Appeal found several misdirections by trial judge Mohd Zaki Yasin and ordered the two to be released from prison in August 2013.

The misdirections included the non-calling of Najib's aide de camp, DSP Musa Safri, the questions pertaining to the phone data of Azilah's handphone and the Musa’s alibi, as written in a police station diary that stated he was in Bukit Aman during the incident.

Furthermore, there was inconsistency in the testimony of the police witnesses and to add further mystery was that the blood found on an unidentified shoe inside Sirul's car was not confirmed as coming from the deceased.

Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail had, in his reply to the appellate court judgment, said DSP Musa was irrelevant to the prosecution's case against the two police officers.

Then came a stunning claim. During the proceedings in the High Court, in the Court of Appeal and in the Federal Court, Sirul, the second accused, stated that he was made a scapegoat in order “to protect their plans”.

His lawyer Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin said his client was being framed, that evidence was allegedly planted by the police in Sirul's house and car.

Sirul's car and house keys were in the possession of the police when he was accompanying then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Pakistan, where he was eventually arrested.

Karpal promised to call Najib and Musa

Despite the findings of the Court of Appeal, Altantuya's father Shaariibuu Setev's lawyer, the late Karpal Singh, had promised to call Najib and DSP Musa to answer.

This was after Shaariibuu had filed a RM100 million suit against the government following the death of his daughter. This case is still pending, till the outcome of the prosecution's appeal against the acquittal of the two police officers.

Besides this, the past two years had also seen Abdul Razak's former private investigator P Balasubramaniam's widow A Santamil Selvi filing a RM1.9 million suit against Najib, his wife Rosmah Mansor and seven others, after the (late investigator) and his family had to live in exile in India following revelations made in an explosive statutory declaration (SD).

The suit also saw senior lawyer Cecil Abraham named as one of the defendants, where the partner in the Zul Rafique and Partner law firm is being subjected to disciplinary proceedings before the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board over his alleged involvement in drafting the second SD, which retracted the claims made in the first SD.

However, Santamil's suit was struck off by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur last month, without it being brought to a full trial.

Against this backdrop of many twists and turns, the fate of Azilah and Sirul is to be revealed by the highest court in the country tomorrow.

K-Pop bands are secret Christian crusaders, says NGO

Isma carries an article on its website saying Christianity is to blame for the molestation of young Muslims girls at a K-Pop concert Saturday.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Just when you taught it couldn’t get worse… it does!

An article appearing on Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia’s (Isma) official website now claims that Christianity was behind the lecherous acts that took place in full view of the public, and captured on video, when members of K-Pop band B1A4 allegedly “molested” three young tudung-wearing Muslim girls at a concert.

The article relayed the arguments put forth by A Karim Omar, the secretary-general of Pertubuhan Muafakat Sejahtera Malaysia (Muafakat), another Muslim NGO.

In the article, Karim made a series of unsubstantiated claims about how K-Pop bands were in reality Christian activists masquerading as pop artistes.

Karim was quoted as saying that the majority of K-Pop artistes were gospel singers when younger. He also claimed that “some people say” the K-Pop genre was an evolution of Korean Contemporary Christian Music (KCCM) that began in the 70s before gaining popularity.

He added, “Apart from that, a random survey shows that over 80% of K-Pop artistes are Christians (regardless of whether male or female).

“The rest are Atheists, Buddhists or those who believe in animism.”

Offering his theory that K-Pop bands were part of the dark agenda of Christian evangelists that were out to lead young Muslims astray, Karim also noted that since 2006, South Korea became the second highest exporter of Christian missionaries after the United States, ousting the United Kingdom that occupied the spot before.

The posting of the article on Isma’s official Facebook page has so far garnered 614 “likes” and 227 shares with 107 Facebooks users venturing to offer their opinions on the subject.

The concert that started out innocently enough has now been blown out of all proportion with the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) and Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) taking offence at seeing young Muslim girls being kissed on the forehead and hugged from behind, in what they deemed as the equivalent of being “molested”.

Mixed reactions from MIC leaders on new measures

MIC's attempt to stop some leaders from holding press conferences in the building unfair, undemocratic and regressive.

FMT

PUTRAJAYA: MIC’s immediate changes which are being implemented at the party headquarters have received mixed reactions from its leaders and a political analyst.

MIC Youth chief C Sivarraajh said the move by the party to stop some leaders from holding press conferences in the building was unfair, undemocratic and regressive. Describing the decision as irrelevant, he said this could lead to more protests from MIC members.

“Those who have been shut out are members of the MIC, including key office-bearers and these leaders are recognised by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) like the Youth and Wanita chiefs. This is unlike the secretary-general (Datuk G. Kumaar Aaman) whose post is not recognised by ROS which has ordered re-election for the CWC and three vice-president posts,” he told Bernama yesterday.

Besides that, Sivarraajh said, the Youth and Wanita wings and their leaders, unlike the CWC, were recognised by ROS and barring them from using the party headquarters as a place for press conferences, would be like shutting the door on them.

Yesterday, Kumaar Aamaan introduced immediate changes that are being implemented at the MIC headquarters that will, among others, see only the party’s national leaders allowed to hold official press conferences there. These leaders are the MIC president, deputy president and vice-presidents, as well as secretary-general and treasurer-general.

Sivarraajh claimed that the post of the new “secretary-general” who was issuing the gag orders, was invalid since ROS had declared their election as null and void, and had ordered the party to hold re-election.

“At the same time, the president wants to practise greater democratisation and to hold election at all levels of the party, while the new ‘invalid secretary-general’ is resorting to authoritarian measures to shut out elected officials,” he said. Echoing similar sentiment, former MIC strategic director S Vell Paari has asked Kumaar Aaman to stop issuing statements as party secretary-general, claiming that the latter’s appointment was “unlawful”.

“Any policy matter that relates to the rights of MIC members must be decided at an emergency general meeting (EGM), not at the whim and fancy of Datuk Kumaar. I have no right to interfere in any statement made in his personal capacity, but if he continues to do so as an MIC office-bearer, then I will seek legal redress for acting to the detriment of the party,” he said.

However, MIC Kuala Ketil branch chairman S Subramaniam congratulated Kumaar Aaman for making the right decision to ensure that only bona fide persons could enter the MIC building.

“This is not the time to cry out who is right and who is wrong. Our party is supreme. I look forward to more innovative changes to bring betterment to the party and our community,” he told Bernama yesterday.

Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Social Sciences senior lecturer, Assoc Prof Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said Palanivel must clear the air on the secretary-general’s appointment, so that whatever statements issued would not be questioned to avoid further friction within the party.

“If the appointment is invalid, then perhaps any statement should only come from either the president or deputy president to ease tension between the factions,” he said.

- BERNAMA

Kit Siang rubbishes DPM’s ignorance of FBI letter

Lim Kit Siang says it is impossible that Muhyiddin Yassin did not know about the letter Zahid Hamidi sent the FBI when it was dominating the news.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang warned in a statement on Monday that no Malaysian would believe that the Deputy Prime Minister and the other Cabinet Ministers did not know about the Zahid-Phua-Shafee-Khalid quadrilateral tangle, as it was the Biggest Show in Malaysia in the new year, making national and international news every day, putting in the shade other scandals and disasters like the multi-billion ringgit 1MDB scandal and the 2014-2015 worst floods catastrophe in living memory in Malaysia!

“This being the case, Muhyiddin and the rest of the Cabinet Ministers should explain why they had failed their public responsibilities and duties in failing to raise the Zahid-Phua-Shafee-Khalid quadrilateral tangle in last Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, especially if the Ministers care for the interests and international reputation of the country!,” said Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP.

Lim reiterated the many questions on the issue:

• Why did Zahid contradict the police version to FBI about Phua without seeking police agreement or even knowledge, and why did he act arbitrarily and undiplomatically in circumventing the Foreign Ministry?”
• Why was Zahid’s letter withdrawn in the Nevada District Court in Las Vegas after Putrajaya objected to it being used in Puah’s defence?
• Why had the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak kept his silence until now, and why is Muhyiddin only showing interest and concern now?

“Zahid’s letter was clearly in defence of Phua,” said Lim. “Who objected to it being used in open court proceedings? Zahid, the Attorney-General, the Police or the Prime Minister himself?”

“Now we know it was definitely not the Deputy Prime Minister or the other Ministers!

Can Malaysians have answers from the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the IGP on this infamous Zahid-Phua-Shafee-Khalid quadrilateral tangle?”

Lim reiterated that he wants to know from Muhyiddin why he had failed to raise the issue in last Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.

Zaid: Instead of waging jihad, do as the Jews did

Zaid Ibrahim tells Muslims that a better way to defeat the West is by building better economies and wealthier countries.

FMT

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim gave some hard-hitting advice to Muslims and their preachers, saying that a cleverer way to defeat the West and their ideals of freedom of expression was to follow in the footsteps of the Jews.

Zaid said that Jews, rather than wage holy wars and continuously complain about being persecuted throughout history, took it upon themselves to control banking and finance instead while “quietly” controlling media and establishing highly-regarded institutions of higher learning.

He said, “They believed that the West could only be conquered by money and education, and now the Chinese are following the same formula successfully.”

He said this in reference to the recent Paris killings, adding he was sure Muslims leaders would “sugarcoat” their condemnation of it because ultimately they felt “the victims were asking for it”.

“None will condemn the acts unconditionally,” Zaid said although Muslims did have a choice in how they wished to react to constant persecution.

He argued, “Muslims have a choice: to respond to these insults the way Christians, Jews and people of other faiths do—which is to ignore them or to litigate—or they can follow Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram and go all out to kill and destroy.”

He blamed Muslim leaders and preachers for conditioning the minds of other Muslims with “outdated teachings” that emphasised on “killling and defending their faith” rather than of living with others of different religions and values, in peace and harmony.

“Muslims must remember they live in a world that allows freedom of expression for individuals.

“In the West, they take personal freedom seriously, just as PAS leaders in Kelantan take hudud seriously,” Zaid said, adding, “…the West has this crazy belief about freedom of expression and individual rights” that Muslims must learn how to handle with a degree of calm and not by committing atrocities such as they did in Paris, Africa and Pakistan.

He also said, “Muslims must learn to cope with the challenges of the modern world and modern values. I suggest Muslims in Malaysia and elsewhere be willing to grow up and learn to live with this imperfect world in harmony with others.”

Saying it was time to put “anger and emotion” aside, Zaid added, “They can fight those who disagree with them with the Sedition Act and whatever laws they control, but unless Muslims are properly educated and have money and know-how, they will only know how to destroy but not to rebuild.”

It is the armed forces and the Najib government which had been dishonoured by Major Zaidi’s conviction and the travesty of justice in sacking him for standing up for the truth

By Lim Kit Siang Blog,

Major Zaidi Ahmad “dishonourably discharged” from the armed forces by a court martial for blowing the whistle about the washable “indelible ink” in the 13th General Elections?

How can a person be “dishonourably discharged” for doing an honourable thing, as speaking and standing up for the truth in a nation that cherishes truth and moral values?

It has been said that justice is truth in action. In Major Zaidi’s case, we see truth in action being penalized, making the court martial proceeding a travesty of justice and blot on the moral conscience of the country.

It is the armed forces and the Najib government which had been dishonoured by Major Zaidi’s conviction and the travesty of justice in sacking him for standing up for the truth.

Major Zaidi did not tell any lie or falsehood when he revealed that the indelible ink used in the 13th General Election could be washed off.

Bersih has rightly pointed out that “”Nothing has ever come from the hundreds of police report lodged against the Election Commission over this except for this particular one, which resulted in punishment for the whistleblower instead of the wrongdoer”.

The Election Commission owes in particular Major Zaidi Ahmad a duty of full recompense, as Major Zaidi Ahmad had neither told a lie nor a falsehood.

The fault is not Major Zaidi Ahmad but must be fully and absolutely borne by the Election Commission.

The Election Commission should fully compensate Major Zaidi Ahmad for all the monetary losses in remuneration and pension entitlements as a result of the unjust decision by the court martial today.

At this moment of national moral crisis in the country, when lies, falsehoods, chicanery and dishonesty seem to rule the roost in public life instead of honesty, probity and industry, Malaysia needs more Major Zaidis at all levels of government instead of drumming them out of public service.

If there is any case where the Defence Minister or even the Prime Minister should intervene to ensure that Major Zaidi can continue his sterling service in the military, this is the one.

Is Hishammuddin or Najib capable of such greatness?

DPM Calls For Probe On Eric Paulsen Over Allegation On Friday Sermons

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 12 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has urged the authorities to investigate Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen over his statement accusing the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) of promoting extremism through the Friday sermons.

Muhyiddin, when asked to comment on Paulsen's remarks against Jakim on Twitter, said Paulsen's action must be dealt with appropriately.

"The relevant authorities should investigate Paulsen's statement and appropriate action be taken as many non-Muslims do not understand what Islam really is.

"Islam is not an extremist religion, (and) since when have our people (Malaysians) acted extraordinarily? Islam is the most moderate religion," he said.

Muhyiddin was speaking at a news conference after viewing the situation on the first day of the 2015 school session at Sekolah Kebangsaan Cyberjaya and Sekolah Menengah Cyberjaya, here, today.

He said the allegation of Friday sermons being deviated should not come about at all as the sermons do not ony revolve around the Islamic way of life but also societal and humanity issues.

"Perhaps Paulsen does not know this at all or has not learned about Islam," he said.

Paulsen had made the statement accusing Jakim of spreading extremism every Friday (through the sermons) on his Twitter page on Jan 9.

Following Paulsen's offending remarks, Umno Youth today made a report against him at the Putrajaya district police headquarters, here.

The report was lodged by the movement's Religious Bureau chairman Azmir Yuzaimi Mohd Yunos, who said that police should take stern action against Paulsen as this was not the first time he had made a seditious statement on his Twitter page.

"He had many times before this made provocative remarks against Islam but after being criticised, the criticism just died like that.

"This time, we want real stern action taken against him so that he does not repeat his misdeed," he said.

Paulsen had removed his offending statement from his Twitter page after being slammed by various quarters.

However, last Saturday, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that police would investigate Paulsen under the Sedition Act 1948.

Lawyer Paulsen arrested for sedition - Malaysiakini

Lawyer for Liberty (LFL) director Eric Paulsen was arrested for sedition at Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur today, believed to be linked to his tweet accusing the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) of promoting extremism.

He is arrested under Section 4 of the Sedition Act and taken to the Dang Wangi police station, LFL co-founder Latheefa Koya told Malaysiakini.

This was confirmed by police chief Khalid Abu Bakar in a tweet at 9.40pm today.

"We expect police to keep him overnight. We are on standby for the remand tomorrow," Latheefa said when contacted.

LFL said that about 20 police personnel arrested Paulsen.

"It is unnecessary and a waste of police resources," it said in a tweet.

This is because Paulsen had earlier agreed to co-operate with the investigation by presenting himself at Bukit Aman tomorrow, it said.


Police took Paulsen to his firm Daim & Gamany in Petaling Jaya to seize his laptop, Padang Serai MP and LFL co-founder N Surendran said.


In a 10.55pm update on Faceboook, LFL campaign coordinator Michelle Yesudas said police also seized Paulsen's mobile phone.

"Outrageous and horrific for this to happen to a human rights lawyer over a tweet.

"Clearly another red herring to confuse people between the man-made institution of Jakim and the sanctity of religion," she said.

Paulsen last Friday tweeted that Jakim is promoting extremism every Friday.

"Government needs to address that if serious about extremism," he wrote on Twitter, but he later deleted the tweet.

Jakim produces Friday prayer sermons published on the Jakim website and read out in mosques in the Federal Territories.

'Anti-Islam'

Among those who condemned the tweet include PAS Youth deputy chief Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi who said it was anti-Islam.

Paulsen (right) today also lodged a police report over a death threat made against him through Twitter and instant messenger application WhatsApp.

In a statement yesterday, the human rights lawyer criticised police for acting against him after pressure from "pro-Umno cybertroopers".

IGP Khalid said police will probe Paulsen for sedition after pro-Umno bloggers trained their guns at the lawyer over his tweet.

Khalid also posted a picture of DAP's Kampar MP Ko Chung Sen, claiming that the latter too will be probed for calling for Islamic civilisation studies be scrapped.

But the photograph with Ko's supposed quote was edited and the MP flayed the IGP for not following his own advice to not spread false information.