Gerakan wants Ibrahim’s ‘crusade’ threat against Christians investigated

Dr Koh Tsu Koon: No place for local leaders to be provocative.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Dr Koh Tsu Koon today called on the…

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Dr Koh Tsu Koon: No place for local leaders to be provocative.

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Dr Koh Tsu Koon today called on the police to investigate Datuk Ibrahim Ali for inciting racial and religious hatred in his recent speeches, especially Ibrahim’s threat last night to wage a crusade against Christians.


Dr Koh, who is unity affairs minister in the Prime Minister’s department, accused the Perkasa president of being “uncouth” in his outburst, saying Ibrahim had clearly violated the government’s 1 Malaysia concept and call for moderation among the various communities.

“I feel disgusted that he should beat his chest this way, trying to be a hero, especially after the Prime Minister has just met Muslim and non-Muslim leaders separately, calling for calm, understanding and mutual respect,” Dr Dr Koh said in a statement today.

Dr Koh reminded Ibrahim that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, together with Christian leaders, had met last week to discuss the row over allegations by Utusan Malaysia of Christian conspiracy, and had decided to put the matter to rest.

Christian leaders, Dr Koh pointed out, had strongly denied any involvement in such a conspiracy, and had given their commitment towards respecting and upholding the spirit of the Federal Constitution and the status of Islam as the religion of the federation.

“The Christian leaders have also reiterated their stand that they will work with the government to sustain peace and harmony, while seeking for amicable solutions to various outstanding issues.

“So how could Ibrahim Ali keep talking about the Christian ‘agenda to usurp Islam?’,” he asked.
Dr Koh also chastised Ibrahim for proclaiming himself a defender of the dignity of Islam and for declaring that the Muslim community “placed peace and harmony above everything”, arguing that the Pasir Mas MP, in waging a “jihad” last night, had failed to stand by his own words.

“If so, he should not have uttered such words and behaved this way,” Dr Koh said.

Dr Koh added that in multi-racial Malaysia, local leaders should work to promote moderation and become mediators to manage divergent views instead of being provocative.

He said the police should swiftly investigate Ibrahim’s speeches over the past two days for elements of racial and religious incitement.

“I appeal to Malaysians to stay calm and not to fall into his trap to divide and push the people of Malaysia to take extreme stands and not to fall prey to emotions and sentiments,” Dr Koh said.

He was referring to the fiery speech Ibrahim made last night to about 200 people in Kampung Changkat, in Gombak, where Ibrahim challenged Christians to a holy war should they proceed with their agenda to usurp Islam.

He also declared that he was willing to take the fall for his statement for the sake of defending the dignity of Islam.

Despite complaining of fatigue from his nine ceramah stops from Kelantan to Kampung Changkat since Friday night, the Pasir Mas MP also said his blood was boiling with rage and “hairs standing on end” following recent reports of a Christian conspiracy between religious leaders and opposition party politicians.

“In Kelantan earlier, I declared before the police, I told the security forces present that if they want to send my messages to Bukit Aman (police), please go ahead,” he said.

“Please record my words — if there is any party in Penang, especially the Christian priests who are being backed by the Penang DAP, should continue with their agenda which we already know, I would like to offer that if they want to hold a crusade, we can.

“This is in the spirit of Sultan Saladin Ayubi . . . if they want to fight a crusade, we can.”
Saladin was a Kurdish Muslim who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and led the Muslim forces during the Crusades — a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns taken by the Christians to recover the Holy Land from the Mohammedans.

Ibrahim also warned non-Muslims not to take the silence Muslims to mean they were complacent. He said it was because Muslims placed peace and harmony above everything.

“But we are ready. Silence does not mean fear; we have been silent because we prioritise peace and harmony.

“But these people, if they feel the peace that they have enjoyed all these years is insufficient, or the stability and progress of this nation is not enough and they want to do something that has never once crossed our minds, go ahead . . . we will be ready,” he said.

Ibrahim was referring to the row over Utusan Malaysia’s “Kristian Agama Rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?) report. The report alleged that DAP leaders and Christian priests were conspiring to take over Putrajaya, abolish Islam as the religion of the federation, and install a Christian prime minister.
Christian leaders and members of DAP have denied the reports, and Najib has hosted separate meetings with religious leaders to resolve the issue.

Ibrahim last night insisted that allegations in the Utusan report were true.
He pointed out that a Muslim member of the DAP had on Friday lodged a report claiming to know the truth of what transpired at the meeting at a hotel in Penang.

Police are investigating Utusan Malaysia’s report of a Christian conspiracy.
DAP Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi, among those implicated in the controversy, said eight pastors and 13 DAP members and people who attended the event have been called to give their statements to the police.

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Family wants independent inquiry into teen’s fatal shooting

A tearful Salmah speaks to reporters outside the Damansara police station, May 15, 2011. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

PETALING JAYA, May 15 — The family of Johari Abu…

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A tearful Salmah speaks to reporters outside the Damansara police station, May 15, 2011. — Pictures by Choo Choy May

PETALING JAYA, May 15 — The family of Johari Abu Bakar have demanded an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the  17-year-old’s shooting, accusing the police today of giving inconsistent accounts of the incident. The family will also file a court petition tomorrow, seeking for a second post-mortem on the school dropout, due to “suspicious” signs of assault found on the boy’s body, including a broken right arm.
Johari, an odd-job worker, was killed in a shootout with the police behind a budget hotel at the Cyber Valley Commercial Centre, Dengkil, at about 10.30pm on Friday.
According to a media statement by Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah following the incident, the suspect had been in his “20s” and was believed to have been hiding in the hotel after stealing a Toyota Alphard multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) near Taman Megah, Kelana Jaya, on May 10.
Upon spotting the vehicle parked behind the hotel on Friday evening, the police ambushed Johari as he was attempting to leave the vicinity in the MPV that night.

Sivarasa holds up pictures of Johari and his arm, outside the Damansara police station, May 15, 2011.

The police also claimed that the boy had reversed the MPV into a patrol car and fired several shots, forcing the cops to retaliate in kind. Injured from the shots, Johari eventually stumbled out of the car onto the road and died moments later. He was found with a semi-automatic gun and several bullets.
But Johari’s mother, housewife Salmah Mohamed Shariff, insisted today that her son was not a criminal and had never been in possession of any weapon.
“He is a good and obedient boy. I refuse to believe that he was in possession of any gun,” she told reporters today after lodging a report on the incident at the Damansara police station here.
Salmah was accompanied by her two elder sons, pub doorman Abdul Razak, 21, and kitchen helper Mohamad Rosli, 20;  Johari’s grandmother, Jamilah Magar Saib, 56; Subang MP R. Sivarasa; Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong; Suhakam commissioner James Nagayam and several others.
She complained of discrepancies in the circumstances surrounding Johari’s death, particularly in the accounts given in the media and to her yesterday by a policeman named “Afendi”.
“The policeman told me that my son was with four others at the time and they were being marked for five days before his death.
“They claimed that my son shot at them and the four others had escaped during the shootout. I find this hard to believe,” she said.
Afendi, she added, had also claimed that her son had released eight shots at the police before being shot at in return.
The teary-eyed 41-year-old added she was also suspicious of the condition of her son’s body when she was allowed to see him at the Serdang hospital morgue yesterday.
Sivarasa, who was also at the morgue with the family, said that Johari’s right arm was clearly broken.
“You can see that the right arm was broken. It’s like a V-shape. Question is, how did he break his arm? After or before the shooting?” he asked.

Jamilah last saw her grandson two days ago at her home in Kayu Ara.

He added that when Afendi, who is from the Dengkil police station, was questioned about the arm, the latter had claimed that there was nothing wrong with the arm. “The family is also unhappy with the hospital. Firstly, they were only allowed to see Johari’s body for several seconds.
“Next, when the post-mortem was completed, they were not informed by the doctor in charge who, coincidentally, is the same pathologist who conducted the first post-mortem on A. Kugan, which was later disproved in court,” said Sivarasa.
He also said that Johari has no criminal records to date.
“We are not against any lawful capture of a person deemed to be a criminal. But if indeed he is guilty, he should be caught and tried in court and not shot dead,” said Sivarasa.
“I just want justice for my son. He is not a bad person and I cannot accept that the police are turning him into a criminal” said Salmah.
“If he has done something wrong, arrest him and jail him, do not shoot him.”
She added that she last saw her son a week ago and last heard from him on Friday, supposedly seconds before his death.
“He called me but just as I picked up his call, he was gone. I think that was the time when he was shot dead,” she said.
Johari’s grandmother Jamilah said she last saw her grandson two days ago at her house in Kayu Ara here.
“He left home when his friends called him out for a drink and he never came home. We were worried about him,” she said.
Johari’s brothers explained that the youth had dropped out of school when he was in Form Two, after their father’s death.
According to Malay daily Kosmo! the father had also been shot dead two years ago by the police, on suspicion of being involved in a kidnapping and several other serious crimes in Selangor.

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Defeat rocks India's elected communists

The color of India's eastern state of West Bengal turned from red to green on Friday, when the world's longest-ruling elected communist government was decisively voted out of power.

Supporters…

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The color of India's eastern state of West Bengal turned from red to green on Friday, when the world's longest-ruling elected communist government was decisively voted out of power.

Supporters of the opposition alliance that defeated the communist-led Left coalition danced wildly to the tune of drums, exchanged sweets and colored each other with green phagu (dry color).

The celebrations reached a crescendo as the opposition leader, Mamata Banerji - a diminutive yet aggressive Bengali woman in her mid-50s - emerged from her small shanty home adjoined to Calcutta's Kalighat temple to announce the historic victory.

"Communism is history in Bengal, we have won a decisive victory. This is a day of liberation for our people," Banerji, leader of the Trinamul Congress Party and India's railways minister, told waiting journalists.

An Indian television channel quickly dubbed her as "India's Lech Walesa", in reference to Poland's famous anti-communist leader.

Crushing defeat

The communist-led Left coalition has ruled West Bengal for 34 years, that makes it the longest tenure for any elected communist government in the world.

But when they lost the elections on Friday for the 294-seat West Bengal state assembly, the defeat turned into a landslide when Banerji's Trinamul Congress - in alliance with India's ruling Congress party - won 73 per cent of the seats.

Only five years ago, the opposite had happened when the communists crushed the Trinamuls by winning 80 per cent of the seats.

"It is the most dramatic reversal of fortunes in Bengal's history," says political analyst Sabyasachi Basu Roy Choudhury of the Calcutta Research Group, a think-tank.

This time around, all but two of the top Communist ministers survived the landslide.

Those defeated included chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya, a pragmatic young communist leader whose drive to acquire land for a huge industrialisation project had alienated Bengal's traditionally militant peasantry and loosened the left's strongholds in rural Bengal.

"How could a communist government ask police to fire on peasants like they did in Nandigram to set up a chemical industry. That has eroded their support amongst the rural poor and Mamata Banerji has gained by leading campaigns against the acquisitions," said Bengal's leading political sociologist, Pradip Bose.

Political blunders

But many others say the urban Bengali gentry (called Bhadraloks) were also fed up with the communists for not joining the government in Delhi, even though they had at least two opportunities in the last 15 years.

"When left of centre parties formed a ruling coalition in 1996 and wanted the legendary Bengali communist leader Jyoti Basu to take over as prime minister, his party decided to stay out. Jyoti Basu described it as a historical blunder and that is what most Bengalis feel. So why should they vote for the communists?" said former communist lawmaker Saiffuddin Choudhury, whose breakaway party - PDS - is now in alliance with India's ruling Congress Party.

The communists built up a formidable political party and were popular with the rural poor and industrial workers during their three decades of continuous rule in West Bengal.

They also enjoyed the support of the influential Bengali intelligentsia - until Nandigram happened four years ago. After that, the cultural elite distanced themselves from the communists in protest of the police shootings that killed 14 farmers.

Seven Bengali film stars and theatre personalities won seats on a Trinamul ticket this time.

The anti-left vote in Bengal has never slipped below 40 per cent of the electorate, even at the peak of communist rule, but the anti-communists lacked a leader who could capitalise on that support until the fiercely combative Banerji arrived.

"The anti-left mass got a powerful leader in Mamata Banerji and she started to reach out to the floating voters, issue by issue. That explains why the tide has turned against the communists," says analyst Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury.

"The communists were functioning within the parameters of Indian democracy but they tried to create a party whereby they could control all segments of Bengali society. They are paying dearly for their obsession for control because the fiercely independent Bengali middle class would take it no more," alleged Indian economist Bibek Debroy, who hails from Bengal.

Women on the rise

Banerji's victory, marks the coming of age of Bengali regionalism.

"Within thirteen years of breaking away from the Congress and forming her own Trinamul party, she has marginalised the Congress in Bengal as much as the communists now. That's a major achievement," says political analyst Ranabir Sammadar.

Gender expert Paula Banerji described Banerji's stunning victory as a "demonstration of the political power of the Bengali women".

Across the border in neighbouring Bangladesh, where more than ninety per cent are Muslim, the present Awami League government is headed by prime minister Sheikh Hasina - five of the top positions in her cabinet are also held by women.

"Now Banerji has done 'a Hasina' in our state. Both the Bengals will now be ruled by women and in Bangladesh, even the main opposition leader is a women," Paula Banerji said. "The communists don't have a female leader of Banerji's stature and unless they find one, they cannot take her on."

Nearly half of West Bengal's population are women and they strongly identify with Banerji.

During the six-phase elections held in West Bengal, women showed up in large numbers and could be seen standing in queues at polling booths - sometimes waiting five or six hours to vote.

'Obsolete ideology'

The communists have also lost the southern state of Kerala, so they now hold only one Indian state - the tiny north eastern state of Tripura which has only two seats in the Indian Parliament.

"Their future in Indian politics is in jeopardy," says Indian editor Prabhu Chawla. "This is an obsolete ideology and will not work here anymore."

With the communist defeats in West Bengal and Kerala, the chances of a third front emerging in Indian politics are remote.

Though the Indian left never joined a non-Congress or non-Hindu nationalist BJP government in Delhi, they decisively supported the experiment in 1996.

"Now Indian politics at the federal level will be more bipolar - with the Congress leading one coalition and the Hindu nationalist BJP leading the other," said Tarun Vijay, editor of the Organiser Weekly that reflects the views of Hindu nationalists.

"Bengal's communism was unique in that it grew among the people not through armed revolution. This was a party that grew by consensus by carrying with them all sections of middle class, rural and urban poor - even the gentry. But somewhere down the line, the arrogance of power led them to adopt narrow, sectarian politics and that is their undoing now," says analyst Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhuri.

'Old Left values'

Their only hope now is if Banerji, whose performance as India's railway minister has not been overly impressive, fails in her position of governance.

"We are down, but not out. We will perform our role in opposition and win back the people's trust," said Bengal communist party leader Biman Bose.

Bose points to the state of Tripura, "where the communists messed up and people brought us back. That will happen in Bengal," Bose said. "They went out of power in 1988 and came back to power five years later...ruling it all the way until now."

But that is only likely if Banerji makes major mistakes.

On Friday, she outlined her priorities in a brief interview, even as her supporters continued their noisy celebrations outside her small shanty. She emphasised a return to true democracy that have been undermined by the communist politics of control.

Banerji also plans to promote inclusive development that benefits rural and urban poor by balancing allocations between agriculture and industry. She also wants to make governance more efficient - especially in terms of maintaining law and order in what has become a fairly violent state.

"I will continue to live like a commoner because I don't like luxury. The support of my people is more important," said Banerji, whose austere lifestyle appears closer to the old icons of the Bengal communist movement than their successors who had become corrupted by three decades of power.

"I am against the Left here but not against Leftism. I share the values of the old Left," said Banerji.

Source:Al Jazeera

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As police probe, Ibrahim Ali threatens crusade against Christians

GOMBAK, May 15 — Despite police still investigating unsubstantiated reports of a move to a Christian Malaysia, Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali threatened Christians nationwide last night that he would…

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GOMBAK, May 15 — Despite police still investigating unsubstantiated reports of a move to a Christian Malaysia, Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali threatened Christians nationwide last night that he would wage a crusade or holy war should they proceed with their agenda to usurp Islam.

The pint-sized Malay rights leader thundered to a ceramah audience of some 200 at Kampung Changkat here that he was willing to take the fall for his statement for the sake of defending the dignity of Islam.

Although he complained of fatigue from his nine ceramah stops from Kelantan to here since Friday night, the Pasir Mas MP also said his blood was boiling with rage and “hairs standing on end” following recent reports of a Christian conspiracy between religious leaders and opposition party politicians.

“In Kelantan earlier, I declared before the police, I told the security forces present that if they want to send my messages to Bukit Aman (police), please go ahead.

“Please record my words — if there is any party in Penang, especially the Christian priests who are being backed by the Penang DAP, should continue with their agenda which we already know, I would like to offer that if they want to hold a crusade, we can.

“This is in the spirit of Sultan Saladin Ayubi... if they want to fight a crusade, we can,” he charged.

Saladin was a Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and led the Muslim forces during the Crusades — a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns taken by the Christians to recover the Holy Land from Muslims.

Ibrahim (picture) warned the non-Muslims not to take the silence of their Muslim comrades to mean complacency, saying it was because the latter community placed peace and harmony above everything.

“But we are ready. Silence does not mean fear, we have been silent because we prioritise peace and harmony.

“But these people, if they feel the peace that they have enjoyed all these years is insufficient, or the stability and progress of this nation is not enough and they want to do something that has never once crossed our minds, go ahead... we will be ready,” he said.

He claimed the reason why the non-Muslims were now fearless and brave enough to step up was because they felt secure with the backing of many Muslim liberals and other political leaders including PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

“This is my view... if I am incorrect, it is my right. If I am rude, I apologise. My sins I will bear.

“But why is this happening now... after 53 years? The answer you may know — the main source is because of Anwar’s misdeeds.

“So to them (non-Muslims), this is their time because they are being backed by Nik Aziz, supported by Anwar and spurred by the Malay liberals,” he said.

Ibrahim was referring to the recent row over a controversial newspaper report in Utusan Malaysia entitled “Kristian Agam Rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?) where it was alleged that DAP leaders and Christian priests were conspiring to take over Putrajaya, abolish Islam as the religion of the federation and install a Christian prime minister.

Christian leaders and DAP members have denied the reports and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was even forced to host a meeting with the religious chiefs to solve the issue but Ibrahim insisted last night that the report was true.

For one, he pointed out that a Muslim DAP member had also lodged a report on Friday claiming to know the true story of what transpired during the meeting at a hotel in Penang recently.

“They have been accusing Utusan Malaysia but from the beginning, I said it is valid. It is true.

“Why? Because the MP present at the meeting was Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi. He is an MP like me and I know from his mannerisms and the language he uses,” he said.

Ibrahim also reiterated his recent claim that former Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) members were using local groups for an unsubstantiated plot to replace Islam as Malaysia’s official religion.

He insisted that CPM supporters had infiltrated political parties, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), religious groups and business associations after the party laid down arms in 1989 in order to carry on their activities.

“I am reminding the Malays of this country... where are these CPM members? They have been absorbed into the community. I am confident they have infiltrated political parties, NGOs, and so on.

“These are the remains of PCM... that is why they are brave enough to continue with their agenda.... it is a golden opportunity for them because they now have extraordinary support from Anwar, from PAS and from the Malay liberals,” he said.

Utusan Malaysia’s Christian conspiracy report is presently under police investigation.

According to Ooi, a total of eight pastors and 13 DAP members and event participants have been called forth to give their statements to the police.

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Cemetery ownership issue: Reports lodged againt Rama

The DCM ll was also named in reports filed in Klang where he has been accused of allegedly threatening an MIC Youth leader.

BATU KAWAN: Two Indian community leaders here…

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The DCM ll was also named in reports filed in Klang where he has been accused of allegedly threatening an MIC Youth leader.

BATU KAWAN: Two Indian community leaders here have lodged separate police reports on Saturday on two different issues against Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy and several other persons.

New IPF pro-tem president V Mathiyalagan, 55, and Ladang Batu Kawan Hindu temple, Sri Maha Muthu Mariamman Kovil management committee chairman A Nallakumar, 49, lodged the reports against Ramasamy and others at Batu Kawan police station, under Seberang Perai Selatan district.

In his report, Mathialagan accused Ramasamy and his alleged cronies of plotting to usurp the Batu Kawan cemetery from the ownership of the said Hindu temple and Batu Kawan residents.

He accused Ramasamy, the Batu Kawan MP, of publicly lying about the facts behind the 200-year-old cemetery by claiming that the temple had abandoned the graveyard.

He said Ramasamy, also the DAP deputy secretary-general, lied that the temple has no right over the cemetery, which houses some 1,800 Hindu burial grounds.

He said the temple committee has documented evidence to show proof on its ownership rights over the cemetery land.

Apart from Ramasamy, Mathiyalagan also named the DCM 11′s close aide and Seberang Perai municipal (MPSP) councillor M Ramachandran, Batu Kawan village safety and development committee chairman G Dumani and a local PKR member named as just Ravi as part of the plot.

Ramasamy recently announced that the Penang Hindu Endowments Board (HEB), which he heads, planned to take over the management of the cemetery.

The six-acre cemetery had existed since 1817 under the Gangai Malai estate established during the British rule. Gangai Malai estate was later renamed Ladang Batu Kawan.

Ramasamy claimed that the cemetery was abandoned by the temple management since the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) acquired the area to build a new township during the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.

However, Mathiayalagan, a local resident, dismissed Ramasamy’s claim, saying that the temple committee had been managing the graveyard until now.

‘All lies’

Last week Nallakumar told FMT that the temple committee planned to file a suit against HEB and Ramasamy, and probably the state government, if “anyone tried to steal our cemetery.”

In his police report, Nallakumar alleged that Ramasamy and his political aide M Sateesh had tarnished his reputation by claiming that he had misused a 174-acre agricultural land secured under lease for personal business in a PDC open tender, for personal gains.

Nallakumar said Ramasamy and Sateesh had wrongly accused him of failing to fulfill his promises to contribute part of his income from the agricultural activities to the temple.

“I have never promised anything. Neither was there any clause stating that I must contribute to the temple. It’s my personal business.

“They are spreading lies about it merely because of the cemetery issue,” claimed Nallakumar.

MIC Youth leader files death threat reports

In an unrelated development, an MIC Youth leader has also lodged several police reports against Ramasamy and Sateesh over death threats received via SMS and phone calls.

“I have hard evidence that shows M Sateesh and P Ramasamy are behind these threats,” said Kampung Meru MIC Youth chief G Kalaicelvan (pix) today. He is a popular host of a local debate show on Astro called Alaaram.

Kalaicelvan said he started receiving the threats after posing questions on micro-blogging site, Twitter, about DAP’s administration in Penang.

The first SMS threat was received on May 12 May, followed by another one two days later. The most recent threat was received at 1.18 am today.

The threats, in Tamil, were directed at Kalaichelvan, his wife and daughter.

Kalaichelvan has so far lodged three police reports on the threats.

“They (Ramasamy and Sateesh) have resorted to thug mentality,” he said during a press conference at MIC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

“They could have just responded to my tweet queries,” he added.

When contacted, both Ramasamy and Sateesh denied making the death threats and urged Kalaicelvan to lodge a police report.

“I don’t even know who he is,” a surprised Ramasamy said.

Sateesh meanwhile said he would sue Kalaichelvan for defaming him. “I got nothing to do with this. What he is talking about is nonsense. I will take legal action if he implicates me,” he said.

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Conservative group sues over bin Laden death photos

Washington (CNN) -- A conservative legal watchdog group has filed the first lawsuit seeking public release of video and photographs of the U.S. military raid and aftermath that left al…

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Washington (CNN) -- A conservative legal watchdog group has filed the first lawsuit seeking public release of video and photographs of the U.S. military raid and aftermath that left al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden dead.

Judicial Watch is asking the Department of Defense to comply with a Freedom of Information request for the material, especially photos of the September 11 mastermind lying dead on the third floor of his Pakistan hideout. The legal complaint to force compliance was made in federal court in Washington on Friday.

The group says it is being "irreparably harmed" by the Obama administration's "unlawful withholding of requested records."

Judicial Watch made its initial request the day after the commando assault by Navy SEALs. A similar request for material was filed against the CIA.

President Barack Obama had announced that the U.S. government would not reveal any photographs of the May 2 military action and bin Laden's subsequent burial at sea. Some members of Congress have been allowed to privately view the materials this week.

Some al Qaeda-affiliated leaders, along with domestic and foreign websites and blogs, have questioned whether bin Laden was really killed and whether the details of his death released by the administration were accurate.

A May 9 letter from the Pentagon to Judicial Watch -- mentioned in the legal complaint -- stated, "At this time, we are unable to make a release determination on your request within the 20-day statutory time period" required by federal law. The legal group had the option of filing an administrative appeal directly with the Defense Department, rather than going for a lawsuit.

"The American people have a right to know, by law, basic information about the killing of Osama bin Laden," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. "Incredibly, the Obama administration told us that it has no plans to comply with the Freedom of Information law, so we must now go to court. President Obama's not wanting to 'spike the football' is not a lawful basis for withholding government documents. This historic lawsuit should remind the Obama administration that it is not above the law."

Obama had barred any public release of photos or video, telling CBS News, "It is important to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool." He added, "We don't trot this stuff out as trophies. We don't need to spike the football."

Judicial Watch calls itself a "a conservative, nonpartisan educational foundation (promoting) transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law."

The case is Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense (1:11-cv-00890).

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Malays either spooked or lured by false promises, says Anwar

The opposition leader said Malay society is influenced by the Malay media to fear others. — Picture by Choo Choy May

PETALING JAYA, May 14 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim…

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The opposition leader said Malay society is influenced by the Malay media to fear others. — Picture by Choo Choy May

PETALING JAYA, May 14 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has described the Malay community as victims of fear-mongering tactics by the Malay-language media as well as taken in by the so-called benefits for the Bumiputras. “Malay society is influenced by the Malay media to fear others.
“As if we’re poor because of the Chinese, our house is dirty because of the Chinese, the roads are not fixed, Chinese, no money, prices of goods going up, the Chinese and the Christians,” the PKR de facto leader said at the launch of the Urban Renewal Project in Taman Maju Jaya here.

Anwar arrives at Maju Jaya flats PJS 3 for the launch of the Maju Jaya Urban Renewal Project by the Selangor government today. — Picture by Choo Choy May

The latest controversy to rile the country’s dominant majority was the “Christian Malaysia” report first published by the Umno newspaper Utusan Malaysia last Saturday. The Umno daily carried a front-page article headlined “Kristian agama rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?), claiming the DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to take over Putrajaya and abolish Islam as the religion of the federation.
Utusan Malaysia’s report had been based entirely on unsubstantiated blog postings by two pro-Umno bloggers, alleging that the leaders had taken a pledge during the gathering promising to take over Putrajaya, abolish Islam as the religion of the federation and install a Christian prime minister.
The paper also published a grainy photograph showing what it described as a secret pact between the DAP and pastors at a hotel in Penang last Wednesday.
DAP and Christian leaders have since voiced their rage over the allegations and vehemently denied taking any part in such a pledge.
The Permatang Pauh MP also said that the government had been painting a rosy picture of the country’s economy, yet the people had not felt the economy boom.
“They say foreign investment keeps on coming, then there are the landmark buildings, the twin towers, but for the residents, for the workers, what does development mean to us at the bottom? What do we get?
“If the rakyat do not reap the benefits, no matter how many billions are being made, how many booming companies there may be, in 20 years, we will still remain the same,” he said.

Anwar, together with other PKR leaders, launches the Urban Renewal Project by painting a wall of the Maju Jaya flats. — Picture by Choo Choy May

The former deputy prime minister pointed out that only a minority of the Bumiputras had reaped the benefits of the specially allotted shares under the New Economic Policy (NEM). “I want to ask how much Bumiputera shares since the New Economic Policy (NEM) till now, RM5.4 billion for Bumiputras but which Bumiputras? Aren’t the Bumiputras in Maju Jaya Bumiputra as well?” he asked, claiming that the money had gone to crony companies and family members of political leaders.
Anwar’s PKR leads Pakatan Rakyat (PR) which denied Barisan Nasional (BN) its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority and cost it four states in Election 2008.
BN’s dominant partner Umno is now working to ensure it keeps the key Malay vote in the run-up to the next general election, using the media to show up weaknesses in PR.
The media and pro-Umno bloggers have also been playing up reports of a sex tape showing a man resembling Anwar. The latter will know on Monday if he has to defend himself against a second sodomy complaint.

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‘Emotionally mature’ leaders put Najib to shame

Why did Najib pressure the leaders to give their pledge when Christians have never been disrespectful towards Muslims and Islam?
COMMENT

‘Rakyat diutamakan’ or people first tagline parroted by current…

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Why did Najib pressure the leaders to give their pledge when Christians have never been disrespectful towards Muslims and Islam?
COMMENT

‘Rakyat diutamakan’ or people first tagline parroted by current prime minister Najib Razak is an out and out lie.

If the people are indeed Najib’s priority, he would stop discriminating one race from the other.

The Umno-owned Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia has once again stirred the hornet’s nest through its May 7 article alluding that Christianity would soon oust Islam as the official religion of this country.

Needless to say the report, which Utusan lifted from postings by bloggers, heated up the already tense racial-relationship between Malaysians of different faiths.

And what does Prime Minister Najib do? He continues playing politics, asking the Malays to give their undivided loyalty to Umno so that the party is able to continue its lordship over Malaysia.

That done, he demands a pledge from local leaders of Christianity that they will respect Islam as Malaysia’s official religion.

The leaders were also made to give an undertaking that they will never challenge the provision enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

Why did Najib pressure the leaders to give their pledge when Christians have never been disrespectful towards Muslims and Islam?

No respect

If all that was not enough to mislead the rakyat, Najib also made the Christian leaders give their word – that they will nurture peace and harmony between the various faiths to ensure peace and prosperity never deserted the country.

Such a cowardly act and one that can only come from premier Najib.

Najib has failed the rakyat many times and this May 7 Utusan Malaysia episode takes the cake.

Letting Utusan Malaysia off the hook with a mere warning is evident that Najib refuses to respect the sentiments of the non-Malays, in this respect the Christians.

Why has the Home Ministry stopped short of revoking Utusan Malaysia’s publication permit, for this is not the first time this Malay daily has gone to town with its dubious and slanderous article?

Obviously, as Utusan Malaysia is Umno’s propaganda mouthpiece, the government i.e. Najib will albeit shamelessly be biased towards this newspaper.

But for how long?

Najib’s folly

The idea that pressuring Christian leaders to profess their undivided respect to Islam is going to help appease the Malays is Najib’s folly.

The non-Malays have never deliberately disrespected Islam even when the churches and the Sikh gurdawara or temple were vandalised.

The Hindus were hurt beyond measure when a group of unhappy Muslims severed the head of a cow and stomped on in a show of anger.

The Muslims know the cow is regarded as a sacred animal by Hindus but still…

And just what did Najib’s government do?

The Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had no qualms siding with the Muslims who stomped on the head of cow.

Where was Hishammuddin’s objectivity then as a Minister in restoring calm?

Is Hishammuddin like deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin telling the rakyat that he is a Muslim first and then the Home Minister?

Perhaps Hishammuddin and Muhyiddin can ask Najib’s extravagant think-tank Apco for some advice on how to refrain from displaying their racist streak to the very people who voted them in place.

Or perhaps they can take a cue from the leaders of Christianity who in spite of such tribulations, carried themselves with great emotional maturity, putting premier Najib to shame over his unwillingness to punish the real culprit behind the ‘oust Islam’ drama.

Never ending lies

Najib, who is president of ruling party Umno, is already busy galvanising party members to stay loyal to Umno, which as reality goes, has long deviated from its true purpose of uniting the Malays.

As always, making fraudulent claims has come easy to Najib. This time it was the claim that Umno still retained its “high quality brand” among the voters due to its superb track record.

High quality brand? Superb track record? Who is Najib trying to fool?

As far as memory serves the non-Malays, they will always remember the many threats Umno leaders have made and keep making in safeguarding Malay privileges, in particular the episodes concerning the Malay dagger called ‘keris’.

The manner in which Najib and Hishammuddin dealt with the Utusan Malaysia article defaming Christianity hardly point to any superb track record.

Cousins Najib and Hishammuddin have closed an eye to Utusan’s bigotry and instead decided that is the bloggers who must be punished.

Does this newspaper enjoy immunity, the kind that has left it swollen headed and highly irresponsible?

When the country’s racial ties are far from harmonious, there is no room for arrogance for Umno to bask in.

To get the police to issue traffic summonses to cars parked along Jalan Bukit Nanas in Kuala Lumpur by patrons attending mass at the St.John’s Cathedral church reflects Umno’s disinterest in ensuring relationship between people of different races in the country flourishes.

Pathetic revenge

By the way, was the move to issue traffic summonses a way of punishing the church leadears for making police reports against Utusan Malaysia’s racist and sleazy reporting?

If it was, what a pathetic way to seek revenge. What happens when the Muslims in their rush to attend the obligatory Friday prayer park their cars haphazardly, causing great inconvenience to other road users?

Why is there no police in sight to issue the mosque goers summonses for illegal parking?.

Why this double standard, premier Najib?

And you keep claiming that rakyat diutamakan.

The truth as the people know is otherwise, is it not?

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‘Don’t sensationalise Christian Malaysia issue’

A national non-Muslim council has urged all parties not to stoke further the 'Christian Malaysia' issue.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taosim (MCCBCST)…

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A national non-Muslim council has urged all parties not to stoke further the 'Christian Malaysia' issue.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taosim (MCCBCST) has called on the media to stop sensationalising the Christian Malaysia issue.

It has also urged all relevant parties not to ‘jump into conclusions’ and to wait instead for the full report on the incident to be released.

Speaking to MCCBCST president Rev Thomas Philips said it was important not to “jump into conclusions and create more issues”.

“The police are conducting an investigation, the (Home) Ministry has already come out with a statement, the Christian leaders have come up and said that there was no such (pledge)…there is no need (for other parties) to make (other) unnecessary claims and sensationalize the matter,” he said.

Thomas said no one should doubt that Islam is the religion of the federation and “everyone accepts this fact”.

The alleged “Christian plot” made headlines in Utusan Malaysia recently claimed that the DAP government in Penang, together with Christian leaders, was conspiring to replace Islam as the official religion and to install a Christian prime minister in Putrajaya.

The Utusan report was based on two pro-Umno blog posts. Both the DAP and the Christian leaders have denied this.

Police are currently investigating the matter.

The Home Ministry also announced on Thursday that Utusan has been given a warning over the article, a move some said was too light a punishment.

Also on Thursday, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had met with a group of Christian leaders over the matter.

Najib did not apologise to the community but instead said that the Christian leaders had given a pledge to respect Islam as the official religion.

No apology

Tan declined to speculate on whether the PM was ‘sincerity’ in wanting to tackle the issue as no apology was rendered.

Earlier today FMT reported another Christian leader, Bishop Paul Tan of the Malacca-Johor diocese as being extremely “displeased and disgusted” with the outcome of the meeting with the PM.

He said the Christian leaders had become like “sheep being led to their slaughter” because they had not set a clear agenda for the meeting and hence had walked into the “trap” of conceding that Islam be safeguarded and the Christians agreed to this.

Following the 2008 general election, relious issues have been among issue which has reared its head.

In August 2009, group of Muslims protesting against the construction of a Hindu temple in Selangor paraded in front of the Selangor state secretariat with a severed cow’s head.

The group had marched with the bloodied cow’s head from a mosque to the Selangor menteri besar’s office where some of the protesters stomped and spat on the head and made fiery speeches.

The incident riled Hindus nationwide. Cows are considered sacred animals in Hinduism.

In January 2010, Muslims raged and ranted over a Dec 31, 2009 High Court ruling allowing Catholic weekly, The Herald, to use the term “Allah” in their Bahasa Malaysia publciation. The Home Ministry has appealed the decision.

But it led to widespread arson against churches and a gurdwara.

More recently the federal government detained around 50 000 copies of the Malay language bible Al-Kitab.

According to the federal government the issue has since been ‘resolved’.

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Police report lodged against Facebook insult

The link insults the Malays and Islam, says Penang Umno Youth.

TASEK GELUGOR: The “pandi kutti” mania seems has crept into the cyber social network Facebook as well.

Today, Tasek…

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The link insults the Malays and Islam, says Penang Umno Youth.

TASEK GELUGOR: The “pandi kutti” mania seems has crept into the cyber social network Facebook as well.

Today, Tasek Gelugor division Umno Youth wing has lodged a police report against a Facebook link named “Melayu Memang Babi” (Malays Are Really Pigs).

A check shows that the link has also tagged a pig babe photo as its profile picture.

The link seems to be a group forum rather than an individual.

The Youth wing head Hasbul Hazani Daud lodged the police report against the link at 2.30pm in Sungai Dua police station after the Friday prayers.

He was accompanied by some 30 Umno Youth members from the division.

When contacted, Hasbul said the link name and profile picture had insulted Malays.

“Such racism should not occur in a multi-racial country like ours,” he told FMT.

He called on the police to investigate the case immediately and nab the perpetuators.

“We want the police to charge the culprits under the relevant laws as soon as possible.

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Many quizzed over ‘Christian plot’ reports

Police are using the Sedition Act to investigate the 'Christian plot' issue.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have given “top priority” to the controversial “Christian plot” report, launching an investigation under the…

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Police are using the Sedition Act to investigate the 'Christian plot' issue.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have given “top priority” to the controversial “Christian plot” report, launching an investigation under the Sedition Act aimed at quickly resolving the issue, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said today.

“Please be patient. We need a little time. Wait for our investigations which will be comprehensive and fair,” he said at a press conference at Bukit Aman federal police headquarters here.

Khalid urged the public to stop playing up the touchy issue, saying that police hope to finish the investigation as soon as possible.

“This is a dangerous issue, it is very sensitive. We cannot allow it to be played up,” he said.

Khalid added that police received a report concerning the issue in Penang at about 8.50am today.

He said that the report contained “several variations” from the previous reports, but Khalid declined to devulge more details.

He said “many” people have been questioned and more would be summoned to provide statements.

Yesterday, the home ministry issued a letter of reprimand to Utusan Malaysia over its front-page article on May 7, titled “Kristian Agama Rasmi? (Christianity the official religion?)”.

The article alleged that a group of pastors had participated in a gathering in Penang recently, together with DAP elected representatives, where they discussed a plot to turn Malaysia into a Christian country and install a Christian prime minister.

‘Don’t splash acid on him’

Meanwhile, on the sex video implicating Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, Khalid said that the police have never said they were identifying the person in the video.

“I have never said that…,” he said.

Khalid added that the latest development was that police have received a report from foreign experts that further strenghtens the local experts’ view that the video was authentic. It is learnt that the experts are from the United States.

“This would mean it is not edited and is genuine. We are trying to find out if the video was pornography,” he said.

Khalid added that those who uploaded the video, including several bloggers, would be called in.

On the spate of acid-splashing incidents occurring around the city in the past week, Khalid urged the public to help the police.

“(If you see him), catch him and hand him over to us, that’s my advice. Don’t splash acid on him,” he said, adding that the police are clueless about the perpetrators’ motive, which seemed random.

Khalid said that so far 23 reports have been received on the “acid splashers” including a new report lodged today in Wangsa Maju.

“Please be careful; they target ladies but we find there’s no specific time they do this evil act, ” he said.

In the latest case, a woman in her 30s was splashed with corrosive liquid when she was in her car near Section 10 this morning.

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If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims have reduced Islam to a set of empty…

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If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims have reduced Islam to a set of empty rituals while the spirit of Islam is no longer in the hearts of Muslims.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin
If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims are now divided into many sects and cults and each classifies the other as infidels or kafir.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims have invented a new religion which was not what he taught humankind and which he can no longer recognise.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims are propagating racism, religious intolerance, discrimination and persecution and are threatening fellow Malaysians with bloodshed.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims are upholding fitnah as a way of life and embark on character assassination for worldly gains even though Islam says that this is worse than murder.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims regard corruption and abuse of power as a ‘necessary evil’ in the pursuit of wealth and power.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims are defying the Quran by classifying haram as halal and halal as haram so that they can satisfy their lust for worldly gains and pleasure.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims have become arrogant because they believe that even extremely bad Muslims go to heaven while very good kafirs go to hell.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims believe that a person born a Muslim will always die a Muslim even though by their own acts and omissions they may have fallen out of Islam and have become kafirs without even being aware of it.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims live in countries with the highest corruption and abuse of power and the worst human rights abuses.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that the kafirs in the Western countries are more Islamic in their conduct than Muslims who live in Islamic countries.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims have reduced Islam to a set of empty rituals while the spirit of Islam is no longer in the hearts of Muslims.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims have attributed a set of false sayings and teachings to him, which in many instances contradict the Quran or violate what Islam stands for.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would be very disturbed and sad to see that his followers who call themselves Muslims have adopted many pagan beliefs, traditions and rituals and are confused as to what is real Islam and what is contaminated Islam.

If Prophet Muhammad came back today he would finally be convinced that his followers have abandoned him and have turned their backs on him as had happened to all Prophets before him and as what God had warned him would happen according to the Quran.

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Remember May 13?

On 24 September 1999, I wrote a very long article on May 13 for the PAS party newspaper, Harakah. Those who may not have read it yet can read…

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On 24 September 1999, I wrote a very long article on May 13 for the PAS party newspaper, Harakah. Those who may not have read it yet can read it below. It was republished in the Free Anwar Campaign website in January 2003. Also read what Tunku Abdul Rahman had to say in ‘The Tunku Tapes’.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin
The Tunku on how "May 13" began

From his residence in Penang, 1972:

“It was clear to me as well as the police that in the highly charged political atmosphere after the police were forced to kill a Chinese political party worker on May 4th, 1969, something was bound to happen to threaten law and order because of the resentment towards the Government by the KL Chinese on the eve of the general election. This was confirmed at this man’s funeral on the 9th May when the government faced the most hostile crowd it had ever seen.

Therefore, when the opposition parties applied for a police permit for a procession to celebrate their success in the results of the general election, I was adamant against it because the police were convinced that this would lead to trouble.

I informed Tun Razak about this and he seemed to agree. Now, without my knowledge and actually “behind my back,” there were certain political leaders in high positions who were working to force me to step down as a PM. I don’t want to go into details but if they had come to me and said so I would gladly have retired gracefully.

Unfortunately, they were apparently scheming and trying to decide on the best way to force me to resign. The occasion came when the question of the police permit was to be approved.

Tun Razak and Harun Idris, the MB of the state of Selangor, now felt that permission should be given knowing fully well that there was a likelihood of trouble. I suppose they felt that when this happened they could then demand my resignation.

To this day I find it very hard to believe that Razak, whom I had known for so many years, would agree to work against me in this way. Actually, he was in my house as I was preparing to return to Kedah and I overhead him speaking to Harun over the phone saying that he would be willing to approve the permit when I left. I really could not believe what I was hearing and preferred to think it was about some other permit. In any case, as the Deputy Prime Minister in my absence from KL, he would be the Acting PM and would override my objection. Accordingly, when I was in my home in Kedah, I heard over the radio that the permit had been approved.

It seems as though the expected trouble was anticipated and planned for by Harun and his UMNO Youth. After the humiliating insults hurled by the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, and after the seeming loss of Malay political power to them, they were clearly ready for some retaliatory action. After meeting in large numbers at Harun’s official residence in Jalan Raja Muda near Kampong Bahru and hearing inflammatory speeches by Harun and other leaders, they prepared themselves by tying ribbon strips on their foreheads and set out to kill Chinese. The first hapless victims were two of them in a van opposite Harun’s house who were innocently watching the large gathering. Little did they know that they would be killed on the spot.

The rest is history. I am sorry but I must end this discussion now because it really pains me as the Father of Merdeka to have to relive those terrible moments. I have often wondered why God made me live long enough to have witnessed my beloved Malays and Chinese citizens killing each other.”

The REAL Story of May 13 (Part 1) http://www.freeanwar.net/jan2003/article020103.htm

The REAL Story of May 13 (Part 2) http://www.freeanwar.net/jan2003/article080103.htm

The REAL Story of May 13 (Part 3) http://www.freeanwar.net/jan2003/article170103.htm

The REAL Story of May 13 (Part 4) http://www.freeanwar.net/jan2003/article300103.htm

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Swiss Bank Powers to Probe Taib Holdings

Taib and Najib laugh it up

(Asia Sentinel) Vast amounts of money believed to be held in Swiss banks by the Sarawak chief minister

Just a month after the voters…

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Taib and Najib laugh it up

(Asia Sentinel) Vast amounts of money believed to be held in Swiss banks by the Sarawak chief minister

Just a month after the voters of the Malaysian state of Sarawak returned Abdul Taib Mahmud to office, Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Ray said Thursday that she asking Swiss financial authorities to investigate the chief minister’s assets held in Swiss banks.

In a letter to the Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund, Calmy-Ray indicated that if the investigation finds evidence of corruption from timber sales, Taib’s Swiss assets could be frozen.  The letter was made public by The Sarawak Report, a Sarawak-based website that has published detailed descriptions of Taib’s operations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.  The Bruno Manser Fund is named for a Swiss national who disappeared in Sarawak in the 1980s while campaigning for the rights of the indigenous the Penan tribe.

In the 30 years of Taib’s reign as chief minister, timber companies have cut more than 90 percent of the tropical rainforest, leaving forest-dwellers like the Penan deprived of their means of subsistence and starving, critics allege. The award of timber concessions has made Taib a billionaire, they charge.

In a separate letter made public by the Bruno Manser Foundation, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, which governs money-laundering, agreed to investigate Taib’s holdings in Swiss banks.

The Bruno Manser Fund alleged that Taib is believed to have invested heavily in the Swiss banking system and that Elia Geneid, a Swiss national who married into the Taib family, has profited from  the use of lands held by native Sarawakian tribes. In February 2010, the Fund alleged there are 49 companies connected to Taib in eight countries which are thought to be worth hundreds of millions, if not billions of US dollars.  Transparency International Malaysia and other NGOs have lodged reports against Taib through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

“Taib is believed to have invested a great deal in the once secretive Swiss banks over past decades, although, following recent reforms, he has more recently focused his attention on Monaco which remains famously lax on the matter of money-laundering,” the Sarawak Report said.

The question that arises immediately is who the Swiss authorities would return the funds to if they were discovered to be gained from the illegal sale of timber or other government assets. The Taib-led Barisan Nasional coalition was returned to office with 54.5 percent of the votes but holds 55 of the state assembly’s 71 seats. If the Swiss were to indeed freeze Taib’s Swiss-based assets, returning them to the Malaysian government would presumably put them back into his hands. 

Taib has promised to step down after the election, but so far has not done so and there is considerable reason to believe he has no intention to do so.  The chief minister is considered a close ally and fundraiser for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. In the recent election, the Barisan Nasional, the national ruling coalition in Kuala Lumpur, pulled out all the stops to aid in the reelection campaign, cris-crossing the state to campaign along with other Barisan stalwarts to aid the chief minister’s reelection campaign.

In addition to the Bruno Manser Fund, the Sarawak report, in a long series of reports prior to the election, showed, for instance, that family members and corporations connected to Taib have properties in Canada worth in excess of US$100 million. Taib’s children are the shareholders and directors of numerous companies controlling residential and commercial buildings in Australia, Britain and the United States worth additional hundreds of millions of dollars.

Sakti International Corp. in the United States manages properties totaling an estimated US$80 million including the Abraham Lincoln Building, which houses the FBI’s offices in Seattle, Washington.  Records made public by the Sarawak Report showed that a family dwelling in Seattle was purchased for US$1 from a company to which the Sarawak government granted a timber concession.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission so far has ignored all requests from the Sarawak Report and other NGOs to investigate the Taib family’s assets and how they were acquired.

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Bar wants IGP to act against intimidation by police officer

The Star 
by SHAILA KOSHY

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar has called on the Inspector-General of Police to stop the harassment of lawyers who wanted to meet their clients.…

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The Star 
by SHAILA KOSHY

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar has called on the Inspector-General of Police to stop the harassment of lawyers who wanted to meet their clients.

Its president Lim Chee Wee cited a lawyer’s claim about an officer making references to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to threaten her.

He said Fadiah Nadwa Fikri claimed that when she finally gained access to her client at the Gombak District Police Headquarters in Selayang, the officers refused to let her speak with him in private.

“While she was asserting the right to do so, an officer stood near the window in the room, pointed at her and said threateningly more than once, “Jangan sampai jadi macam SPRM” (don’t let this be like the MACC case).”

Lim said the remark was presumably a reference to the deaths of a witness and a suspect, in separate incidents, at the MACC.

“Fadiah claimed that when she responded, ‘Are you intimidating me? Are you trying to push me out of the window?’ the police officer did not refute her.”

He said the blatant harassment was a grave incursion on the independence of the Bar and the freedom that a lawyer must have to advise and act for clients without fear or favour.

As officers of the court, Lim said any interference with their rights and duties was an affront to the dignity of the courts and the administration of justice.

Fadiah said the alleged incident had taken place on May 4 and she had made a statement to the Bar Council.

She said she had not lodged a police report as she was busy preparing the case papers for her client, one of the two Emergency Ordinance detainees whose family had been conned out of RM13,000 by a bogus cop for police bail.

At a press conference on May 5, Fadiah’s lawyer had given police 24 hours to arrest those responsible for criminal intimidation. They have yet to respond to her allegation.

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USM retention pond overflows into Jalan Sungai Dua

The floods at Jalan Sungai Dua in Penang during a heavy downpour today were partly due to an overflowing retention pond at the USM campus, the chairman of a nearby…

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The floods at Jalan Sungai Dua in Penang during a heavy downpour today were partly due to an overflowing retention pond at the USM campus, the chairman of a nearby apartment complex that suffered major damage said today.

Jalan Sungai Dua - Photo credit: The Star

The flooded basement level car park of the apartment complex along Jalan Sungai Dua

The Sri Saujana apartment complex near USM suffered thousands of ringgit worth of damages – not for the first time – as floods knocked out power to the entire complex and even the back-up generator. The outdoor car park at the basement level was almost completely submerged as surrounding drains were unable to cope with rising water.
Just a few months ago, the Sri Saujana residents’ committee chairman, Robert Ooi, had written to the DID and USM about the retention pond, telling them of the complex’s previous experiences with floods, which resulted in tens of thousands of ringgit worth of damages for the residents.
The DID sent an officer to inspect the premises and the department then wrote to Ooi, agreeing that the source of the problem was the USM retention pond. But the DID pinned the problem on surrounding drains outside DID jurisdiction (including inside the apartment complex), which it said were not large enough to cope.
USM, for its part, failed to reply. This is not the first time that the overflowing USM retention pond has resulted in major damage to the apartment complex. Similar floods occurred in 1997 and on other occasions including last year. But today’s was among the worst.
When contacted tonight, Sim Tze Tzin, the Bayan Baru MP who visited the area this evening, said three factors contributed to the flooding along Jalan Sungai Dua: the heavy downpour, the breaching of the USM retention pond and a culvert (which apparently comes under JKR jurisdiction) that is not big enough for the drain crossing under Jalan Sungai Dua from USM.
The USM public relations section, meanwhile, sent an sms to Sim, part of which read: “Anyway, USM authority really concern and prihatin terhadap apa jua isu setempat. Namun ia perlu diteliti dgn mdalam krn ia juga melibatkan pelbagai pihak lain yg perlu diselaras, apatah lagi setelah lebih 40 tahun, tdpt juga byk perubahan sekitarnya terutamany pembangunan yg pesat berlaku di dlm dan di luar kampus USM. USM akan terus mencari jln mengatasinya sebaik mungkin. Menuding jari bukan jln terbaik utk menyelesai masalah. TK”
For a start, the buck has to stop somewhere. USM should reply to the residents’ committee and tell them exactly what they are going to do to control the retention pond on its premises.
And something has to be done to the surrounding drains along Jalan Sungai Dua to cope with any excess flow from USM.

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Sneak peek: A home with personality

A teacher and mother-of-two uses her spare time to create a home to reflect who she is, writes ANUSHA K

FOR Kavimalar Nagarajah, who turns 30 this year, nothing beats…

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A teacher and mother-of-two uses her spare time to create a home to reflect who she is, writes ANUSHA K

FOR Kavimalar Nagarajah, who turns 30 this year, nothing beats thinking about how to make her home a beautiful sanctuary.

That is why she spends most of her time watching TV shows or reading magazines on home decor, and window-shopping for anything that catches her fancy.

A schoolteacher, she lives in a double-storey corner house at Taman Puchong Utama, Selangor with her two children. Her husband is currently in Dubai Marina, working as a tender manager.

Kavimalar wanted a home that reflected her personality. So she went about selecting fabrics, textures and designs, and had beams put up and wall papers pasted.

She scouted around for furniture and decor items at bargain prices. Most of the furniture was purchased from Cavenzi furniture store, with picture frames from Ikea and the rest of the decor pieces from various stores in Puchong.

She also got knick-knacks from Dubai when visiting her husband there — stainless steal curtains rings (which were exceptionally cheap), vases and sculptures. The “brick walls” in her living room stand out and give an edgy feel when compared with dull, white walls. These are actually tiles made to look like bricks.

“Though brick walls are usually used for the exterior facade, I felt that they would also look nice indoors. They are easier to clean and with children around, a white wall would never stay white, so the brown and mauve bricks are the best for me,” she said.

The cozy, majestic grey sofa set in her living room was bought for RM2,800, inclusive of the geometric-patterned cushions. She paired the sofa with a cream and brown woollen carpet.

She also had a “fire place” built in her living room, with the coals replaced with a variety of flower pots and decor items to brighten up the space, and a storage area beneath it. To cap it all, chandelier lights hang from the wall carving on the ceiling.

Built on a raised platform next to the kitchen is the dining area. To add a rustic touch, wooden wall papers and beams are used. The beams are made from high-quality plywood while the dining table is made of teakwood.

Artificial lilies, orchids and roses abound in both the living and dining rooms.


The porch is filled with white pebbles with a water feature and money plants in a corner. Bamboo shoots are planted around the house. The result is a Zen-like atmosphere to the garden.

“After gardening, I usually sit in the porch and have a cup of tea. Feeling the breeze and listening to the sound of running water as I watch my children play is the best part of my day,” said Kavimalar.

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