PI Bala returns to hero's welcome, swears by SD1

Former private investigator P Balasubramaniam today publicly swore that his first statutory declaration in July 2008 linking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to slain Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu was the truth.

Speaking to reporters after arriving at KLIA this evening, a teary-eyed Balasubramaniam held a copy of the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita and stressed that the statutory declaration (SD) he made to nullify the first document was untrue.

“I swear on this holy book that the first SD is the truth and nothing but the truth. I'm sorry to all of you that the second SD is not true,” he said.
Balasubramaniam's first statutory declaration contained vivid details of his alleged interactions with several personalities leading to Altantuya's final days.

Among other issues, he claimed that Najib was close to Altantuya.

Just one day after making the SD public, he withdrew it with a second SD, claiming that he had made the first under duress.

Following this episode, he fled the country and has since claimed that the first was true and it was the second SD that was made under duress.

'They can't afford to harm me'

Balasubramaniam is now back in the country alone to campaign for Pakatan Rakyat, leaving his wife and children abroad.
Balasubramaniam said that he would be revealing more about the Altantuya murder in the coming days.

"On that day, I will let you know what happened, inch-by-inch," he said.

Asked if he was still concerned over his safety, Balasubramaniam said yes.

“But I tell you, if something happens to me tomorrow, where will you point the finger?

“There has already been one murder. Do you want a second murder?” he said, cryptically.
To another question, Balasubramaniam said he would not actively seek collaboration with Deepak Jaikishan, the well-connected carpet trader who was instrumental in the preparation of SD2.

“(But) if he (Deepak) comes forward and wants to work with me, I am okay with it. But I won’t go looking for him,” he said.

'May Sugumar be the last police custodial death case'

A candlelight vigil was held last night to remember the tragedy of former security guard Sugumar Chelladuray who was allegedly beaten to death by four cops in Hulu Langat last month.

30 civil society representatives and Pakatan Rakyat leaders held the roughly 30 minute memorial in the busy shopping district of Penang’s famous Little India, and drew the attention of curious shoppers.

PKR vice-president N Surendran kicked off the proceedings announcing that the vigil was being concurrently held in Kuala Lumpur, to seek justice for Sugumar whose body he said is decomposing by the day in the morgue.

“The family is not able to carry out the final Hindu funeral rites for Sugumar (as they are awaiting) a second autopsy by an independent forensic pathologist,” he said, while carrying a candle to mark the one month anniversary of the victim’s death.

“All Prime Minister Najib Razak has to do is allow (Thailand’s) Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand to come to Malaysia to carry out the autopsy,” he added, all the while under the watchful eyes of a few Special Branch officers who were busy recording his speech.

“We want to make sure his is the last death in custody case. That is why we are going on this nationwide tour so that Sugumar will get the justice he deserves. Action must be taken on the perpetrators,” he said.

Despite PKR’s insistence, Najib has denied preventing Pornthip from coming to Malaysia for the autopsy, describing the allegations as “fairy tales”.

Surendran was accompanied by PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya, Pantai Jerejak assemblyperson Sim Tze Tzin and Pemantau representative and Bersih committee member Toh Kin Woon.
'Giving cops bad name'

Former army officer Azizan Salleh who represents the NGO Kerabat said he felt sad over Sugumar’s case as such cases should not be happening in a develop country like Malaysia.

“There are international (laws) where  even in times of war, we cannot torture our prisoners. But here, there have been too many cases,” he said.

“Yes, there are those in the force, police who are professional, but there are also some bad apples. We really sympathise with Sugumar’s family.

“In Islam, we cannot do such a thing. Whoever did it - don't you realise you will have to face Allah?

“The consequence for your action is hell. Those who did it have really brought ill repute to the police,” said Azizan.

Pantai Jerejak assemblyperson Sim Tze Tzin said everyone, including Sugumar’s family have the right to know how and why he died such a tragic death.

“There are many of such cases, even in Penang. Many families do not dare come out to voice their grievances, so the cases are left unresolved,” he said.

“There are many policemen who are good but there are also irresponsible ones,” he added, referring to the most recent death in custody case of Cheah Chin Lee, who died in a police lockup in Tanjung Tokong after spending 20 minutes there.
Cops keep distance
Meanwhile, in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, about 50 people held a smaller candlelight vigil to raise awareness about Sugumar’s death.

PKR information bureau member K Gunasekaran told Malaysiakini that the crowd gathered for an hour and half from 8.30pm.

"We walked towards the nearby shops and raised awareness on (the case of) Sugumar," he said.

He said 10 policemen were spotted at the scene but they did not intervene.
In the incident last month, four police officers were alleged to have chased, handcuffed and then smeared turmeric powder on Sugumar's face, before beating him to death along with a mob at Taman Pekaka, Hulu Langat.
Several eyewitnesses claimed to have witnessed the events, but their statements had not been taken when the police declared the case 'sudden death'.
Additional reporting by Lu Wei Hoong.

The First Available Video on Canning Riot. Muslims Had Planning to Make Another Noakhali.

Strasbourg: Muslim Smashes Up Church, Leaves Koran and Muslim Prayer Carpet Inside and Writes "Allahu Akbar" on Smashed Statues

A 24-year-old Moroccan has been arrested in Strasbourg, suspected of having damaged statues in a church and of having placed a prayer carpet and a Koran stolen from a mosque.

Taken into custody on Thursday, the suspect has acknowledged the facts. He is going to be subjected to psychiatric examination. According to the priest of the church concerned, located in the centre of Strasbourg, he "probably" has psychological problems.

The man is suspected of having toppled around 15 statues. "He wrote 'Allah ou akbar' [God is the greatest] in Arabic with chalk, especially underneath thet status, and placed a Koran on a pulpit," specified the priest.

The man was exposed by officials of the Grand Mosque of Strasbourg, who noticed that several times he had stolen objects from the mosque, including the imam's prayer carpet, indicated one of the officials of the mosque.

'He branded me so people knew I was his': Sex slave aged 11 describes how 'trafficker disfigured her flesh with heated hairpin'

• Nine men are accused of grooming and abusing vulnerable girls in Oxford
• Child sex ring allegedly abused several girls - aged 11 to 16 over eight years
• Gang member allegedly branded one schoolgirl with 'M' for Mohammed

In the dock: Kamar Jamil, Akhtar Dogar, Anjum Dogar, Assad Hussain, Mohammed Karrar, Bassam Karrar, Mohammed Hussain, Zeeshan Ahmed and Bilal Ahmed are accused of abusing vulnerable girls as young as 11 over the course of eight years in Oxford. They all deny the charges

A young girl has told a court how her sex attacker branded her with his initial.

The child was just 11 when Mohammed Karrar, 38, allegedly bought her and loaned her to abusers all around the country for £600 a year.

She told a court yesterday about being mutilated by a hairpin, saying: 'After heating it up for a little while, he stuck it on my bum.

'It was M for Mo and he said I belonged to him. He was branding me so people knew I was his.'

Over five years the girl, now 19, was repeatedly raped by large groups of men in what she described as ‘torture sex’, the jury was told last month.

Seven men of Pakistani origin and two from North Africa are accused of 79 offences against six vulnerable white British girls. The charges include child rape, sexual trafficking and child prostitution.

Noel Lucas QC, prosecuting, said Karrar – known as Egyptian Mo – bought the youngest victim from an unnamed man just after her 11th birthday.

He befriended her with gifts of perfume and hard drugs but then began to beat her up and raped her, the Old Bailey was told.

He branded her with one of her hair pins, which he had twisted into the shape of an ‘M’ and heated with a cigarette lighter. It left a scar on her left buttock.

‘He regarded her as his property,’ Mr Lucas said. ‘He showed her no regard. If she had the temerity to resist, he beat her.

‘He branded her to make her his property and to ensure others knew about it.’ At the age of 12 she was introduced to Karrar’s brother Bassam, 33, who is also accused of raping her.

The girl ‘describes the Karrars as sick sex monsters’, Mr Lucas said. ‘They were always talking about sex and spoke about women in a vile manner.

‘Mohammed Karrar liked her to dress up and act out role play. Both brothers used to beat her.’

From the age of 12 the girl was sold to groups of Asian men who violently raped her in private homes and guesthouses around Oxford and elsewhere. Sometimes she was injected with heroin or given date drugs to ensure she complied with the gang’s sick demands, it was alleged.

Mr Lucas added: ‘It became routine for her to be taken to various locations, houses and hotels by the Karrar brothers so she could treat their guests. She would be made to dress up, wear very short skirts and a bikini top, do her hair and put on lots of make-up.

The jury of seven men and five women at the Old Bailey were told that the men targeted care homes and schools to find their victims

By the end of the evening she would have been sexually used and abused by all the men. She would be so drugged up as to be unable to feel the pain.’

Just after her 12th birthday the girl told Karrar she was carrying his child. He allegedly beat her up and then took her to a house in Reading where she was given a ‘backroom abortion’ using a crochet hook.

On other occasions Karrar raped the girl in the living room of her own home as her father slept in another room, it was said.

Sometimes his friends would arrive at her house and they would allegedly rape her too. The girl, who came from a troubled family, naively believed ‘Mo’ loved her and was going to marry her when she was 16, the court heard.

During a trip to the Lake District in 2007, when she was 14, she is said to have been called by Karrar on her mobile phone.

David Hughes, a social worker, answered and Karrar allegedly asked to speak to her.

When Mr Hughes refused, Karrar allegedly said: ‘If you don’t get her I’ll **** you up, I’ll **** her up and I’ll **** her mum.’ Later the girl told the social worker of ‘men who took her to houses’.

In January 2008, she told police a man called ‘Egyptian Mo’ had raped her in London nine months previously. Two years later the girl contacted her alleged attacker for an apology but was raped again, the court heard.

Kamar Jamil, 27, Akhtar Dogar, 32, his brother Anjum Dogar, 30, Assad Hussain, 32, Mohammed Karrar, Bassam Karrar, Mohammed Hussain, 24, Zeeshan Ahmed, 27, and Bilal Ahmed, 26, deny all the charges against them.

The trial continues.

Tee Keat keeps direct candidacy option open

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat (pic) has not ruled out the idea of contesting as a direct Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate but said tonight he would only discuss the option “when the time comes”.

The former MCA president also insisted that there was no need to consider that option at the moment as news that he would be dropped from the Pandan race in Election 2013 was merely speculation.

“It is only speculation. We will see when the time comes,” he told reporters at his constituency’s Chap Goh Meh event here.

The event was also attended by BN chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who Ong said will ultimately have the last say on whether or not the Pandan MP will continue to defend his seat for the sixth term.

The former minister, however, said no discussion on his candidacy took place with Najib who was only at the event briefly.

“No, there was no discussion on that,” he said.

The BN chairman hinted yesterday that the ruling coalition had hinted at the possibility of allowing its members to contest as BN candidates that could be “winnable” but unpopular within their respective parties.

“Wait and see. When the time comes (it’ll be revealed). I don’t want to jump the gun,” The Star quoted him as saying.

BN had once fielded an independent candidate under its banner during the 1995 federal polls. Hulu Rajang MP then, Billy Abit Joo, made history as BN’s first candidate to contest as the coalition’s member.

Billy Abit did not belong to any of the component parties as there was no provision that required a BN member to do so. He later joined the Sarawak People’s Party.

The idea prompted suggestions that popular Mas Gading MP Datuk Tiki Lafe could also contest as a direct candidate after his faction, which includes four other parliamentarians and one state assemblyman, left the Sarawak Progressive Democratic party.

Should this happen, the same could be used for Ong in Pandan, an urban constituency in Selangor with a large Chinese population.

There was also talks that PKR leadership had once considered Ong as PKR’s candidate in Pandan for Election 2013 but shelved the suggestion in favour of its strategic director Rafizi Ramli. The MCA leader denied the claim.

It is understood that Ong is favoured by senior leaders in Umno to defend his Pandan parliamentary seat because of his personal popularity among constituents there

Ong’s rivalry with the current MCA president, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, sparked rumours that he would be dropped in favour of Gary Lim, the party’s legal bureau head, for the Pandan contest.

At a Pandan MCA Chinese New Year gathering on Wednesday night, Dr Chua had told reporters that Ong was not included in the party’s list of possible candidates for the 13th general election, which must be held by June.

Asked if the rivalry could paralyse the party’s machinery and polls preparation in Pandan, Ong dismissed the idea, saying a win depended on many other factors and not solely on individuals.

The Pandan MP, however, refused to rate BN’s chances of retaining the seat, merely saying the party machinery there had worked hard since Election 2008.

“Despite the various obstacles and challenges, their spirit is never broken,” he said.

End of Islam under Pakatan rule, warns Najib

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 ― Voting PKR and PAS will divide the Muslim community and destroy their aqidah (faith), Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said, in a warning to Malay voters against supporting the opposition in Election 2013.

Najib (picture) also added that supporting DAP would see “Islam oppressed” if the Chinese-dominated component of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) were to be voted into power, according to Sunday Star.

“A vote for PKR will destroy the aqidah (faith) while a vote for PAS will only result in disunity among Muslims,” the Umno president was quoted as saying at the launch of his administration’s “Jelajah Janji Ditepati (Promises Fulfilled Tour)” in Terengganu yesterday.

“As for DAP, a vote for them will see Islam being oppressed”.

The BN chairman’s statement comes amid rising tension between the country’s majority Muslims and minority Christians over the tussle on “Allah”, an Arabic word for god that Muslims insist was exclusive to them.

Malaysian Christians, however, said it was their right to use the term to describe their god, especially for those in Sabah and Sarawak where “Allah” has been used in religious texts and sermons purportedly for centuries.

The term is also used by the Sikhs in their religious scriptures.

The “Allah” storm was reignited recently when DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng urged Putrajaya in a Christmas message to lift its ban on the word published in Malay-language bibles shipped to East Malaysia, where the bulk of Malaysia’s 9.2 per cent Christian population reside.

This led to the Sultan of Selangor issuing a blanket ban against non-Muslims using “Allah” in the state, a move that sparked legal confusion in light of the December 2009 High Court ruling that the term was not restricted to Muslims and the Catholic Church had the constitutional right to publish the word in the Malay section of its weekly newspaper, The Herald.

PR also differed with the Selangor Sultan’s decree, insisting that Islam does not prohibit others from using the word.

Explaining the federal opposition’s position, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang told a joint press conference with PR leaders that Christians and other non-Muslim communities should not abuse the word to spread confusion among Muslims but this did not mean they were not allowed to use the word.

The Islamist party, however, was seen backtracking on its position when some members from the party’s highest decision-making body, the Syura Council, said “Allah” can be used orally but not translated in religious texts.

The move drew criticism from DAP chairman Karpal Singh who felt PAS was politicking on the issue to placate its conservative powerbase.

Najib saw this as PAS’s failure to defend Islam, according to a report in New Sunday Times today.

“When DAP belittled Islam, made statements that offended Muslims, what did PAS do? They did nothing and bowed down to DAP leaders,” the English language newspaper quoted the prime minister as saying.

The BN chairman added that voters were beginning to reject the Islamist party as “mengarut (nonsense)”, saying that Muslim voters now look to Barisan Nasional as the only safeguard to the sanctity of Islam.

However, observers noted the Najib administration was unresponsive to calls for intervention by minority groups who felt a concrete policy on the issue could have easily contained the tension and end the controversy.

Najib’s statement also came after he made a rare Vatican visit in mid-2012, in what appeared to be an attempt to repair frayed Muslim-Christian ties.

Political analysts pointed out that communal politicking had escalated in recent months in the run up to Election 2013, which must be held by June.

PI Bala: I swear first SD was the truth

The first statutory declaration linked Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shariibuu.

SEPANG Former private investigator P Balasubramaniam returned to Malaysia today and immediately declared that the first statutory declaration (SD) he made in 2008 on the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shariibuu was the truth.

Holding up a Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita, he swore that the allegation linking Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to the murder contained in the first SD was a fact.

“I swear on this holy book that the first SD was the truth. But the circumstances that happened to me that night [after I produced the first SD] forced me to change.

“I m very sorry. But the truth can only be the truth. My lawyer and I sat for two months to draft the first SD,” he told reporters on arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here.

Balasubramaniam was greeted by more than 50 people, mostly from PKR including Subang MP R Sivarasa.

Sivarasa, PKR Rembau division chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin (Chegubard) and a few PKR-linked NGO leaders took turns to garland the emotional Balasubramaniam while the crowd chanted “Welcome Bala, Long Live Bala”.

In his first SD announced on July 3, 2008, Balasubramaniam claimed that he was engaged by Abdul Razak Baginda in 2006 to deal with the Altantuya’s harassment. He was also told that Najib had a sexual relationship with Altantuya.

Balasubramaniam alleged that Najib was involved in the murder of Altantuya and the then Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan was asked to “take care” of the case for Najib.

However, he produced the SD the next day and retracted all his allegations against Najib.

He has since disappeared from public view and has reportedly been staying in India.

Balasubramaniam said his return was hassle-free as the Immigration Department officials did not harass him and only asked him about his address.

He also confirmed that carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan was the one who persuaded him to retract his first SD, but added that he would not team up with Deepak for a series of exposé on the Altantuya murder case

“Let me do my thing myself. I won’t specially go and do [a press conference] with him. I have full knowledge of the first SD. I can do it myself,” he said.

He also said he would not be overly worried about his safety, because should anything happen to him, it would paint the perpetrator in the Altantuya murder case in a bad light.

“If something happen to me tomorrow, where would you point your finger? There was already the first murder, do you want a second murder?” he said.

Balasubramaniam left for his home in Rawamg.

His first ceramah will be held at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall at 8pm on Feb 27. He will be sharing the same stage with Badrul Hisham and national laureate A Samad Said.

Dakwah untuk Ridhuan Tee

Seruan untuk Ridhuan Tee mengikuti dakwah dalam Islam timbul ekoran dari penulisan artikel beliau beliau bertajuk Kesabaran umat Islam ada hadnya

PETALING JAYA: Perunding media, motivasi dan penerbitan Uthaya Sankar SB menyeru agar Profesor Madya di Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia dan kolumnis akhbar Sinar Harian, Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah didakwah.

“Sepertimana dijelaskan oleh Dr Kamariah Kamarudin dalam buku kajian ilmiah berjudul Takmilah dalam Novel Melayu terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka pada 2011, dakwah sebenar dalam Islam bermula dengan dakwah terhadap ahli keluarga, terhadap orang Islam (dalam masyarakat) dan terhadap masyarakat luar (beragama Islam); sebelum memikirkan soal dakwah terhadap orang “Bukan Islam”.

“Islam sesungguhnya agama yang indah dan menyeru ke arah perpaduan, keamanan dan sikap bertolak ansur,” kata Uthaya dalam satu kenyataan media pada hari ini.

Ridhuan Tee atau Tee Chuan Seng juga sangat aktif di dalam kegiatan berdakwah.

Seruan itu dibuat ekoran artikel Ridhuan bertajuk “Kesabaran umat Islam ada had” yang diterbitkan pada 18 Februari.

Artikel tersebut mengkritik tindakan MIC yang menggesa kerajaan membenarkan penayangan filem Tamil bertajuk Vishwaroopam. Ridhuan di dalam artikel tersebut turut mengkritik sambutan perayaan Thaipusam sebagai “Lautan manusia satu warna berhimpun, seolah-olah tidak ada warna lain lagi di negara ini.”

Artikel tersebut turut mendakwa bahawa terdapat peningkatan bilangan kuil Hindu sejak tahun 2008.

Ekoran itu, Ridhuan telah dikecam oleh ahli politik PKR S Jayathas mendakwa Ridhuan cuba menimbulkan huru-hara.

Pengarah strategi MIC S Vell Paari pula melabelkan Ridhuan sebagai Melayu Jalan Petaling kerana Ridhuan ialah orang Cina beragama Islam. Vell Paari juga mahu Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Hishamuddin Hussein mengambil tindakan terhadao Ridhuan.

Ketika Ridhuan dihubungi, beliau memilih untuk berdiam diri dan berkata bahawa beliau bertanggungjawab ke atas penulisannya.

Beberapa pertubuhan bukan kerajaan telah berdemonstrasi di hadapan Sinar Harian pada hari Jumaat.

Penasihat editorial akhbar Sinar Harian, Datuk Abdul Jalil Ali dilaporkan memohon maaf kepada kaum India beragama Hindu atas penyiaran rencana tulisan Ridhuan.

“Saya tidak berhasrat meminta akhbar Sinar Harian atau mana-mana penerbitan lain serta mana-mana organisasi lain mengambil tindakan “menghukum” Chuan Seng dengan memulaukannya.

“Sebaliknya, tindakan Chuan Seng sepatutnya menjadi suatu “pengajaran” kepada pihak terbabit supaya berhati-hati dengan golongan “ultra kiasu” (mengulangi istilah yang pada asalnya digunakan oleh Chuan Seng terhadap kaum India dan Cina dalam tulisannya) yang menggugatkan keamanan dan perpaduan dalam kalangan masyarakat pelbagai kaum dan agama di Malaysia,” tambah Uthaya Sankar di dalam kenyataannya.

Pakatan yakin menang hampir 140 kerusi, kata sumber

Najib di Sarawak hari ini, seminggu selepas menghabiskan dua hari di Sabah minggu lalu. — Gambar fail

KUALA LUMPUR, 22 Feb — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) yakin akan memenangi hampir 140 kerusi parlimen dalam Pilihan Raya 2013 dengan kemenangan di Sabah, Sarawak dan Johor akan memberikan mereka majoriti mudah untuk menubuhkan kerajaan, kata sumber. The Malaysian Insider difahamkan pemimpin PR telah menghitung peluang di beberapa negeri tetapi bilangan mereka bergantung kepada keupayaan untuk menyatukan pembangkang di Sabah.

Disebalik keyakinan PR, pemerintah Barisan Nasional (BN) telah membuat tinjauan yang menunjukkan mereka boleh menang sehingga 145 kerusi, lebih tinggi dari 112 kerusi untuk majoriti mudah dan di bawah 148 kerusi untuk majoriti dua pertiga.

Kaji selidik bebas bagaimanapun menunjukkan BN boleh menang diantara 105 dan 117 kerusi, dengan kaji selidik trend pengundian terbaru menunjukkan kedudukan kelulusan Umno hampir 40 peratus, jauh lebih rendah daripada kelulusan untuk Perdana Menteri dan presiden Umno Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“Pemimpin Pakatan bercakap mengenai kemungkinan menang sekurang-kurangnya 138 kerusi, mungkin sehingga 140 dengan kerja keras yang telah dilakukan semenjak 2008,” kata sumber kepada The Malaysian Insider, merujuk kepada pilihan raya lalu apabila tiga parti tersebut menang 82 kerusi parlimen dan lima negeri.

Kemenangan DAP, PAS dan PKR selepas bekerjasama pada 2008 menyebabkan penubuhan PR walaupun ianya masih belum berdaftar. BN merupakan satu-satunya gabungan politik berdaftar di Malaysia.

Pemimpin de facto PR Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim telah memberi tahu agensi berita Bloomberg pertempuran utama dalam Pilihan Raya 2013 adalah di Sabah dan Sarawak, yang menawarkan 56 daripada 222 kerusi parlimen.

Kedua-dua negeri Borneo itu dilihat sebagai “deposit tetap” untuk BN tetapi Suruhanjaya Siasatan Di Raja (RCI) mengenai pemberian kewarganegaraan sebagai pertukaran kepada undi memberikan imej buruk kepada gabungan pemerintah itu.

Krisis dengan militan bersenjata Sulu di bandar pantai timur Lahad Datu di Sabah telah menimbulkan persoalan tentang keupayaan Putrajaya untuk mempertahankan negeri tersebut.

Difahamkan PR berharap untuk menang besar di Sarawak dan Sabah, bukan hanya di kawasan bandar di mana masyarakat Cina dominan menyokong parti pembangkang itu tetapi juga di beberapa kawasan luar bandar di mana pemimpin PR telah menerima sambutan yang hangat.

Pakatan juga memberikan tumpuan di Johor dimana beberapa pemimpin penting PAS dan DAP dihantar untuk bertanding. Ini termasuklah Naib Presiden PAS Salahuddin Ayub dan ahli strategi DAP Liew Chin Tong — masing-masing merupakan ahli parlimen.

“Kami mendapat respon yang baik dari penduduk Sabah dan Sarawak dan ini membimbangkan BN. Sebab itu pemimpin BN melawat dua negeri tersebut dengan lebih kerap,” kata sumber dari PR kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Najib di Sarawak hari ini, seminggu selepas menghabiskan dua hari di Sabah minggu lalu. Pengerusi BN itu mempunyai satu lagi pusingan melawat negeri yang akan berakhir di kerusi parlimennya Pekan pada 16 Mac.

The Malaysian Insider melaporkan baru-baru ini Najib berkemungkinan membubarkan parlimen selepas 16 Mac dan mendapatkan mandat pertamanya dengan pilihan raya yang akan diadakan pada pertengahan April.

Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) akan mengazetkan daftar pemilih terbaru hari ini dan dilaporkan 13.64 juta telah mendaftar sebagai pengundi, termasuk 3,000 dari luar negara.

SPR akhirnya membenarkan rakyat Malaysia yang tinggal di luar negara untuk mengundi — sebelum ini hanya diberikan kepada pekerja kerajaan dan pelajar tajaan kerajaan dalam pilihan raya lalu.

Ucapan Tok Guru Nik Aziz BR1M & Haiwan vs Versi TV3 & Utusan FULL

45-Day Countdown to 13GE – Proposal for a 10-point addendum to TI’s Election Integrity Pledge to ensure signatories are signing a meaningful document to usher in a new era of integrity

It is quite entertaining to see UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders trying to create a song and dance on statements by Pakatan Rakyat leaders voicing reservations about the authority, credibility and legitimacy of Transparency International’s (TI) Election Integrity Pledge after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had signed the pledge.

This is because Najib must bear full responsibility for Malaysia plunging to the lowest rankings of the annual TI Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in the past 18 years.
Swiftly after Najib’s statement in Kuching on Friday that Pakatan Rakyat leaders should sign the TI Election Integrity Pledge if they are committed in fighting corruption and abuse of power, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz quickly followed suit, dramatically declaring yesterday that “When the time comes, I will sign to affirm that I am not involved in corruption, crime and have no debt with the government”.

Many thanks to Nazri, for he had reminded every Malaysian that Najib had failed to make such an affirmation when signing the TI Election Integrity Pledge on Wednesday that he is not involved in corruption, crime and have no debt with the government!

Is Najib going to have a re-signing ceremony for the TI Election Integrity Pledge so that he could categorically and unequivocally make such a declaration, or is it because to use Nazri’s words, he is “scared and have something to hide”?

I do not think Nazri or any UMNO/BN leader, including the two former Prime Ministers Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah would dare to contradict the statement that of all the six Prime Ministers in the nation’s 56-year history, Najib as incumbent Prime Minister is hounded and haunted by the most number of mega allegations of corruption, cronyism and abuse of power – including involvement in an allegation of murder!

Now, many more allegations of corruption, cronyism and abuse of power are awaiting expose particularly by private investigator P. Balasubramaniam and carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan.

Nazri cannot be more wrong when he said that “only scared people are afraid to sign and give various reasons for not signing it”.
Several Pakatan Rakyat MPs have signed the TI Election Integrity Pledge even before Najib and I myself have no problem with signing the TI Election Integrity Pledge.

However, I developed reservations after Najib had signed the TI Election Integrity Pledge, which reminded me of the story of Martin Luther, the father of Reformation who rebelled against the Roman Catholic Church over the sale of indulgences to be absolved from sin.

Have we in Malaysia reached a stage where the sins of corruption could be absolved with a signature?

If a Prime Minister who had caused Malaysia to descend to the worst levels of corruption of any Prime Minister in the nation’s 56-year-history could overnight transform himself into a crusader against corruption and abuse of power just because he had put his signature to the TI Election Integrity Pledge, isn’t this the greatest insult and dishonouring to all honest men and women who over the decades had stood up for honesty and integrity?

It would appear that the TI Election Integrity Pledge has a greater transformative power than Najib’s various National Transformation Programmes and Plans as to transform him into a great fighter against corruption!

Najib has been called a “false democrat”. Is he going to have an added appellation as a “false fighter against corruption”?

I am prepared to sign TI’s Election Integrity Pledge but it must be a meaningful event, not like the sale of indulgences in the Middle Ages to absolve sins with cash, but in Malaysia, to absolve corruption with a signature!

I propose a 10-point addendum to TI Election Integrity Pledge to ensure signatories are signing a meaningful document to usher in a new era of integrity.
The full details of this 10-point addendum can be discussed and decided by TI and the signatories in a roundtable conference, but it should include the following five points:

1. Public Declaration of Assets by all present Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Chief Ministers and Mentris Besar for two periods: (a) before they held political office and (b) at present.

As UMNO/Barisan Nasional Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Mentris Besar and Chief Ministers are required to submit their declaration of assets to the Prime Minister when they hold office and after every general elections, it should be no great problem to just making public these declarations of assets.

2. Pledge by signatories to the Election Integrity Pledge of “No money politics” in the 13th General Elections.

Every ringgit of expenditure for the 13GE, whether by the candidate or the political party concerned, must be accounted and audited.

A special audit commission to audit every ringgit of expenditure for the 13GE, whether by candidate or political party concerned, should be formed which would make public its audit after the 13GE.

3. Pledge by signatories not to raise the spectre of May 13 or use politics of fear, blackmail or hatred to intimidate or frighten voters.

4. Commitment by signatories to free, fair and clean elections which is to be monitored by a Fair and Clean Elections Commission as well national and international observes. The ban on the Australian Senator Xenophon from entering Malaysia should be lifted as there is no valid reason to deny him entry or to deport him.

5. Pledge by signatories to accept the verdict of the voters in the 13GE fully committing them to a peaceful transition of power in Putrajaya if this is the will of the electorate.

Malaysians do not want an Arab Spring involving bloodshed and revolution. What Malaysians want is a Korean Spring, which preceded Malaysia by 15 years in effecting a peaceful transition of power when an Opposition candidate Kim Dae-jung was elected and sworn in as President. Again in 2007, there was a second peaceful transition of national power in the South Korean Presidential elections.

[Speech by Lim Kit Siang at the Kuching DAP Ceramah at Chonglin Park, Kuching on Sunday, 24th February 2013 at 9 pm]

Suspects of attempted suicide attacks face terrorism charges in Lebanon

The Star 
By KAMATCHY SAPPANI

PETALING JAYA: The trial of two Malaysians, detained in Lebanon for suspected links to the al-Qaeda militant group will begin on Monday.

Muhamad Razin Sharhan Mustafa Kamal, 22, and Razif Mohd Ariff, 31, have pleaded not guilty to two charges of preparing for terrorist action and for being members of the al-Qaeda organisation.

They stand accused of trying to enter Syria to carry out suicide attacks.

Counsel for both, Marwan Sinno, said yesterday the trial would be held in a military court in Beirut.

The duo were detained at Beirut airport on Oct 18, 2012 after they were suspected to have been trained as suicide bombers.

They were charged before a military court in Lebanon on Nov 1, 2012 where they both claimed trial.

It was reported that when he was brought before the military court, Razif had acknowledged that he had met al-Qaeda people and that he had previously been arrested in Yemen and was questioned by the special branch in Malaysia.

Razif, however, had denied meeting a senior member of the Jemaah Islamiah group – Yazid Sufaat – in Malaysia and acting as a recruiter for al-Qaeda.

On Feb 7, 2013, former army captain Yazid and cafeteria helper Mohd Hilmi Hasim were nabbed at the Jalan Duta courts complex canteen while religious teacher Halimah Hussein was arrested at her house in Kajang.

Yazid, 49, who was detained under the ISA in December 2001 for alleged ties to the Jemaah Islamiah terror network and released in 2008, was charged on Wednesday with Halimah.

Yazid is accused of inciting terrorist acts that “threatened the public in Syria” while Halimah, 52, was charged with abetting him in inciting the act at a house in Ampang between August and October last year.

Both claimed trial, which is scheduled to begin on May 20.

The court also fixed Monday to hear the habeas corpus application of Mohd Hilmi.

They were arrested under the new Special Offences (Security Measures) Act 2012.

As PM, Najib Will Never Sell Government Integrity

SEREMBAN, Feb 24 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that as the Prime Minister he will not sell the integrity of the government by promising things that he may not be able to deliver.

He said he would not sacrifice the people's future nor that of the country merely to fish for votes in the general election.

"We must have principles in our struggles. We must have principles in life, that's why the general election is not about who will win, but the destiny of our country...we will determine its future soon.

"As such, let's strengthen our spirit, close ranks, instil in ourselves that if the party wins, we will still have a future and tomorrow," he said at a gathering of the leader with the Negeri Sembilan Barisan Nasional (BN) grassroots, here today.

Earlier, Najib was given a briefing by the Negeri Sembilan BN. The Prime Minister is on a one-day working visit to Negeri Sembilan today.

Also present were Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan; Senate president Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang; Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, Works Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor, and Rural and Regional Development Deputy Minister Datuk Hasan Malek.

Najib said the BN members must cooperate and find the best formula because the party's internal strength was of utmost importance and if the BN were to lose, this showed that the coalition was not united in the true sense.

"Thus, we must know our strength, our weaknesses, the enemy's weaknesses and strength...overcome our weaknesses, I believe the BN will become stronger in Negeri Sembilan," he said.

The Prime Minister said public support for the BN today was improving because the people had placed their confidence in the coalition.

"The other side (opposition) makes pledges, but we are the ones who implement...BN is the one that delivers. Anyone can make promises...promise to abolish the PTPTN (National Higher Education Fund Corporation), toll, reduce fuel (prices), free this and that...No need to seek approval, anyone can say so.

But the election concerns choosing a responsible government, one that can take us to a much better future, that elevates the integrity of the people and country.

"This is our government, the BN government. We don't cheat the people, we don't sell populist policies, we are a responsible government (that cares) for the future of the country," he said.

He said the rakyat now had greater confidence in the BN government because it ensured that every pledge including those announced in the Budget was delivered.

"They (rakyat) receive the RM500 BR1M 1 (1Malaysia People's Aid) but I told them that the quantum for BR1M 2.0 will be bigger...some shake my hands to the extent of kissing the hand, some shake hands and said that they would vote for the BN this time. That's why if there are leaders who have made excessive statements...I'm not surprised because the people will judge such leaders.

"I've visited many places...when I shake hands with the people, I feel as though they want to support me...I don't know if I'm being cheated, but when they shake hands it feels as though they truly want to support us," he said.

He said history had shown that if the changes occurred based on the top-down principle and fulfilled the aspirations of the people, the changes had benefited the people and country.

"We can look at the history of the Japanese civilisation, for example, which is top-bottom. We can give other examples, but the latest, the Arab Spring, has not shown the desired result, that is the dividend from the shock had been disappointing and had frustrated the people of the affected nations.

"That's why transformation is better than reformation. Reformation teaches our people to demonstrate, eventually by throwing chairs. But transformation brings us to success and will benefit the country. They teach the rakyat to stage street demonstrations, but we build the rakyat's attitude. Even if they don't agree, demonstrate peacefully...abide by the rule of law.

"They ask the rakyat to break the law, (but) we teach the rakyat to respect the law.

"They make numerous promises and when we make 'promises fulfilled' they get worried...why? Because the BN fulfills its promises...the opposition makes empty promises," Najib added.