Thursday, 22 January 2015
Report: Islamic State May Soon Have A Bigger Army Than Britain As Government Considers Cutting Number Of Soldiers To Just 60,000…
There are already more British Muslims fighting for the Islamic State than the British army.
Via Telegraph:
Via Telegraph:
A Whitehall row has erupted after a former defence minister said officials were secretly looking at dramatically cutting the British Army to as few as 60,000 soldiers.
Sir Nick Harvey said the radical reduction was being examined by the Ministry of Defence because the department faces an impending “financial crunch” after the election.
The Liberal Democrat MP, who was Armed Forces minister until 2012, said possible cuts were being tested because the defence budget was likely to be badly hit again by austerity cuts made by any new parliament.
Under the Government’s current Army reforms, the number of regular soldiers is already being cut from 102,000 to 82,000, while the number of reservists is growing to 30,000.
Ex-MI6 Boss Warns West Not To Insult Islam
Those who insult Islam should expect to be attacked, suggests ex-MI6 boss as he agrees with the Pope's Charlie Hebdo comments.By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent
The former chief of MI6 has warned that anyone insulting Islam can expect to provoke a reaction and that "there will be another terrorist attack in this country."
Sir John Sawers was delivering his first speech since leaving office. He stepped down as 'C' in November 2014 after five years at the helm of the Secret Intelligence Service.
Sir John picked up on comments made by the Pope in reference to the provocative cartoons published in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, where 12 were killed in a terror attack. Al Qaeda said the attacks were revenge for the depiction of Mohammed.
Pope Francis told crowds in The Philippines that a friend who had cursed his mother could "expect a punch" in return.
Sir John said: "There is a requirement for restraint from those of us in the West.
"I rather agree with the Pope that, of course, the attacks in Paris were completely unacceptable and cannot be justified on any basis whatsoever, but I think respect for other people's religion is also an important part of this.
"If you show disrespect for others' core values then you are going to provoke an angry response. That doesn't justify anything, but I think we just need to bear it in mind."
Sir John praised the work of the intelligence and security agencies but reiterated the threat to the UK from terrorists: "If I was to sit here and say will the goalkeepers of the security services and the police keep every single attempt to get the ball into the net, out? No. At some point these threats will get through and there will be another terrorist attack in this country."
Sir John said there cannot be any "no-go areas" either in the physical or virtual world and said there cannot be a trade-off between security and privacy.
"If the technology companies allow to be developed, areas that are simply impenetrable, you're inviting problems," he warned.
Archbishop worries Herald decision leads to curbs on minority rights
The Catholic church is concerned that yesterday's Federal Court decision on the Allah issue could open a Pandora's box in curbing the rights of minorities to manage their religious affairs.Newly ordained Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Most Reverend Julian Leow said while he was disappointed with the ruling of the Federal Court, the decision was not totally unexpected.
"I would like to believe this adverse decision is confined only to the Herald and will not open a Pandora's box on curbing the rights of minorities in managing our own religious affairs.
"In God we continue to pray and trust that there is light at the end of this tunnel," he told The Malaysian Insider in a text message.
A five-man panel headed by Tan Sri Abdull Hamid Embong delivered a unanimous decision yesterday to deny the Catholic church's application for a review of the apex court's earlier ruling which did not grant it leave to appeal the ban on the use of the word "Allah" in Catholic weekly, Herald.
Church lawyer Datuk Dr Cyrus Das, however, had said that the Allah case was not quite over.
Instead, he was hopeful the issues central to the case, on freedom of religion, could be revisited through other similar cases in the future.
Das said yesterday that the merits of the church's case over the Allah issue needed to be raised in other cases, especially on the home minister's power to ban words.
"There are other constitutional issues that have not been addressed and this can be taken up in other cases, " Das had said.
Herald editor, Rev Father Lawrence Andrew (pic, right), acknowledging that the door is closed for
this particular case, expressed hope that there would be an opening later to ventilate the issues relating to freedom to practise's one faith as well as minority rights."This was an important constitutional case on the right to profess one's faith and to live in peace in harmony.
"Now we hope to be able to work towards being able to live in peace and harmony and at the same time we pray that that the rights of the minorities will not be trampled upon.
"We also pray and hope there will be an opening later," he added.
Today, a similar case involving Sarawakian Christian, Jill Ireland, who had her eight CDs containing the word "Allah" confiscated by the home ministry, will be heard at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
The government is applying for a stay of a High Court order in July which ordered for the CDs to be returned to her.
In 2008, ministry officials confiscated the CDs from Ireland at the then Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang, prompting the Melanau Christian to challenge the seizure in court.
The CDs, which Ireland had bought in Indonesia for personal use, bore titles such as "Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah", "Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah" and "Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah".
She also asked the court for a declaration that she had a legitimate expectation to exercise the right to use "Allah" and to continue to own and import such materials.
Ireland's legal team had argued that the case was not about Christianity against Islam, but about her constitutional right as a Bumiputera Christian.
In her ruling, however, High Court judge Datuk Zaleha Yusof who had ordered the confiscated CDs to be returned, did not address Ireland's constitutional right to use the word "Allah".
As such, Ireland is also appealing against the High Court decision which failed to address the issue, to be heard at the Court of Appeal next month. – January 22, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/archbishop-worries-herald-decision-leads-to-curbing-of-minority-rights-to-m#sthash.hJ69h6cP.dpuf
Investigator reveals AirAsia jet’s alarms ‘screaming’ before crash:
Warning alarms in AirAsia flight QZ8501 were "screaming" as the pilots desperately tried to stabilise the plane just before it plunged into the Java Sea last month, a crash investigator said today.The noise of several alarms – including one that indicated the plane was stalling – can be heard going off in recordings from the black box in the Airbus A320's cockpit, the investigator told AFP, requesting anonymity.
"The warning alarms, we can say, were screaming, while in the background they (the pilot and co-pilot) were busy trying to recover," the investigator said, adding the warnings were going off "for some time".
The investigator, from Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC), added that the pilots' voices were drowned out by the sound of the alarms.
The revelation came a day after Indonesian Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan said that the plane had climbed abnormally fast before stalling and plunging into the sea, during a flight on December 28 in stormy weather from Indonesia's Surabaya to Singapore.
"In the final minutes, the plane climbed at a speed which was beyond normal," the minister told reporters.
The plane crashed in shallow waters with 162 people on board, but so far just 53 bodies have been recovered.
Divers have been struggling for a week against rough seas and strong currents to reach the plane's main fuselage, which was spotted on the seabed and is thought to contain the bulk of the remaining passengers and crew.
The two black boxes – the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder – were recovered last week after a lengthy search, and investigators are expected to complete a preliminary report next week.
As well as the cockpit voice recorder, the NTSC is examining a wealth of information in the flight data recorder, which monitors every major part of the plane.
They are focusing on the possibility of human or aircraft error, after ruling out terrorism following an analysis of the cockpit voice recorder.
Committee head Tatang Kurniadi said that the preliminary report into the crash would be completed on Tuesday, a month after the accident. He said the full report would not be released publicly but the media would be told some of its contents.
There was a huge international hunt for the crashed plane, involving ships from several countries including the United States and China.
All but seven of those on board the flight were Indonesian. The foreign nationals were from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Britain and France. – AFP, January 21, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/investigator-reveals-airasia-jets-alarms-screaming-before-crash#sthash.5TXdC0y8.dpuf
Looks and sounds like me, but not me, says Ibrahim Ali over racist video
Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali disagreed that he had uttered racist remarks against the Indian and Chinese communities after a video showing him making a racist speech was played in court.“It looks like me, it sounds like me... but the movement of the mouth isn’t consistent with what the image was saying... so it might not be me.
“I disagree that it’s me,” Ibrahim told the Shah Alam High Court today.
He was testifying during cross-examination in his defamation suit against theSun, its former managing editor Chong Cheng Hai and deputy editor, special reports and investigations Terence Fernandez.
Ibrahim is suing the paper and its then senior editors for an article written by Fernandez on the Sultan of Selangor’s refusal to launch Perkasa’s first general assembly.
Ibrahim claims that the article, which was published on March 17, 2010, was the first to label him a racist and chauvinist.
Earlier, Ibrahim told the court that the article had caused him to lose the opportunity to stand as a Barisan Nasional candidate in the 13th general election.
During the cross examination, the defence presented a number of articles in various publications that showed Ibrahim’s strong leanings towards promoting Malay rights and Islam.
One article published by Mingguan mStar dated March 28, 2010 touched on an allegedly defamatory article titled: “Perkasa President Cannot Be Prime Minister”.
In reference to the article, Ibrahim alleged that the writer Nurul Ain Mohd Hussain had got her facts wrong regarding his audience with the Sultan of Selangor, but he did not pursue the mistake as he “did not have enough time”.
“So many reporters call me for interviews... I can’t recall everything. Sometimes during exclusives you speak a lot, you say a lot of things but when it’s published, the reporters will shorten the sentences, they might take it out of context or spin it.
“When the reporter brought up that question, it was like the reporter put words into my mouth. I was answering her question but it ended up looking as if the Sultan brought up the topic (concerning the alleged chauvinism shown by him and Perkasa) and I discussed the issue with the Sultan,” said Ibrahim.
He claimed that many publications and articles featuring him had “got it wrong” and were not entirely accurate. However, he decided to brush aside the other reports due to time constraints and because the errors were “not serious enough”.
He is demanding an apology as well as exemplary and general damages from the defendants.
Ibrahim is represented by Harmy Yusoff, while Datuk Nitin Nadkarni, Himahlini Ramalingam and G.Meerasree are appearing for the defendants.
Hearing continues on Thursday. – The Edge Financial Daily, January 21, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/looks-and-sounds-like-me-but-not-me-says-ibrahim-ali-over-racist-video#sthash.KQOQixGQ.dpuf
Lawyer awaits AG’s action on extradition
Sirul’s lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, when contacted by Malaysiakini, said he was not certain about the nature of Sirul’s arrest by the Australian authorities.
"Is it for an immigration offence or because of the Interpol red notice?
"We
will wait and see what the AG's move will be - whether to extradite
him. Then we will decide the next course of action," Kamarul said.It was reported earlier today that Sirul (right) was picked up by the Australian immigration authorities in Brisbane last night.
Kamarul had previously said that if he receives instruction from his client and if the AG files an application to extradite Sirul, he would challenge the order in Malaysia.
The lawyer had also said that his client's conviction had opened a can of worms as the motive was never established and the public had been questioning it.
This is based on the premise that Australia abolished the death penalty in 1967 and has since barred the extradition of prisoners on death row.
Besides this, Sirul could also appoint lawyers in Australia to file review application to challenge the Australian Attorney General's application to extradite him if it is filed and also the magistrate's order should the extradition request is granted.
Last Tuesday, the Federal Court found Sirul, 43, a former Special Action Unit corporal, along with first accused chief inspector Azilah Hadri, guilty of murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Sirul maintained that he had been made “the scapegoat to protect their plans".
Besides Azilah and Sirul, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, a close confidante of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was also charged with abetting to murder.
Abdul Razak Baginda, however, was acquitted and his defence was not called by the Shah Alam High Court.
Next: Court process on Sirul's extradition
Queen's Counsel Mark Trowell said Australian law dictates that Malaysia must make a formal application for an arrest warrant.
The warrant, Trowell (left) added, would be issued only if the magistrate in Australia is satisfied that the person is extraditable."If the person is determined to be eligible for surrender then it falls upon the AG to decide whether the person should actually be surrendered.
“That's when the issue of death penalty becomes relevant," he added.
The extradition treaty between Malaysia and Australia is not valid in Sirul's case as Australia does not recognise the death penalty.
Sirul and another form police Special Operations Force officer Azilah Hadri were last week sentenced to death for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu.
While Sirul was absent, Azilah, the first accused, was present in court.
The Malaysian government had earlier said it would consider filing an application in Australia for Sirul to be extradited.
His lawyers have vowed to challenge this.
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar (right) told Malaysiakini today that he would consult Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail before deciding on the next step.Previously, Trowell had said that Australia would extradite Sirul if Malaysia reconsiders the sentence against the 43-year-old and changes it to life imprisonment.
"Unless Malaysia undertakes not to execute him, we will not send him back. For example, if it undertakes that he will face life imprisonment only," Trowell noted.
Sirul was arrested in Brisbane last night by immigration officers and an email sent by the Immigration Department to Malaysiakini described Sirul as an "unlawful non-citizen".
It remains unclear whether Sirul had entered Australia legally or if he had overstayed an initial visa, prompting action by the country’s immigration officers following the Interpol red notice posted yesterday.
Angry at ROS, MIC sec-gen set for hunger strike
Newly appointed MIC secretary-general G.
Kumar Aaman will hold a hunger strike at the Registrar of Societies
(ROS) headquarters, 2pm tomorrow at Putrajaya, in order to ‘save’ the
party.
The MIC is in midst of turmoil over its office bearers. It has been ordered to hold a re-election by the ROS, which has refused to recognise officials newly appointed by its president, G Palanivel, including Kumar.
The Tamil media reported yesterday that ROS had rejected Kumar’s request to meet with the registrar.
"ROS is not in the position to recognise any new appointment until the current dispute regarding the positions of the central working committee (CWC) members is resolved," ROS had said in the letter.
In a text message to Malaysiakini today, he said that the hunger strike will go on until “they (ROS) change the investigation team, the director-general and when all relevant officers are transferred out”.
However Kumar’s position as secretary-general has been challenged by many party members.
He added that there is a need to also save the RM300 million government fund given to the private university AIMST, brainchild of Samy, as he said it “belongs to the Indian community”.
Kumar had also lashed out at ROS for their investigation into MIC election practices, yet was raided by the MACC on suspicion that a ROS officer was "on the take" in the MIC crisis. But the probe was bogged down by the failure of the ROS CCTV system.
"They can't take care of their CCTV system... then how can they talk about how we conduct our elections?" he had told Malaysiakini recently.
The MIC is in midst of turmoil over its office bearers. It has been ordered to hold a re-election by the ROS, which has refused to recognise officials newly appointed by its president, G Palanivel, including Kumar.
The Tamil media reported yesterday that ROS had rejected Kumar’s request to meet with the registrar.
"ROS is not in the position to recognise any new appointment until the current dispute regarding the positions of the central working committee (CWC) members is resolved," ROS had said in the letter.
In a text message to Malaysiakini today, he said that the hunger strike will go on until “they (ROS) change the investigation team, the director-general and when all relevant officers are transferred out”.
However Kumar’s position as secretary-general has been challenged by many party members.
He added that there is a need to also save the RM300 million government fund given to the private university AIMST, brainchild of Samy, as he said it “belongs to the Indian community”.
Kumar had also lashed out at ROS for their investigation into MIC election practices, yet was raided by the MACC on suspicion that a ROS officer was "on the take" in the MIC crisis. But the probe was bogged down by the failure of the ROS CCTV system.
"They can't take care of their CCTV system... then how can they talk about how we conduct our elections?" he had told Malaysiakini recently.
Waiting for court, Karpal's nephew sells burgers
Dalbinder Singh Gill, the nephew of the
late Karpal Singh, will most likely be charged under the Sedition Act in
February, but he will not be sitting at home worrying about the matter.
The
24-year old law student is now selling home made burgers at his friend
Abu Hassan’s stall in Gurney Drive, in the evenings, apart from helping
his dad run a hotel on the island.
The burger stall, where you can find him flipping grilled chicken is named “Street Grill”, which reflects his aspirations to be with the people, to seek for change, he said.
“At the rate the country is going with the sedition arrests, one day selling burgers may also be seditious,” he laughed, when Malaysiakini met him along Gurney Drive last night.
Dalbinder is one of the 20 odd individuals - including academicians, activists, opposition politicians, journalist and preachers who were hauled under the Sedition Act last year.
He said the Attorney-General's chambers informed him of the possible charges when he contacted them to request for the return of his iPhone5 and iPad mini.
“These were seized when I was told to show up at the police station on the night of Sept 30. I won’t be getting them back as they will be tendered as evidence in court,” he said.
Dalbinder was arrested and quizzed for several hours at the Northeast District Police Headquarters along Jalan Patani for his Facebook posts questioning bumiputera rights and the institution of the monarchy.
Northeast
District police chief ACP Mior Faridalatrah said Dalbinder was arrested
by the Cyber Crime Department in Kuala Lumpur, under Section 4(1) (C)
of the Sedition Act, for publishing or reproducing seditious
publications.
If convicted, he faces a fine of not more than RM5,000, or up to three years' jail or both.
While he is ready to face the music, Dalbinder is somewhat concerned that the matter may interfere with his 2nd year LLB exam in May, which recently cost him RM4,500.
He is disappointed that the government continues to oppress its citizens with the Act, which Prime Minister Najib Razak had planned to abolish in 2012.
However, Najib u-turned on his promise to repeal the Act, and instead declared last year at his Umno AGM that the government would “strengthen and fortify” the law.
“In school we were told to speak out, to be critical but when we leave school, things are so different. There is no freedom of speech,” he lamented.
“One of the best thing about being young is the desire to express ourselves, to be vibrant and energetic in sharing our views, but in this country, it cannot happen,” he added.
Asked if he experienced sleepless nights pending his possible charge in February, Dalbinder said “I have no problems sleeping as my conscience is clear”.
“Next month, I do not know where I would be sleeping but it is okay. The struggle to free Malaysia must go on”.
‘We are like brothers’
During the interview with Malaysiakini, two of Dalbinder’s friends, whom he met when participating in the activities of the Youth Parliament, dropped by to visit him.
Ahmad
Fazley, 22, who works as a caterer and lives in Bukit Gelugor, says he
is saddened that the police plans to proceed with the charge against
him.
“Dalbinder studied in London, and the society there is very open, including acceptance of inter-faith marriages,” he said.
“Students like Dalbinder should be given the chance to explain himself and be given a warning first for his actions, not to repeat his mistake, if any, before any drastic action like arrest, be taken against him,” he added.
Sylvester Yau, 24, who runs a printing business in Sungai Pinang, said he has befriended Dalbinder only recently but they have grown fond of each other, “like brothers”.
“During our free time, we will go around Penang on my Honda Wave and we will discuss ways to improve the island and the state,” Yau said.
“Our friendship is beyond race or religion and politics. We help each other and look out for one another,” he added.
“I feel sad that he has to be hauled up for sedition charges just for his Facebook postings. Dalbinder should be given a chance as he is still young.”
The
24-year old law student is now selling home made burgers at his friend
Abu Hassan’s stall in Gurney Drive, in the evenings, apart from helping
his dad run a hotel on the island.The burger stall, where you can find him flipping grilled chicken is named “Street Grill”, which reflects his aspirations to be with the people, to seek for change, he said.
“At the rate the country is going with the sedition arrests, one day selling burgers may also be seditious,” he laughed, when Malaysiakini met him along Gurney Drive last night.
Dalbinder is one of the 20 odd individuals - including academicians, activists, opposition politicians, journalist and preachers who were hauled under the Sedition Act last year.
He said the Attorney-General's chambers informed him of the possible charges when he contacted them to request for the return of his iPhone5 and iPad mini.
“These were seized when I was told to show up at the police station on the night of Sept 30. I won’t be getting them back as they will be tendered as evidence in court,” he said.
Dalbinder was arrested and quizzed for several hours at the Northeast District Police Headquarters along Jalan Patani for his Facebook posts questioning bumiputera rights and the institution of the monarchy.
Northeast
District police chief ACP Mior Faridalatrah said Dalbinder was arrested
by the Cyber Crime Department in Kuala Lumpur, under Section 4(1) (C)
of the Sedition Act, for publishing or reproducing seditious
publications.If convicted, he faces a fine of not more than RM5,000, or up to three years' jail or both.
While he is ready to face the music, Dalbinder is somewhat concerned that the matter may interfere with his 2nd year LLB exam in May, which recently cost him RM4,500.
He is disappointed that the government continues to oppress its citizens with the Act, which Prime Minister Najib Razak had planned to abolish in 2012.
However, Najib u-turned on his promise to repeal the Act, and instead declared last year at his Umno AGM that the government would “strengthen and fortify” the law.
“In school we were told to speak out, to be critical but when we leave school, things are so different. There is no freedom of speech,” he lamented.
“One of the best thing about being young is the desire to express ourselves, to be vibrant and energetic in sharing our views, but in this country, it cannot happen,” he added.
Asked if he experienced sleepless nights pending his possible charge in February, Dalbinder said “I have no problems sleeping as my conscience is clear”.
“Next month, I do not know where I would be sleeping but it is okay. The struggle to free Malaysia must go on”.
‘We are like brothers’
During the interview with Malaysiakini, two of Dalbinder’s friends, whom he met when participating in the activities of the Youth Parliament, dropped by to visit him.
Ahmad
Fazley, 22, who works as a caterer and lives in Bukit Gelugor, says he
is saddened that the police plans to proceed with the charge against
him.“Dalbinder studied in London, and the society there is very open, including acceptance of inter-faith marriages,” he said.
“Students like Dalbinder should be given the chance to explain himself and be given a warning first for his actions, not to repeat his mistake, if any, before any drastic action like arrest, be taken against him,” he added.
Sylvester Yau, 24, who runs a printing business in Sungai Pinang, said he has befriended Dalbinder only recently but they have grown fond of each other, “like brothers”.
“During our free time, we will go around Penang on my Honda Wave and we will discuss ways to improve the island and the state,” Yau said.
“Our friendship is beyond race or religion and politics. We help each other and look out for one another,” he added.
“I feel sad that he has to be hauled up for sedition charges just for his Facebook postings. Dalbinder should be given a chance as he is still young.”
300 from China have used M’sia as transit point to join IS
Kuala Lumpur and Beijing view security threat seriously and are committed to curbing menace, says Home Minister.
FMT
PUTRAJAYA: More than 300 Chinese nationals have used Malaysia as a transit point on their way to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria and Iraq, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed today.
They had moved on to a third country from Malaysia before entering Syria and Iraq, he said, adding that this was disclosed to him by China’s vice-minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei at a meeting at his office here today.
Ahmad Zahid said Kuala Lumpur and Beijing viewed seriously this security threat and were committed to curbing it in a more comprehensive manner.
“Although there exists an arrangement between Malaysia and China to combat terrorism through counter-terrorism measures, this problem is serious.
“This is because ties exist at the international level between terrorists in China and those in other countries in the South-East Asian region,” he told reporters after Meng had called on him.
– BERNAMA
PUTRAJAYA: More than 300 Chinese nationals have used Malaysia as a transit point on their way to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria and Iraq, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed today.
They had moved on to a third country from Malaysia before entering Syria and Iraq, he said, adding that this was disclosed to him by China’s vice-minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei at a meeting at his office here today.
Ahmad Zahid said Kuala Lumpur and Beijing viewed seriously this security threat and were committed to curbing it in a more comprehensive manner.
“Although there exists an arrangement between Malaysia and China to combat terrorism through counter-terrorism measures, this problem is serious.
“This is because ties exist at the international level between terrorists in China and those in other countries in the South-East Asian region,” he told reporters after Meng had called on him.
– BERNAMA
Cancel NS altogether, says DAP
Party vice-president Kula Segaran suggests that money be spent on more progressive programmes.
FMT
GEORGE TOWN: DAP today urged the government to abolish the National Service (NS) programme and channel the money saved towards more progressive programmes.
M Kula Segaran, a vice-president of the party, said it would be cheaper and more productive for Putrajaya to “expand and enhance” the Students Integration Programme for Unity (RIMUP) that was launched in 1986 with the objective of building unity among students of different races.
He noted that since the NS programme was launched in 2004, the government had spent billions of ringgit to run it.
In May 2008, Deputy Defence Minister Abu Seman Yusop told Parliament that the government had spent RM608.6 million in 2004, RM604.8 million in 2005, RM588.2 million in 2006 and RM565 million in 2007 to run the NS programme.
Kula also noted that 22 participants had died in NS camps and that a former NS trainer was detained recently on suspicion of planning a new route to the Middle East for recruits to join the Islamic State militant group.
“Malaysians remain unconvinced by claims that the programme is worthwhile,” he said. “I therefore call on the government to cancel the NS programme altogether, rather than just suspending it for a year.”
The programme was mooted by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed just before he retired in 2003. Kula said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should not be deterred by Mahathir’s current animosity towards him from “doing what is necessary”.
Najib yesterday announced that the NS programme would be suspended for a year as part of cost-cutting measures to face tough economic challenges. The suspension is estimated to save the federal government about RM400 million.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein disclosed that NS camp operators and trainers would receive their pay despite the the suspension.
Kula demanded disclosure of how much the operators would be paid and an explanation of why they would be paid.
He also asked why only RM400 million would be saved. If the 2015 budget for NS was RM600 million, he said, this meant that some RM200 million would still be spent.
GEORGE TOWN: DAP today urged the government to abolish the National Service (NS) programme and channel the money saved towards more progressive programmes.
M Kula Segaran, a vice-president of the party, said it would be cheaper and more productive for Putrajaya to “expand and enhance” the Students Integration Programme for Unity (RIMUP) that was launched in 1986 with the objective of building unity among students of different races.
He noted that since the NS programme was launched in 2004, the government had spent billions of ringgit to run it.
In May 2008, Deputy Defence Minister Abu Seman Yusop told Parliament that the government had spent RM608.6 million in 2004, RM604.8 million in 2005, RM588.2 million in 2006 and RM565 million in 2007 to run the NS programme.
Kula also noted that 22 participants had died in NS camps and that a former NS trainer was detained recently on suspicion of planning a new route to the Middle East for recruits to join the Islamic State militant group.
“Malaysians remain unconvinced by claims that the programme is worthwhile,” he said. “I therefore call on the government to cancel the NS programme altogether, rather than just suspending it for a year.”
The programme was mooted by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed just before he retired in 2003. Kula said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak should not be deterred by Mahathir’s current animosity towards him from “doing what is necessary”.
Najib yesterday announced that the NS programme would be suspended for a year as part of cost-cutting measures to face tough economic challenges. The suspension is estimated to save the federal government about RM400 million.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein disclosed that NS camp operators and trainers would receive their pay despite the the suspension.
Kula demanded disclosure of how much the operators would be paid and an explanation of why they would be paid.
He also asked why only RM400 million would be saved. If the 2015 budget for NS was RM600 million, he said, this meant that some RM200 million would still be spent.
Will Altantuya’s Murderer Talk in Australia?
Malaysian cop’s detention poses dilemma for political figures in Kuala Lumpur
By John Berthelsen - Asia Sentinel
The detention in Brisbane, Australia, of Sirul Azhar Umar, one of the two condemned killers of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu, must be sending shock waves through Kuala Lumpur and the unknown parties who ordered her execution in October of 2006.
“This is going to be dynamite,” said a prominent Malaysian lawyer who preferred not to be identified. “There is lots of vibration going on in foot apparel,” a suggestion that top political figures in Kuala Lumpur might be shaking in their boots. Reporters and lawyers are feverishly trying to get Sirul to talk from his jail cell about who ordered the killing and why.
Once a member of an elite bodyguard unit attached to the office of then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak, Sirul was detained in Queensland after Interpol issued a request for his arrest. He apparently fled to Australia last October, according to immigration records. He is now well outside the jurisdiction or protection of Malaysian figures who could conceivably offer him security in return for keeping quiet.
Since the time Sirul and his co-defendant, former police chief inspector Azilah Hadri, were arrested in 2006, every effort has been made in three courts to make sure no names would be mentioned in the context of who ordered the killing of the then-28-year-old Altantuya, a jet-setting party girl and translator who had been the girlfriend of a close associate of now-Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. According to a sworn statement by a private detective who has since died she had also once been the girlfriend of Najib himself.
As a translator, Altantuya was peripherally connected to the late stages of a scandal-plagued transaction involving the US$1 billion purchase of French submarines by the Malaysian Ministry of Defense, which Najib headed. The transaction involved bribes and kickbacks amounting to US$150 million or more that French investigators said were routed to the United Malays National Organization political party.
The two ex-cops were sentenced to death by the Federal Court in Malaysia on Jan. 12, reversing a 2013 appellate court order freeing them on a technicality. They were originally convicted in the trial court in 2009 of killing Altantuya, who left a note after her death saying she was “blackmailing” her jilted lover, Abdul Razak Baginda, for US$500,000.
Razak Baginda was also implicated in the crime but was let off by the court without having to present a defense.
Sirul confessed to the crime a few weeks after he was arrested. In that sworn confession, he said Azilah had come to him while he was on duty and said they had a job to do. Later, according to testimony, it transpired that the job had been suggested to the two men by Najib’s aide-de-camp, Musa Safri.
Beyond his acknowledgement that Musa had asked the two to take care of Altantuya, Sirul’s confession says that nobody ever asked him for any further details on Musa’s request, whether the request actually included an order to murder her or whether someone senior to Musa had passed the word down. Musa never testified and as far as court records can reveal was never asked about the affair.
The government-controlled mainstream media has never asked the obvious questions, nor have they quoted critics who asked them. Only the country’s energetic bloggers have kept the case alive. The appellate court ruling freeing the two in 2013 stated that it was not necessary to look for a motive for the killing.
“If Sirul is real smart, he should tape-record all that he knows and also give a full written report, seal it up nicely and leave it with his lawyers in Australia or in a safe place elsewhere, with instructions for his lawyers to open it in public at a press/TV interview for the whole world audience to hear who ordered the killing,” said a Malaysian acquaintance. “Indeed, he should make sure he or they sink with him.”
Sirul, sitting in a Brisbane jail, has to be considering his rather bleak options. Neither he nor Azilah has ever revealed the name of the party or parties who he said in his taped confession had offered to pay the two RM50,000 to RM100,000 to kill the woman. In court when he was originally pronounced guilty, he broke into tears and said he was being made a scapegoat. He never revealed who made him a scapegoat.
In the meantime, Sirul’s arrest poses an issue for both Australia and Malaysia. The government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott is opposed to the extradition of any condemned individual to a country where the death penalty is practiced, and indeed the country’s formal extradition policy says there will be no extradition unless such a government gives an undertaking that the death penalty will not be carried out. The Abbott government has been trying to stop the looming executions in Indonesia of two Australian drug couriers arrested in Bali.
At the same time, however, Sirul is hardly a political dissident fleeing a vindictive government. According to all the evidence and his own confession – which was never produced in court despite its seeming validity and legality – he was an executioner-for-hire who put two bullets into the woman’s head after Azilah had knocked her unconscious as she begged for her life and that of her unborn baby
If Malaysia agrees to take Sirul back without executing him that poses a further dilemma: what to do with his fellow murderer, Azilah, who has also been sentenced to hang and is in custody in Malaysia? Hanging one without the other would be tricky unless the government commutes the sentences for both.
The detention in Brisbane, Australia, of Sirul Azhar Umar, one of the two condemned killers of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaariibuu, must be sending shock waves through Kuala Lumpur and the unknown parties who ordered her execution in October of 2006.
“This is going to be dynamite,” said a prominent Malaysian lawyer who preferred not to be identified. “There is lots of vibration going on in foot apparel,” a suggestion that top political figures in Kuala Lumpur might be shaking in their boots. Reporters and lawyers are feverishly trying to get Sirul to talk from his jail cell about who ordered the killing and why.
Once a member of an elite bodyguard unit attached to the office of then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak, Sirul was detained in Queensland after Interpol issued a request for his arrest. He apparently fled to Australia last October, according to immigration records. He is now well outside the jurisdiction or protection of Malaysian figures who could conceivably offer him security in return for keeping quiet.
Since the time Sirul and his co-defendant, former police chief inspector Azilah Hadri, were arrested in 2006, every effort has been made in three courts to make sure no names would be mentioned in the context of who ordered the killing of the then-28-year-old Altantuya, a jet-setting party girl and translator who had been the girlfriend of a close associate of now-Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. According to a sworn statement by a private detective who has since died she had also once been the girlfriend of Najib himself.
As a translator, Altantuya was peripherally connected to the late stages of a scandal-plagued transaction involving the US$1 billion purchase of French submarines by the Malaysian Ministry of Defense, which Najib headed. The transaction involved bribes and kickbacks amounting to US$150 million or more that French investigators said were routed to the United Malays National Organization political party.
The two ex-cops were sentenced to death by the Federal Court in Malaysia on Jan. 12, reversing a 2013 appellate court order freeing them on a technicality. They were originally convicted in the trial court in 2009 of killing Altantuya, who left a note after her death saying she was “blackmailing” her jilted lover, Abdul Razak Baginda, for US$500,000.
Razak Baginda was also implicated in the crime but was let off by the court without having to present a defense.
Sirul confessed to the crime a few weeks after he was arrested. In that sworn confession, he said Azilah had come to him while he was on duty and said they had a job to do. Later, according to testimony, it transpired that the job had been suggested to the two men by Najib’s aide-de-camp, Musa Safri.
Beyond his acknowledgement that Musa had asked the two to take care of Altantuya, Sirul’s confession says that nobody ever asked him for any further details on Musa’s request, whether the request actually included an order to murder her or whether someone senior to Musa had passed the word down. Musa never testified and as far as court records can reveal was never asked about the affair.
The government-controlled mainstream media has never asked the obvious questions, nor have they quoted critics who asked them. Only the country’s energetic bloggers have kept the case alive. The appellate court ruling freeing the two in 2013 stated that it was not necessary to look for a motive for the killing.
“If Sirul is real smart, he should tape-record all that he knows and also give a full written report, seal it up nicely and leave it with his lawyers in Australia or in a safe place elsewhere, with instructions for his lawyers to open it in public at a press/TV interview for the whole world audience to hear who ordered the killing,” said a Malaysian acquaintance. “Indeed, he should make sure he or they sink with him.”
Sirul, sitting in a Brisbane jail, has to be considering his rather bleak options. Neither he nor Azilah has ever revealed the name of the party or parties who he said in his taped confession had offered to pay the two RM50,000 to RM100,000 to kill the woman. In court when he was originally pronounced guilty, he broke into tears and said he was being made a scapegoat. He never revealed who made him a scapegoat.
In the meantime, Sirul’s arrest poses an issue for both Australia and Malaysia. The government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott is opposed to the extradition of any condemned individual to a country where the death penalty is practiced, and indeed the country’s formal extradition policy says there will be no extradition unless such a government gives an undertaking that the death penalty will not be carried out. The Abbott government has been trying to stop the looming executions in Indonesia of two Australian drug couriers arrested in Bali.
At the same time, however, Sirul is hardly a political dissident fleeing a vindictive government. According to all the evidence and his own confession – which was never produced in court despite its seeming validity and legality – he was an executioner-for-hire who put two bullets into the woman’s head after Azilah had knocked her unconscious as she begged for her life and that of her unborn baby
If Malaysia agrees to take Sirul back without executing him that poses a further dilemma: what to do with his fellow murderer, Azilah, who has also been sentenced to hang and is in custody in Malaysia? Hanging one without the other would be tricky unless the government commutes the sentences for both.
Calling Taib’s bluff
What now, Abdul Taib Mahmud? Neither your vast billions, nor the legal letters
from one of London’s more prominent lawyers, were able to stop Swiss
NGO Bruno Manser Fund’s executive director, Lukas Straumann, from
exposing your terrible legacy.
Taib’s threats and intimidation were unsuccessful, and the book launch of ‘Money Logging: On the Trail of the Asian Timber Mafia’ by Straumann went ahead as scheduled on Friday, Jan 17, in London.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was not deterred by Taib’s bully boy tactics, when his lawyers tried to stop the broadcast of the interview with Straumann. To make things worse, Amazon has started stocking the book, despite earlier intimidation by Taib’s lawyers who threatened to sue Amazon, for selling what they had termed a “defamatory book”.
At the launch, the main speaker, Straumann, summarised the role of the major players in the deforestation of Sarawak and gave an insight into Taib’s money logging activities, the politics involved, Taib’s family, Swiss activist Bruno Manser, how governments and multinational banks surreptitiously aid Taib, and more importantly, how he (Straumann) became involved.
Clare Rewcastle Brown (left), the founder of Sarawak Report,
said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had criticised Taib and
stressed that he should not “get away” with timber corruption.
The only Malaysian panel member, lawyer See Chee How, claimed that he had won all of his land rights cases on behalf of the indigenous people. Sarawak land laws are based on UK land laws, but he stressed that “winning is one thing, the enforcement of the law is another”.
Jetty Word, the director of the Borneo Project, talked about the dams which Taib was building and how these had wrecked people’s lives, for instance, from the ill-effects of polluted water.
Although Rewcastle Brown noted that Mahathir was displeased with Taib, we must question the role of Putrajaya and Taib. One cannot exist without the other. The two are like a growing foetus, linked by an umbilical cord to its mother.
'No BN without Taib'
Most of Sarawak’s petroleum revenue goes to Putrajaya and in return, Taib is allowed to plunder his own nation using timber revenue.
Taib treats Sarawak as his personal fiefdom and Putrajaya is complicit. Putrajaya depends on Taib to deliver BN to Parliament. Without Taib, BN would have long ceased to rule Malaysia, perhaps even ceased to exist.
The current redelineation exercise in Sarawak will create more seats for Sarawak. Mahathir may criticise other PMs for supporting Taib, but what did he do during his 22 years in power. He had the chance to intervene, but he did not.
What about the people? Taib knows that money talks. There are allegations of him bribing his way into power, paying the tuai rumah (village chief) to vote BN, and paying party members to vote for him.
He uses money to ‘compensate’ the tribal people for the loss of their ancestral lands and replacing virgin forest with oil palm. Everything he does is for his own profit. Very little is given back to the people. Taib makes billions from all his ventures, but the people are given only a few thousand ringgits in compensation.
Taib
has homes all over the world, but the villagers who are displaced find
themselves in shanty towns, far away from their ancestral lands.
Deprived of their normal hunting grounds, they can neither cultivate
crops, nor hunt. People become ill from having to live with polluted
water.
Taib is aware of the historical and sociological background of Sarawak. He practised 1Malaysia long before Najib (right) thought of the idea. Taib capitalises on the harmony of the multi-ethnic races, and he keeps Umno Baru out of Sarawak because he knows that this is his only usefulness to Sarawakians.
The political parties in Sarawak are like the swaying palm trees - one day they are with you, the next day, they are not. Money is useful and Taib knows how to exploit the indecision of the tribal leaders. It is also alleged that Taib grants favours to his cronies and they, in turn, make sure he is kept happy.
Silent Sarawakian majority
Taib sends his children abroad to study, but the folk in the interior do not have that luxury. Children may have to walk or travel by boat for several hours to reach school. The rivers are not just their source of livelihood, but also a means of transport.
That is why children are vulnerable when they hitch rides in timber lorries to go to school.
Look at the manner in which the general populace of Sarawak dealt with the rapes of the Penan girls. What happened to the voices of disgust? Where were the protests in the major towns and cities? The citizens of India voiced their anger when their women were raped and were denied justice.
When some Sarawak leaders claimed that the Penan were good storytellers, the majority of Sarawakians kept quiet.
Taib’s lawyers said that Straumann’s book was “based on an entirely false and highly damaging premise”. When asked to explain how Taib got his wealth, the lawyers gave no information.
Did the London lawyers really believe that Taib had amassed his wealth like another Malaysian celebrity who started saving from her teenage years, to buy diamond rings and handbags? Did the lawyers fall for the story that Taib’s children are intelligent and business savvy, and were able to turn RM1 into a few billion ringgits?
Today, Malaysia’s reputation is at stake. The success of the illegal logging in Sarawak has meant that the Taib timber model is being exported to countries with weak governments. The local people in Cambodia, parts of Africa and Papua New Guinea, are suffering just as the Sarawakians have suffered.
Shame on us Malaysians, for not doing enough to remove Taib and his ilk - be they in Putrajaya or Petra Jaya.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Taib’s threats and intimidation were unsuccessful, and the book launch of ‘Money Logging: On the Trail of the Asian Timber Mafia’ by Straumann went ahead as scheduled on Friday, Jan 17, in London.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was not deterred by Taib’s bully boy tactics, when his lawyers tried to stop the broadcast of the interview with Straumann. To make things worse, Amazon has started stocking the book, despite earlier intimidation by Taib’s lawyers who threatened to sue Amazon, for selling what they had termed a “defamatory book”.
At the launch, the main speaker, Straumann, summarised the role of the major players in the deforestation of Sarawak and gave an insight into Taib’s money logging activities, the politics involved, Taib’s family, Swiss activist Bruno Manser, how governments and multinational banks surreptitiously aid Taib, and more importantly, how he (Straumann) became involved.
Clare Rewcastle Brown (left), the founder of Sarawak Report,
said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had criticised Taib and
stressed that he should not “get away” with timber corruption.The only Malaysian panel member, lawyer See Chee How, claimed that he had won all of his land rights cases on behalf of the indigenous people. Sarawak land laws are based on UK land laws, but he stressed that “winning is one thing, the enforcement of the law is another”.
Jetty Word, the director of the Borneo Project, talked about the dams which Taib was building and how these had wrecked people’s lives, for instance, from the ill-effects of polluted water.
Although Rewcastle Brown noted that Mahathir was displeased with Taib, we must question the role of Putrajaya and Taib. One cannot exist without the other. The two are like a growing foetus, linked by an umbilical cord to its mother.
'No BN without Taib'
Most of Sarawak’s petroleum revenue goes to Putrajaya and in return, Taib is allowed to plunder his own nation using timber revenue.
Taib treats Sarawak as his personal fiefdom and Putrajaya is complicit. Putrajaya depends on Taib to deliver BN to Parliament. Without Taib, BN would have long ceased to rule Malaysia, perhaps even ceased to exist.
The current redelineation exercise in Sarawak will create more seats for Sarawak. Mahathir may criticise other PMs for supporting Taib, but what did he do during his 22 years in power. He had the chance to intervene, but he did not.
What about the people? Taib knows that money talks. There are allegations of him bribing his way into power, paying the tuai rumah (village chief) to vote BN, and paying party members to vote for him.
He uses money to ‘compensate’ the tribal people for the loss of their ancestral lands and replacing virgin forest with oil palm. Everything he does is for his own profit. Very little is given back to the people. Taib makes billions from all his ventures, but the people are given only a few thousand ringgits in compensation.
Taib
has homes all over the world, but the villagers who are displaced find
themselves in shanty towns, far away from their ancestral lands.
Deprived of their normal hunting grounds, they can neither cultivate
crops, nor hunt. People become ill from having to live with polluted
water.Taib is aware of the historical and sociological background of Sarawak. He practised 1Malaysia long before Najib (right) thought of the idea. Taib capitalises on the harmony of the multi-ethnic races, and he keeps Umno Baru out of Sarawak because he knows that this is his only usefulness to Sarawakians.
The political parties in Sarawak are like the swaying palm trees - one day they are with you, the next day, they are not. Money is useful and Taib knows how to exploit the indecision of the tribal leaders. It is also alleged that Taib grants favours to his cronies and they, in turn, make sure he is kept happy.
Silent Sarawakian majority
Taib sends his children abroad to study, but the folk in the interior do not have that luxury. Children may have to walk or travel by boat for several hours to reach school. The rivers are not just their source of livelihood, but also a means of transport.
That is why children are vulnerable when they hitch rides in timber lorries to go to school.
Look at the manner in which the general populace of Sarawak dealt with the rapes of the Penan girls. What happened to the voices of disgust? Where were the protests in the major towns and cities? The citizens of India voiced their anger when their women were raped and were denied justice.
When some Sarawak leaders claimed that the Penan were good storytellers, the majority of Sarawakians kept quiet.Taib’s lawyers said that Straumann’s book was “based on an entirely false and highly damaging premise”. When asked to explain how Taib got his wealth, the lawyers gave no information.
Did the London lawyers really believe that Taib had amassed his wealth like another Malaysian celebrity who started saving from her teenage years, to buy diamond rings and handbags? Did the lawyers fall for the story that Taib’s children are intelligent and business savvy, and were able to turn RM1 into a few billion ringgits?
Today, Malaysia’s reputation is at stake. The success of the illegal logging in Sarawak has meant that the Taib timber model is being exported to countries with weak governments. The local people in Cambodia, parts of Africa and Papua New Guinea, are suffering just as the Sarawakians have suffered.
Shame on us Malaysians, for not doing enough to remove Taib and his ilk - be they in Putrajaya or Petra Jaya.
MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).
All quiet outside courthouse as church makes final bid to use ‘Allah’
It is all quiet with no signs of protestors outside the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya as the Federal Court prepares to hear the Catholic Church's review application against a decision denying leave to appeal the ban on the use of the word "Allah" in the Herald weekly.In the past, thousands of supporters of groups such as Perkasa and Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) had turned up at the courthouse to lend support to the government's challenge against the Herald using the word in its Bahasa Malaysia content.
There were also no large groups of Catholic church supporters in past hearings.
Church lawyers will today try to convince the bench that there was injustice and abuse of court process when it was denied leave to appeal against the ban on the word Allah by the Court of Appeal.
In June, four of the seven-member bench dismissed the church's application for appeal, citing that the Court of Appeal was right in its decision to ban the word in the Herald.
Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria, president of Court of Appeal Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin and Federal Court judge Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar were in the majority.
Three other judges – Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, and Federal Court judges Datuk Zainun Ali and Tan Sri Jeffrey Tan Kok Hwa – held that leave must be granted to the church.
Lawyer Annou Xavier (pic, right), who is part of the church's legal team said today that the three
dissenting judges had looked into the core issues of the appeal and questions of leave to appeal to the Federal Court.He said the issues fell squarely within the threshold of Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act which sets out the conditions of appeal.
"We lost by the skin of our teeth, it was a 4-3 majority, not a 6-1 or 5-2," Annou told The Malaysian Insider.
He noted that one of the core issues was the lack of a clear decision on Article 11 of the Federal Constitution on the freedom of religion, and as such expressed hope that the new bench this round would act without fear of third parties.
"This is a fitting case for judges to exercise its power to review the leave that was not offered because it hinges on constitutional issues that goes to the root of the nation," he said.
The five-man bench today comprises Tan Sri Abdull Hamid Embong, Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop, Tan Sri Hasan Lah, Datuk Ramly Ali and Datuk Azahar Mohamed, all of whom are Federal Court judges.
It was earlier believed that the Chief Justice would co-opt one or two judges from the Court of Appeal to sit on the bench to hear the review today. – January 21, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/all-quiet-outside-courthouse-as-church-makes-final-bid-to-use-allah#sthash.Eb6DAKQA.dpuf
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