Malaysia’s
Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Auditor-General has already
explained that the purchase of Scorpene submarines was made according to legal
procedures and his official report must be accepted by all.
In
response to the opposition’s plan to bring in a French lawyer, William Bourdon,
to brief the Malaysian lawmakers on court proceedings in France on the purchase
of the submarines, Zahid hoped no side would twist the existing facts on the matter.
He was
also in the opinion “that the lawyer was invited to Malaysia by the opposition
merely with political motive and not so much for legal business.”
Prime
Minister Najib Razak has already dismissed the charges, which include
allegations of corruption in the $1.1 billion submarine purchase in 2002.
Still,
Malaysia’s online media in the past couple of months have been active, charging
the now Prime Minister with new “evidence” that opposition-leaning rights group
Suaram and its lawyers say has been turned up by French judges probing the
case.
The claims
come at a sensitive time for Najib, who is preparing for elections, which he is
expected to call soon.
They
include an allegation that a classified Malaysian defense ministry report on
the country’s naval needs was sold to submarine maker Thales, possibly to help
the French firm land the $1.1 billion deal.
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