by Ganesh Sahathevan
Najib: SRC money was for orphans, Umno
FMT has reported:
Incarcerated former prime minister Najib Razak has submitted a petition to the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking a release from prison or retrial of his SRC International case.
At a press conference, Najib’s lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, maintained that the former Pekan MP’s appeal in the Federal Court had “serious defects” and went against the “rules of international justice”
This writer has previously said that to recover and preserve all that was stolen from 1MDB Malaysia needs a Guatemalan style International Commission Against Impunity (see story below.Najib's appeal to the UNHCR is a first step toward such a Commission, that can investigate corruption at all levels in Malaysia , even if Najib did not intend it. A submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will necessarily involve a review of all the transactions involved in the SRC case. These include payments to a number of UMNO members, as well as members of other political parties.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim should regard the above a godsend and immediately enlist the assistance of the United Nations in establishing a formal Malaysian Commission Into Corruption.
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Monday, May 23, 2022
To recover and preserve all that was stolen from 1MDB Malaysia needs a Guatemalan style International Commission Against Impunity - International Commission requires cooperation with the UN, and might well be Anwar Ibrahim's opportunity to lead the way
by Ganesh Sahathevan
Anwar Ibrahim can do better than debate Najib Razak who has been convicted of crimes related to the 1MDB theftThe International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) was created in December 2006 through an agreement signed between the government and the UN, with the mandate of identifying and disarticulating illegal organizations and clandestine security apparatuses (CIACS).
Over a period of 12 years since its establishment in 2007, CICIG has achieved numerous victories in prosecuting corrupt politicians, businessmen, judges, and law enforcement officers, as well as in reforming legal and judicial institutions in Guatemala. CICIG represents an experimental approach to the fight against impunity and corruption in weak and failed states, with the aid of international anti-corruption and law enforcement experts1
In 2016 the US Department Of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had exercised its powers pursuant to its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative to seize assets acquired with funds misappropriated from Malaysia's 1Malaysia Development Fund (1MDB). The DOJ has declared that the seizures have been the largest ever recovered under that initiative
Since the seizures Malaysia has seen three prime ministers come and go. Seized assets have been returned to the country but it is now thought likely that the politicians involved in the theft are likely to return to power. Meanwhile, much more remains to be recovered.
A Guatemalan style International Commission Against Impunity seems the likely solution but of course it would have to be a Malaysian Government initiative. The politically fractured nature of the country is not conducive to such an initiative, but however a concerted effort led by the Leader of the Opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, might just gain sufficient support from members of the current Malaysian Parliament.
Anwar has promoted himself on the world stage as both an internationalist and a champion against corruption. This might well be his moment.
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