Malaysia's Rape Scandal: Was there One?

MONDAY, 10 JANUARY 2011

"I TOLD you it wasn't me!" Or was it a political move to get rid of a cabinet minister? Two Indonesian agencies, one a government body and the other an NGO, are offering opposing stories on whether an Indonesian maid was raped by Malaysian Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim in 2007. But whether she was or wasn't, it has become the latest episode in a feud between the 68-year-old Rais and Malaysian bloggers who gave the story wide currency, with overtones of an attempt to drive him out of the cabinet. One agency said the woman, identified by her single name as Robingha, denied being raped although another said that four years ago she told them she had indeed been sexually assaulted. Jumhur Hidayat, chairman of the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers, said Friday in Jakarta that the maid had delivered a written statement to four of the board's personnel in central Java that she had never been raped and that she had been treated well in Rais's home. However, Anis Hidayah, the director of Migrant Care, an Indonesian NGO, said the woman had reported in 2007 that she had indeed been raped and that a report had been filed with the Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the Indonesian National Police. Anis Hidayah said Rubingah had claimed at the time that she had been raped. "She told us in 2007 that she was raped," Hidayah told the Jakarta Globe, adding that the NGO had never meant to publicize the investigation beyond submitting it to authorities and the embassy. Despite reports otherwise, former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the report had not been given to the Malaysian cabinet while he was premier. "Everybody here is treating it as if it's over," said a well-placed political source in Kuala Lumpur. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and other political figures hinted Saturday that the story about Rais could have been brought up now, amid rumors of a cabinet reshuffle, because his adversaries want him dropped from the government. Any possible physical evidence obviously has long ago disappeared and at this point it would appear to be the maid's word against Rais's unless a witness were to suddenly appear, and it seems doubtful that the matter will go any further. Last week the minister issued an outraged statement denying the allegations and charged that bloggers and opposition parties were behind them. Rais dropped out of the running in 2007 to become Commonwealth Secretary a week after the date on the Migrant Care report on the allegations. "I refute the allegations, whether they are about raping any individual four years ago or any other allegation, raised by bloggers on the Internet or by any political entity," he said, calling the report "heaps of libellous statements and awful, ugly and wicked lies." The confrontation between Rais and the bloggers started in September last year. The bloggers are more closely connected to the United Malays National Organization than to the opposition, including one called Rocky's Bru, written by Ahirudin Bin Attan, President of the National Press Club of Malaysia, and a second, only known as bigdogblogcom. Rocky's Bru historically has been closely aligned with former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad although insiders in Kuala Lumpur say Mahathir didn't have anything to do with the current controversy. The two alleged that Rais' son's telecommunication company was one of nine companies which had benefitted from the government grant to develop the broadband connectivity access in Malaysia. Ahirudin wrote a blog entry calling the information minister "Santa Rais" and intimating he had steered a RM1 billion contract to improve the country's 3G and broadband reception to three favored companies and hinting that Rais's son was somehow involved. Rais told local media that none of his family members was "even remotely associated with those slanted and ill-intended allegations, and will forthwith assert my rights under the law and report the matter to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) so that an investigation could be under way". He promptly filed a police report against Ahirudin and the bigdogdotcom blogger, who were hauled up before the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and asked to explain themselves. The matter has also become a bone of contention between the two countries, which have been deadlocked over treatment of workers in Malaysia. Indonesia imposed a ban on allowing workers to go to Malaysia in June after a series of high-profile cases in which Indonesians were physically abused by their employers. Other issues included the guarantee of minimum wages for migrant workers and who must shoulder worker placement fees along with other issues. Indonesian workers say employers hold their workers' passports and many don't allow a weekly day off. Many Indonesian workers also complain that they are barred from associating with fellow workers or contacting their embassy. Neither Indonesia nor Malaysia has ratified Convention 98 on freedom of association and collective bargaining. Indonesia has not ratified Conventions 138 and 182 on abolishing child labor. Malaysia did ratify Convention 105 on eliminating forced and compulsory labor in 1958, only to reverse its decision in 1990. Note: Article from Asia Sentinel

Top Malaysia panel to probe government agency's interrogation of opposition aide who died

By: Julia Zappei, The Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's leader pledged Friday to form a rare high-level panel to investigate the official anti-graft watchdog's interrogation of an opposition party aide who later died mysteriously.
Teoh Beng Hock was found dead on a building roof next to the office of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in July 2009, hours after agency officials questioned him over suspected misuse of state funds by his boss.
The case has pressured Prime Minister Najib Razak to address allegations that police and other authorities use excessive force against suspects during interrogation.
Teoh, 30, was the aide of an opposition state legislator. An inquest into Teoh's death left it unresolved, with the coroner saying Wednesday that there was inadequate proof of suicide or murder.
Najib said a Royal Commission would soon look into the anti-corruption agency's investigation procedures and determine whether there was "any violation of human rights" during the questioning of Teoh.
It would be only the fourth time Malaysia's government has established a Royal Commission in the past 20 years. The commissions are meant to probe issues of great public interest and have wide powers to compel witnesses to provide testimony and to seize documents for evidence.
Opposition leaders nevertheless voiced frustration that the panel would not specifically investigate whether anti-graft officials were responsible for Teoh's death.
Najib said the attorney general would file a court application for the inquest's coroner to revise his ruling, but it was not immediately clear whether that could lead to a new investigation or criminal charges against anyone.
"What is important for us is to know the truth, and the government wants to know the truth. We will do our utmost to find out the truth," Najib told a news conference.
The Royal Commission will comprise "eminent and respected" members, Najib said, promising more details soon.
The anti-graft agency has denied having any direct role in Teoh's death. A reputed Thai forensic expert told the inquest last year that Teoh's death was almost certainly a homicide. Two Malaysian government pathologists, however, testified that he most likely committed suicide.

Another Malaysian Scandal?*

Note: Article from Asia Sentinel

Prominent UMNO stalwart allegedly raped his housemaid in 2007 but wasn't investigated  A document from Migrant Care, a non-government organization, which has been publicized by several blogs in Mallaysia, alleges that a "VVIP" later identified as Rais Yatim, the Information, Communications, and Culture Minister, may have raped his Indonesian maid in 2007. However, according to the blogs, Rais got away with it because then-Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi apparently didn't want an embarrassing confrontation with the Indonesian government. The 68-year-old Rais at the time was law minister in Badawi's cabinet. He has been a stalwart in United Malays National Party politics since at least 1978. Although the rape charges were passed to Badawi's office in 2007 and were well known to top government officials, it appears they were never investigated. Certainly, the charges didn't stop Badawi from naming him foreign affairs minister in 2008, nor did they stop Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak from naming him information minister in 2009. However, on July 27of 2007, Rais did abruptly pull out of the running to become Commonwealth Secretary-General after the end of the previous secretary's reign in March 2008. He cited the conflict of his duties serving on the committee planning the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Malaysia's freedom from British colonialism. The complaint making the rounds appears to have been filed on July 23. The lack of investigation of the case also prevents Rais from protesting his innocence. At this stage, lack of evidence would probably make the case almost impossible to prosecute, since it would end up with just the maid's word against Rais's. Malaysia's blogosphere has caught fire over the allegations although Rais wasn't named as the alleged rapist until this weekend. A three-page Indonesian report giving details of the maid's service in his home – with his name blanked out – has been making the rounds of the Internet since the middle of December. However, despite widespread and growing demands in the blogosphere that the allegations against Rais be investigated and prosecuted, the odds are that nothing is going to happen, said a lawyer with close ties to UMNO. It raises too many questions – few people, with the probable exception of the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, want to go after Badawi for refusing to allow the investigation of Rais. Najib probably doesn't want fire him, the lawyer said, because that brings up unpleasant reminders that the other WikiLeaks documents quote Singaporean officials appearing to implicate Najib in the widely publicized 2006 murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu. Other documents made public by WikiLeaks allege that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was probably entrapped into having sex with his then 23-year-old former male assistant, but did it anyway. So far, Malaysia's mainstream media, all of which are owned by the major political parties, have ignored the Rais story. The purported rape victim, according to the reports and the copy of the complaint that is circulating with Rais's name blacked out, had been working in Rais's home for eight years when she returned to Indonesia and told her husband about the incident. After she filed the complaint with a migrant worker official in Indonesia in 2007, copies were made available to both the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and the Indonesian Embassy as well as Badawi's office. The odds that Rais – or any other major political figure in Malaysia – would be prosecuted for rape, let alone any other crime up to and including murder, are belied by a spate of other cases over the years. As Asia Sentinelreported in October of 2009, the privileged are rarely brought to tto trial. Impunity for the politically powerful and rich in Malaysia is too often a way of life. The most infamous recent case was that of Altantuya Shaariibuu, then 28, who was murdered in 2006 by two of Najib's bodyguards. Although they have been found guilty and have been sentenced to hang for the crime, nobody has been identified as having hired them to kill the woman. Altantuya had been jilted by Najib's best friend, Abdul Razak Baginda, and was demanding US$500,000 money from him. A private detective has alleged in a statutory declaration that Najib had passed the Mongolian woman to Razak Baginda because he knew he would become prime minister and wanted to avoid embarrassment. Although numerous other witnesses and evidence connected Najib to the affair, he was never questioned or put on the witness stand, nor was his chief of staff, Musa Safri. According to Razak Baginda in a cautioned statement, he approached Musa about getting Altantuya to cease her harassment. Although one of the two bodyguards, also in a cautioned statement, confessed that the two men were to be paid RM100,000 to kill her, the court never asked who would pay the money. The confession wasn't allowed in court. Baginda was acquitted without having to put on a defense and promptly left the country. Such questionable cases go back to at least the early 1980s when members of Malaysia's royalty allegedly assaulted and killed commoners. Sultan Mahmud Iskandar of Johor was dubbed the "killer king" by the British tabloids after he shot a trespasser to death on his property. Iskandar also reportedly assaulted and killed a golf caddy who was said to have laughed when the sultan missed a golf stroke, and he maimed the caddy's brother. Megat Junid Megat Ayob, the onetime UMNO deputy home affairs minister, who died in January 2008 of cancer, allegedly was implicated in the murder of a young woman. As with Rais and the rape charges, the widespread gossip about Megat Junid's connection with the murder didn't do his political career any harm. He was ultimately named Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister in 1997 although he lost his parliamentary seat two years later and retired from politics. In 2002 the decomposed body of the attractive young second wife of the second in line to the throne of Perak, was found under a bridge, clad in a bra and jeans. Although four men were arrested and jailed for the murder, no one was ever arrested or questioned for hiring them to kill her although suspicion fell on the prince's wife. In 2003, Shahidan Kassim, then the chief minister of Perlis, was rumored to be involved with the death of another attractive young woman was found murdered in an apartment in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. Although another individual was arrested and charged with the murder, he was later declared not guilty and no one else was ever charged. The inspector general of police, Mohd Bakri Omar, classified the case under Malaysia's Official Secrets Act and no details were ever released. Earlier in 2010, authorities finally completed an inquest into the 2007 death of a beautiful Indian actress, who also worked part-time as a secretary to S.Vell Paari, chief executive officer of Maika Holdings and the son of S. Samy Vellu, the head of the Malaysian Indian Congress, a component of the ruling national coalition. The woman's body was cremated almost immediately after her death. The coroner ruled she had died after poisoning herself. The family vainly requested an investigation into her death. *This story has been corrected.  It originally stated that the document in question was publicized by WikiLeaks.  However, despite the identification of the documents by several Malaysian blogs as having come from WikiLeaks, we cannot find any evidence of that.

MACC team to head to France for Alcatel probe

Tim Leonard newsdesk@thesundaily.com PETALING JAYA (Jan 3, 2011): The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will dispatch a team to France to obtain more information on allegations made by the US that Paris-based telco firm Alcatel- Lucent SA paid bribes to Malaysian officials to obtain confidential information relating to a public tender that Alcatel ultimately won. A senior MACC investigator told theSun that there appears a strong basis for an in-depth probe following leads obtained by the commission from an undisclosed source, and it is important to establish the facts of the case before commencing a full-fledged investigation. "It is not going to be an easy job but we hope our trip to France will help shed more light into what transpired and how the alleged corruption involving Malaysians took place," the official said. The official also said the allegations were serious and cannot be taken lightly, especially in view of the country’s reputation at stake in the international circles. MACC director of investigations Mustafar Ali, when contacted today declined to elaborate on the details but assured the public a thorough investigation will be carried out. "I cannot disclose further details but as usual (in any case), we will leave no stone unturned in our investigations," said Mustafar. On Dec 29, the MACC in a statement said it views the allegation seriously and will check with the relevant parties to get the actual facts before taking the necessary action. The MACC also advised the media to stop making speculations on the matter before details on the allegation have been verified. The Paris-based firm has been accused by US authorities of having bribed government officials in Latin America and Asia – including Malaysia – between December 2001 and June 2006. Alcatel on Dec 27, agreed to pay US$137 million (RM432.4 million) in fines and penalties to settle the charges, after reaching an agreement with the US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The US Justice Department said Alcatel had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act prior to its 2006 merger with US-based Lucent Technologies. Alcatel was charged with two counts of violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement. The company was accused of making payments to government officials in countries including Costa Rica, Honduras, Taiwan and Malaysia to win or keep contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, said the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department. Based on court filings, the French company made significant lump-sum payments through US bank accounts to two consultants labelled "Malaysian Consultant A" and "Malaysian Consultant B", purportedly for market research. The case is the latest in a series of bribery cases brought by US President Barrack Obama’s administration to crack down on illegal payments by businesses to win contracts.