KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be called to give a statement to the French Court regarding the corruption scandal over the purchase of Scorpene submarines by Malaysia.
NGO Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram – Suara Rakyat Malaysia) member Cynthia Gabriel said that judge Roger Le Loire from the Tribunal de la Grande Instance, Paris, who is handling the case has shortlisted the names of witnesses given by Suaram previously.
Najib’s is among the names received by the judge after hearing arguments from Suaram and two French lawyers, William Bourdon and Joseph Breham, who represented Suaram last April.
“Due to recent developments, Prime Minister Najib Razak will be called up in the near future, but when, we still do not know, we will wait,” said Cynthia.
She said this in front of almost 6,000 attendees at the Rapat Kemuncak Countdown #KL112 at Sultan Sulaiman Club, Kampung Baru, last night.
According to Cynthia, the French judge also rules that investigations into the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian woman, be carried out.
Altantuya was the translator for the purchase of two submarines costing RM4.85 billion.
The RM4.85 billion price tag was however jumped to RM7.3 billion when the Malaysian Government also paid consulting fees to Perimekar which is owned by Najib’s assistant, Abdul Razak Baginda.
The additional cost entailed RM570 million for maintenance, RM600 million for guided missiles, RM1.1 billion for the cost of coordination, and assistance services from DCNS costing RM180 million.
In 2012, Suaram had filed a case against the French defence firm DCNS on charges of illegally paying commissions to the highest Malaysian official in the sale of two Scorpene submarines to the Malaysian Government in 2002.