Human rights NGO Suaram, that had filed a suit against French submarine maker DCNS, would soon be able to access documents which may be related to alleged corrupt practices involving millions of Euros to a Malaysian company.

suaram french submarine case 280410 lawyer joseph breham Paris-based legal counsel for Suaram, Joseph Breham ( right ), said that the suit is the second phase of the same complaint that was filed earlier by the NGO in late 2009.

In December 2009, Suaram filed an initial suit against the company at the Paris court for “active and passive corruption, trading of favours and abuse of corporate assets”.

Breham said the application (filing), once approved by the court, would allow Suaram to become party to the enquiry, although it is uncertain when the proceedings will commence.

“This means that we will have official access to every element of the enquiry, we can ask for some acts to be made, someone to be called to the hearing, and searches to be made,” said Breham in an email interview with Malaysiakini .

Asked if Suaram would be able to have access to the evidence which allegedly links DCNS to the issuing of commissions to government officials, Breham answered ‘Yes’.

Breham said the case is still at the enquiry phase and the new application is to upgrade it to the “instruction phase” where an investigative judge would be appointed.

An investigative judge is an independent judge in charge of the enquiry, while the prosecution, which is currently in charge of it, is not independent from political power, he added.

Move to get investigative judge appointed

“The objective of the application (filing) is to get the investigative judge appointed,” he said.

Breham was responding to an article on Rue 89 website which reported that the case of French submarines bought by Malaysia is beginning to resemble other famous cases of “corruption suspicions linked to arms deals” in Taiwan and Pakistan.

azlan It reported suspicions that “reversed commissions” paid to French political parties are becoming more precise.

The case involves the sale of two Scorpene and one Agosta submarines to the Malaysian government, where a 1 billion euro contract had been inked in 2002 between Malaysia and DCNS, formerly known as DCN, a shipyard builder allied with Thalès.

However, since the contract was signed after the OECD convention in France in 2000, anyone found to be involved in corruption of foreign government officers will be punished with 10 years imprisonment and a 150,000 euro fine.

abdul razak baginda altantuya murder 141108 In 2006, Altantuya Shaariibuu, a translator and intermediary for this deal, believed to be romantically linked to Najib’s close friend and advisor Abdul Razak Baginda - was killed in Kuala Lumpur with C4 explosives in a jungle clearing in Shah Alam.

Najib Abdul Razak was then Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, while the two special taskforce officers convicted of murdering Altantuya were the former’s bodyguards.

Initially, it was suspected that a bribe of 114 million euro had been paid by Amaris, a subsidiary of DCNS and Thalès to “unidentified Malaysian officials”, through a company called Perimekar.

The majority shareholder of this company, officially created to “coordinate” the sale of submarines, is allegedly Abdul Razak’s wife.

Meanwhile, Suaram board member Cynthia Gabriel said the new application against DCNS is part of a legal strategy to speed up the case now that it is at the prosecution’s final stages.

suaram french submarine case 280410 cynthia gabriel Gabriel ( right ) said the evidence is substantial, and has led to DCNS officials being questioned and investigated.

She stressed that the former administration and financial manager of DCNS, Gérard-Philippe Menayas, who had been questioned by the police involving a similar case in Pakistan, had admitted having evidence to substantiate the kickbacks.

In his memorandum, revealed after investigations in 2008, Menayas wrote about the sale of submarines to Malaysia: “Since the enactment of the OECD convention against corruption in September 2000, only two contracts have been signed, with India and with Malaysia in 2002.

“These two contracts are the result of commercial dealings initiated before the OECD convention. They are both suspected of non-conformity with the convention. I have evidence to sustain it”.

In reference to this, Gabriel said, “The suit which we filed recently will further substantiate ongoing investigations into DCNS related to the Taiwan and Karachi cases.”

Two other commissions surface

Gabriel also pointed another interesting item of information which has recently surfaced, involving not only one but two other commissions.

This includes a 30 million euro payment by DCNS to the commercial networks of Thalès, under the rubric of “commercial fees linked to the negotiation and the enactment of the contract” and another payment of 2.5 million euro.

The second commission had reportedly been paid by Thalès to an intermediary still unidentified, in order to convince the Malaysian government that it was necessary to have some more works initiated.

“Although we have yet to find out who is the ‘unidentified’ intermediary, we have now come to know that a company called Gifen, created in Malta by Jean-Marie Bouvin, had reportedly intervened in the negotiations to facilitate monetary transfers to finance Abdul Razak and Altantuya’s travels,” Gabriel added.

Meanwhile, the report on the French website had also stated that with the suit filed by Suaram, new elements of the case have surfaced.

It is learnt now that it is not Armaris which had paid the Euro 114 million to Perimekar, but the Malaysian government “with the unique objective to go around the OECD convention”.

This is surprising as Deputy Defence Minister Zainal Abidin Zin had denied in Parliament in 2006 that the government had paid US$100 million commission for the RM4.1 billion deal to buy three submarines from a collaboration of French and Spanish warship builders - DCN International and Thales respectively.