YOURSAY | ‘Zahid has achieved nothing, if not notoriety, with this revelation.’

Altantuya immigration records not deleted, says home minister

Justine Gow: Who is Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi trying to fool?

It is as if the immigration records were in stacks of dust-gathering papers or cards put away in a store room, and immigration officers had been searching high and low for that small piece of paper in the last 10 years.

What happened to all the computers in the Immigration Department?

Victor Johan: Previously, there were allegations in the court that the immigration records of Altantuya Shaariibuu were deleted by unknown individuals in 2006.

During the last parliamentary session, Indera Mahkota MP Fauzi Abdul Rahman queried in Parliament whether the police have probed into the claims of the deleted immigration records, as well as the status of the probe.

Parliament is not in session now. However, the home minister-cum-deputy prime minister Zahid gives a written parliamentary reply to state that the immigration records of Altantuya show there's been no deletion of her entry records.

Are we expected to believe this tale?

Bumiputhran: First, tell it to the marines under whose control are the Immigration Department’s data kept. Second, call in IT forensics and IT auditors from a foreign country immediately.

Third, do not tell lies. There is no extradition move being made. On the contrary, former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar has been allegedly assigned Special Branch handlers both in Australia and in Malaysia to keep him silent with all kinds of false promises and endless support of finances.

Don’t forget that Sirul is in Australia, his freedom will be determined according to the Australian immigration laws and not dictated by the Malaysian Special Branch promises.

Sooner or later, Sirul will realise this and break his silence. His Australian migration agent and his solicitors are bound by a professional code of conduct to remain silent on the case’s contents, unless they are summoned to give evidence in a court of law either in Malaysia or Australia.

One understands Ramkarpal Singh, the lawyer acting for Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu’s father, may well do that.

This whole affair is a tug of war between Sirul's freedom and his Special Branch handlers. Let us see which one gives way first as the Australian media is keeping the local scene under close scrutiny.

Pemerhati: Common sense will tell you that when the accusations of missing records were repeatedly made over the past several years, they would have been immediately denied by the authorities if the allegations were false.

The long delay of about eight years in the denial strongly indicates that Zahid is lying just as he was lying about meeting PM Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion "donor". To try and make that lie more convincing, he said he had seen a cheque for a huge sum of money.

But since such huge sums are transacted through electronic transfers, that cheque story strongly indicated that the whole "donor" story was untrue.

Zahid now must have thought that he could lie on this matter because no one would dare to contradict him and tell the truth and no outside party will be allowed to check and find out if what he says is true or false.

Hplooi: Why is Zahid so eager to protect Dear Leader Kim Ah Jib?

I conjecture that Zahid is not so much supportive of Dear Leader (just check his less than enthusiastic waving of the "I love PM" flag) as to his keen agenda to protect the system.

In my opinion, Zahid is more interested in preserving the status quo and the system so that when Dear Leader finally leaves or gets kicked out, he can step up with the current system intact.

And when that happens, I believe US$1 billion will be just a walk in the park. Even worse, the National Security Council (NSC) – apparently in the hands of a known gangster - will be an unmitigated disaster for Malaysia.

The next bagman will not be the likes of carpet businessman Deepak Jaikishan or business tycoon Jho al-Low, but a certain (alleged gambling kingpin) Paul Phua, along with his extended first family (now situated in Java) patiently waiting for their turn.

Peacemaker: Information is only useful if it is timely and accurate. The home minister has achieved nothing, if not notoriety, for the executive to reveal this piece of information now when the trial is well and truly over - and with one of the convicts having safely run away to Australia.

If Zahid thinks he has scored a point, I'd say it definitely looks like an own goal.

Vijay47: I am sure the full story has not yet been related. In a short while, we will have a Mongolian-looking beauty presenting herself as Altantuya.

She had been lost in the tropical forests of Shah Alam and was wandering about the jungle living off roots, rain water, and mangosteens that fell from an aeroplane. The experience was so traumatic that it affected her looks and even modified her DNA.

Zahid will next be telling us about the magical appearance of a fabulous amount of money.

Yap Cs: Zahid, pull my other leg, it’s got bells on it.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now .

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.