The Acquittal Of Chang Kong Choy From Cheating Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi On The RM12.85 Billion Port Klang Free Trade Zone Scandal Is A Sad Fact That No Senior Leader Is Responsible And Punished For Such Collosal Losses Of Public Funds.(en/bm/cn)

Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 13.1.2014.

The acquittal of Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chang Kong Choy from 3 charges of cheating former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on the RM12.85 Billion Port Klang Free Trade Zone scandal is a sad fact that no senior leader is responsible and punished for such collosal losses of public funds. Chan was charged on February 28, 2011 with cheating Abdullah over the RM1.9 billion trans-shipment project between 2004 and 2006. He faced up to five years’ jail on each count.

Chan’s predecessor as Transport Minister, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, had being acquitted on October 25 last year on charges of cheating the Cabinet on the same scandal In acquitting Dr Ling, High Court judge Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi ruled that the former minister could not be held accountable for any mistake, misleading information, or inaccuracy in the preparation of the ministry’s documents regarding the land acquisition, although Ling signed the documents.”If any, the blame should be apportioned wholly and squarely upon the officers of the Transport Ministry who drafted and prepared the documents,” the judge said.

Have these officers of the Transport Ministry under Tun Dr Ling been charged? Instead Deputy Public Prosecutor(DPP) Datuk Nordin Hassan said that the charges were dropped after considering the representation by lawyers of Chan over the acquittal in Dr Ling’s case, which the DPP did not appeal. No wonder Malaysia has been crowned the world champion of corruption by Wall Street Journal and Transparency International.

Malaysia’s exceptional performance as the world champion of corruption is justified with of RM173.84 billion (US$54.18 billion) of illicit funds outflow or dirty money siphoned out of Malaysia in 2011, ranked fourth worst in the world. For 2011, Malaysia is behind giants Russia (US$191.14 billion), China (US$151.35 billion) and India (US$84.93 billion). In per capita terms, Malaysia is the world champion because our population is tens of times smaller than the China, India and Russia.

The Washington-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Report estimated a total of RM1.2 trillion or USD 370.38 billion lost from dirty money between 2002-11 or nearly RM4,300 per Malaysian over the last 10 years. At the same time, no action is taken to curb the waste and inefficiency highlighted in the latest 2012 Auditor-General Report involving a shocking RM6.5 billion. Until now, no one has been punished for these wrongdoings.

The dropping of charges by the prosecution against Chan shows there is selective prosecution and that justice easily falls victim to power. A legal system is only effective when it is permitted to protect citizen rights and not only the leaders. Our legal system will cease to function if we allow misuse of public funds to go unpunished instead of respecting the rule of law.

LIM GUAN ENG

—–BM Version —
Kenyataan Media oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP merangkap Ahli Parlimen Bagan, Lim Guan Eng di Kuala Lumpur pada 13 Januari 2014.

Pembebasan Chan Kong Choy daripada tuduhan menipu mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkaitan skandal RM12.85 bilion Port Klang Free Trade Zone adalah hakikat menyedihkan bahawa tidak ada pemimpin kanan yang dipertanggungjawab mahupun dihukum kerana mengakibatkan kerugian besar kepada dana orang awam.

Pembebasan Chan Kong Choy daripada tuduhan menipu mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi berkaitan skandal RM12.85 bilion Port Klang Free Trade Zone adalah hakikat menyedihkan bahawa tidak ada pemimpin kanan yang dipertanggungjawab mahupun dihukum kerana mengakibatkan kerugian besar kepada dana orang awam. Chan dituduh pada 28 Februari 2011 kerana menipu Abdullah Ahmad Badawi tentang projek bernilai RM1.9 bilion antara tahun 2004 dan 2006. Beliau berdepan kemungkinan dihukum lima tahun penjara untuk setiap pertuduhan.

Menteri Pengangkutan sebelum Chan, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, telah dibebaskan dari pertuduhan menipu Kabinet dalam skandal yang sama, pada 25 Oktober tahun lalu. Dalam membebaskan beliau, Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Datuk Ahmadi Asnawi memutuskan bahawa bekas menteri itu tidak boleh dipertanggungjawabkan atas sebarang kesalahan, maklumat yang mengelirukan atau ketidaktepatan dalam menyediakan dokumen kementerian berkenaan pengambilan tanah, meskipun Ling menandatangani dokumen-dokumen terbabit. “Jika ada pun, kesalahan tersebut mesti dibahagikan dan dipertanggungjawabkan ke atas pegawai-pegawai Kementerian Pengangkutan yang mendraf dan menyediakan dokumen-dokumen tersebut,” kata hakim itu.

Adakah pegawai-pegawai Kementerian Pengangkutan di bawah Tun Dr Ling sudah didakwa? Sebaliknya Timbalan Pendakwaraya Datuk Nordin Hassan mengatakan bahawa pertuduhan-pertuduhan digugurkan selepas mengambil kira hujah-hujah peguam Chan mengenai pembebesan dalam kes Dr Ling, yang mana tidak dirayu oleh pihak pendakwa. Patutlah Malaysia dimahkotakan sebagai juara dunia dalam hal korupsi oleh Wall Street Journal dan Transparency International.

—-Mandarin Version ——

民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2014年1月13日在吉隆坡发表声明:

针对陈广才在128亿5000万令吉巴生港口自由贸易区丑闻中,欺骗前首相敦阿都拉巴达威,法庭宣判无罪释放,这项事实令人伤心,因为没有一名资深领袖为这起造成巨额公款损失的丑闻负责及被处罚

针对陈广才在128亿5000万令吉巴生港口自由贸易区丑闻中,欺骗前首相敦阿都拉巴达威,法庭宣判无罪释放,这项事实令人伤心,因为没有一名资深领袖为这起造成巨额公款损失的丑闻负责及被处罚。陈广才在2011年2月28日被控在2004年-2006年期间欺诈时任首相阿都拉19亿令吉货物转运工程。每项控状皆可被罚监禁5年。

陈广才之前的交长敦林良实也在去年10月25日,在同一起丑闻中,被控欺骗内阁后,获无罪释放。高庭法官拿督阿末迪阿斯纳威裁决,林良实虽是文件的签署人,但是他无需为交通部在准备巴生自贸区土地征收文件时所出现的错误、误导资讯和不准确问题负责。“若真有,交通部草拟和准备文件的官员一样需要完全和直接地承担这些过失。”

那么,当时在林良实属下工作的交通部官员有没有被提控?反之,副检察长拿督诺丁哈山以林良实的案件为例(副检察长没有上诉),考虑了陈广才代表律师的申请,决定撤销针对陈广才的控状。怪不得,马来西亚被《华尔街日报》及《国际透明组织》封为世界贪污冠军。

马来西亚“独树一帜”,成为贪污冠军,在2011年,非法外流资金或黑钱达1738亿4000万令吉(541亿8000万美元),位居世界第四糟的国家。2011年,马来西亚黑钱外流排名在俄罗斯(1911亿4000万美元)、中国(1513亿5000万美元)及印度(849亿3000万美元)之后。就人口比例而言,马来西亚比中国、印度及俄罗斯小十倍,成为贪污的世界冠军。

总部设于华盛顿的全球财务廉洁报告指出,我国非法资金外流在2002年-2011年期间达3703亿8000万美元或每个国民损失4300令吉。同时,也没有任何措施克服2012年总稽查报告所突出的财务管理不当所导致的65亿令吉损失。至今都没有人被对付。

当局撤销对陈广才的控状,显示当中有选择性提控,权力腐蚀正义。 唯有当司法制度不只保护领袖,也能保护平民老百姓时,这才是有效的司法制度。如果我们继续让滥用公款的案件不了了之,无人受罚,司法制度将停止运作,法治不再受尊崇。

林冠英