MikeLigalig.com

BENARNEWS- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was detained by the national anti-corruption agency on Wednesday and expected to spend the night in custody while authorities prepared to charge him on Thursday with alleged abuse of power, officials said.
The former UMNO party president was taken into custody at 4:13 p.m. Wednesday after he went to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya, according to officials.
"The MACC will meet with the Royal Malaysian Police to record Najib's statement before he is taken to the court tomorrow, to facilitate police investigations under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001," officials said in a statement.
He is expected to face several charges for alleged abuse of power related to the 2.6 billion ringgit (U.S. $628 million) found in his personal bank accounts. Authorities allege the money came from the sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which he created in 2009 ostensibly to pursue projects beneficial to Malaysians.
MACC officials said the Attorney General's Chamber approved filing the latest round of charges.
Najib has maintained that he received a "gift" from Saudi Arabian sources and denied taking money for personal gain.
In Facebook postings last week, Najib presented letters from a Saudi prince promising him "gifts" of millions of dollars to encourage him to continue promoting Islam to the world. Najib claimed the Saudi gave him 2.6 billion ringgit in March 2013, but he later returned the money because it was not needed for that year's general election.
The court appearance will be Najib's third to face charges.
Najib, who pleaded not guilty to charges filed during his first two court appearances, is scheduled to stand trial in February 2019 on seven counts including criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering.
Those charges are related to allegations that 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) were illegally funneled electronically into his private bank accounts from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.
In addition, his lawyer Shafee Abdullah was charged last week with money laundering and tax fraud involving 9.5 million ringgit ($2.3 million) he received from Najib. Shafee called the charges political and baseless.
Supporters speak out
Lokman Noor Adam, president of the NGO Pemantau Malaysia Baru, told BenarNews that his group would gather in front of the MACC headquarters on Wednesday and at the Kuala Lumpur court on Thursday to show solidarity with Najib.
"We condemn the action taken by MACC which we believed was part of the agenda to break the spirit of United Malays National Organization members," he said.

Najib's two children, Ashman and Nooryana Najwa, both expressed their feelings about his detention on Instagram.

Nooryana said she sent a photo with her son wishing her father all the best. She said it pained her that she was not in the country to be with him.

"Praying for you and the rule of law in our country, daddy," she posted.

Ashman posted a photo of Najib and a brief comment at the bottom stating his fear of what may come.
"I can't imagine the kind of tribulation that you are facing in there. Praying that you are given fair treatment," he said.
The probe into 1MDB reopened after the new government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad came into power in May after defeating Najib's Barisan Nasional coalition in the general election. Previous Attorney General Apandi Ali, who served under Najib, cleared the then-prime minister of wrongdoing in the case.
United States prosecutors filed a series of lawsuits alleging at least $4.5 billion (18.6 billion ringgit) were stolen from 1MDB and diverted through acquisitions of real estate, artwork and luxury properties by Najib and his associates. Switzerland and France also are investigating 1MDB.
The announcement that Najib will face additional charges comes as UMNO, the political party he led, saw two high-ranking members announce their resignations this week, according to media reports.
Former Foreign Minister Anifah Aman announced his resignation on Wednesday, one day after Supreme Council member Mustapa Mohamed left the party, according to the reports. They join three other party officials who have resigned since the May election.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS-Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak pleaded not guilty Thursday as a court charged him with 25 new counts of corruption, money laundering and abuse of power in connection with the alleged theft of billions of ringgit from the scandal-hit state fund 1MDB.
The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court charged Najib with 21 counts of various alleged offenses under the country's Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001. Najib arrived at the courthouse after he was formally arrested on Thursday in connection with the latest charges, and after spending the night in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The Sessions Court later released Najib after allowing him to post 3.5 million ringgit (U.S. $845,900) in bail in four installments – as requested by Najib's defense team – starting with a payment of 1 million ringgit ($241,700) on Friday. Najib had until late next week to pay the bail in full, the court said.
"The bail is to be paid, starting from tomorrow 1 million ringgit, and subsequently, 500,000 ringgit in installments until Friday, Sept. 28," Sessions Court Judge Azura Alwi said.
The new charges included nine counts of receiving illegitimate proceeds, five counts of using illegitimate funds, and seven counts of transferring illegitimate proceeds to other entities.
He was also charged with four counts of abuse of power in relation to 2.3 billion ringgit ($556.23 million) of money from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund allegedly deposited into his personal bank accounts when he served as prime minister.
The new charges bring to 32 the total counts that Najib faces after he was charged twice earlier with money-laundering and abuse of power as part of a MACC investigation into 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund that he established in 2009 during his twin role as PM and finance minister.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and is scheduled to stand trial in February 2019.
Najib, who wore a dark suit, arrived at the courthouse at 1:48 p.m., escorted by police and MACC officers. He smiled wearily as he waved to his supporters, who were barred from entering the court compound.
Earlier in the day, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim announced that Najib was arrested outside the Federal police's Commercial Crime Unit headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, with the consent of the Attorney-General's Chambers.
Later, Najib reiterated that he was not a thief and that the charges were aimed at tarnishing his reputation.

"This court case will give me the chance to clear my name now," the 65-year-old former prime minister told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex lobby after emerging from Thursday's hearing.
His court appearance on Thursday over criminal allegations was the third for Najib, the former president of UMNO party and Barisan Nasional coalition, since the bloc that ruled Malaysia for nearly 61 years was upset in the May 9 general election.

The earlier charges were related to allegations that 42 million ringgit ($10.3 million) were illegally funneled electronically into his private bank accounts from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary.

In addition, his lawyer Shafee Abdullah was charged last week with money laundering and tax fraud involving 9.5 million ringgit ($2.3 million) that he had allegedly received from Najib. Shafee called the charges politically motivated and baseless.
International scandal

The probe into 1MDB reopened after the new government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad came to power in early May. Apandi Ali, the attorney general under Najib, cleared the then-prime minister of wrongdoing in the case.

United States prosecutors filed a series of lawsuits alleging that at least $4.5 billion (18.6 billion ringgit) was stolen from 1MDB and diverted through acquisitions of real estate, artwork and luxury properties by associates of Najib. Switzerland and France also are investigating 1MDB.

Malaysian authorities are pursuing businessman-turned-fugitive Jho Low, whose real name is Low Taek Jho, and his father after both were charged in absentia in August.

Low, who was identified as a close associate to Najib, was charged with three counts of receiving funds and five charges of transferring funds totaling 1 billion ringgit ($261 million) under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act.

Low's father, Larry Low Hock Peng, who is also a fugitive, was charged with transferring money to his son under the same act, authorities said.
House searched
While Najib was being charged in court, the federal police's commercial crime investigation team raided the house of his mother, Rahah Noah.
The raiding party of 14 entered the house at 4 p.m. and spent about 90 minutes there, but left empty-handed, a police source told BenarNews.
Rahah, the widow of former Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein, was home when the investigators arrived.
"Very mean of them to scare the poor lady and they found nothing in her house," Najib attorney Shafee said, confirming the search.
Meanwhile, MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner Azam Baki told reporters that the 1MDB investigation would continue.
"More to be charged in the case. MACC will cooperate with police in the investigation and we are focusing on tracking money and assets belong to 1MDB in other countries," Azam said.
Ali Nufael in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Saying it contradicts the nation's value system, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad rejected same-sex marriage or lesbian and gay rights Friday, two weeks after denouncing the caning of two Muslim women for attempting lesbian sex.
Mahathir's comments likely would spur concerns from activists about his administration's perceived hostility towards members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, analysts said.
"In Malaysia, there are certain matters that we cannot accept, although they are considered as part of human rights in the Western countries," Mahathir told a news conference. "We cannot accept, for example, LGBT, and marriage between men and men, women and women."
It was the 93-year-old leader's first public statement against the LGBT community since he assumed office on May 10. The comments came after a presentation by the Malaysian human rights commission, locally known as Suhakam, in the administrative capital Putrajaya.
"Our concept of family remains the same: that couples with children, with their own children is a family, or even adopted children. But two men or two women is not considered a family," he said.
The Penal Code in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority nation of more than 32 million, describes gay or lesbian sex as "against the order of nature," and punishes violators with prison terms of up to 20 years and whipping. 

Responding to Mahathir's statements, transgender activist Nisha Ayub told BenarNews that many LGBT people do not think about same-sex marriage or gay-pride parades. 

"Most of the transgender community don't even think about marriage," said Nisha, the first transgender woman to receive the International Women of Courage Award in 2016 from the U.S. State Department. "We just want to be able to live our lives on the daily basis as equal citizens."

The LGBT advocacy group Pelangi (Campaign for Equality and Human Rights Initiative) urged Mahathir on Friday to address violence and hate crimes against "queer people."

"How many more hate crimes you want to be committed under your government?" Pelangi said in a statement posted on its Twitter page.
Pelangi did not elaborate, but local media reports last month said unidentified attackers armed with sticks beat a transgender woman named Suki in Seremban, a town south of Kuala Lumpur. 

Pelangi President Numan Afifi was in the media spotlight in July after he left his post as press officer to the Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq after being attacked on social media because of his sexual orientation.

Prior to that, Pelangi was criticized after it allegedly mocked the Islamic holy month of Ramadan when it organized a breaking-of-fast event in Kuala Lumpur during Pride Day in 2017.

Mahathir's public rejection of the LGBT community came after two women each received six strokes of the cane early this month after pleading guilty at a Sharia court to charges of attempting to have sex in a parked car in the religiously conservative Terengganu.
After the caning captured headlines worldwide, Mahathir said his cabinet had determined that the punishment meted out was harsh, considering the two women were first-time offenders. He said the canings had tarnished Islam's image.
But in 2014, Mahathir had accused members of the gay and lesbian communities of abandoning religion and following their emotions and lust.

"If you understand your religion, you will never be gay," media quoted him as saying after a lecture in the International Islamic University Malaysia.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Relatives of two Indonesian fishermen abducted off the east coast of Malaysian Borneo earlier this month have received a ransom demand of nearly U.S. $1 million from a Malay speaker calling from the Philippines, a Malaysian security official said Tuesday.
The caller demanded the ransom of 4 million ringgit (U.S. $967,220) be paid in Malaysian currency but did not specify a deadline, Sabah Police Commissioner Omar Mammah said.
The call was placed to the wife of one of the victims in Sulawesi, Indonesia, he said.
"The caller making the ransom demand to wife of the boat skipper's assistant spoke in Malay at 10:24 a.m. on Sept.18," Omar told BenarNews. "[T]here's a big possibility the caller had spent time in Sabah. We're not discounting this possibility."
The fishermen were kidnapped Sept. 11 from their fishing boat anchored near Bodgaya island, off the east coast of Sabah state, according to officials. Two others crew members hid when the boat was boarded by two men in face masks who had arrived in a pump boat.
"We believe the call was made from the Philippines as the number used was that of the neighboring nation," Omar told reporters on Tuesday. "We also believe there will be negotiations between the kidnappers and the families concerning the ransom."
'Abducted from their waters'
The Indonesian Foreign Ministry official responsible for the welfare of Indonesian nationals abroad was not immediately available to confirm the ransom call.
"Hopefully the Sabah police are not only forwarding the information about the ransom demand from the hostage-takers, but they also can free the two Indonesian fishermen who were abducted from their waters," the official, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, earlier told reporters in a text message.
Omar said authorities were intensifying security efforts after receiving reports from fishermen about pump boats apparently scouting Sabah waters for kidnapping opportunities.
Four days after the kidnapping, three Indonesian fishermen who had been held captive by Abu Sayyaf for 18 months were released. Abu Sayyaf is a southern Philippines-based militant group notorious for kidnappings, bombings and beheadings over the past two decades.
A regional security analyst said the Indonesian government had been quiet about their release.
"We don't know exactly happened as the Indonesian government is not saying anything about it," Lai Yew Ming of Universiti Malaysia Sabah told BenarNews.
"Some governments stress they have a zero-tolerance policy against kidnappers, meaning there are no negotiations whatsoever. But what happens behind the scene could be a different story."
At a Sept. 19 ceremony at the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta in which the former hostages were reunited with their families, Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister AM Fachir said the men were freed "by utilizing the assets we have in the field and the support of the Philippine government."
Two suspects killed
On Sept. 20, forces from the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) killed two men suspected of acting as informants for kidnappers, during a sea chase off Bohayan island, also in Semporna district of Sabah, where the Sept. 11 kidnapping took place.
The men, who did not carry identification but appeared to be in their 50s, fired at authorities as they attempted to flee in a pump boat, according to police, who went looking for them after receiving a tip-off from local people.
Esscom suspects locals harbored the informants, Commander Hazani Ghazali said. He also said the kidnappers could be members of Abu Sayyaf.
"The surge in kidnappings in 2016 in Sabah happened because the Abu Sayyaf wanted to finance their operations during the Marawi war in 2017," he said, referring to the five-month siege of the southern Philippine city by Islamic State-linked militants that left 1,200 people dead.
In June 2017, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia launched trilateral patrols aimed at safeguarding the Sulu and Celebes seas that lie between their countries from pirates and militants.
The Sept. 11 kidnapping was the first in region in nearly 18 months, according to the Singapore-based information sharing center of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP).
Tia Asmara in Jakarta contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia will tighten regulations governing private Islamic schools following allegations of sexual abuse of students at such learning institutions, a deputy minister said Tuesday.
Deputy Islamic Affairs Minister Fuziah Salleh told BenarNews that the government will amend current laws regulating "tahfiz" schools that focused on studies on the Quran in a bid to prevent sexual abuses and protect students.
The move came after the principal of a tahfiz school in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur was slapped with 11 charges in court earlier this month following a complaint against him by nine male students that he had molested and sodomized them.
The principal was charged under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act, which is aimed specially at protecting those up to 18 years old from sexual crimes.
"The case was investigated and the person has been charged in court on Sept 19 with 11 charges under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Child Act 2017," police said in a statement at the weekend.
Under the law, offenders could face an imprisonment of up to 20 years and be whipped, reports said.
Mujahid Yusof Rawa, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said the principal was released on bail pending trial.
"I'd like to advise parents who wish to send their kids to religious schools: Make sure that they know the background of the teachers," Mujahid said. "Some teachers are not even qualified to teach the Quran."
In March this year, authorities charged a 41-year-old volunteer at a tahfiz school in Kuantan, capital of Pahang state, with sexually assaulting and sodomizing 10 male students.
In April last year, an 11-year-old boy died after his legs were amputated following an alleged beating by an official at a tahfiz school  in a case that, according to police, was being investigated as a homicide
Following the latest case, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Samad ordered the closure of all unregistered tahfiz schools within Kuala Lumpur.
"There should be no exceptions made for the tahfiz schools just because they are religious institutions," Khalid told a news conference. "They should give the best in terms of safety and comfort because they carry the image of a religion."
Tahfiz schools are not under the federal government's education ministry, but are regulated by religious councils in states where they are located.
Latest figures on unregistered tahfiz schools were not immediately available. But last year, the government said there were 941 registered tahfiz schools with 9,470 teachers and about 150,000 students.
A stopgap measure
Commenting on Khalid's statement, Fuziah said that the order to shut down unregistered tahfiz schools in the nation's capital was a stopgap measure, until parliament approves tighter regulations governing these institutions.
"Currently the schools are under the jurisdiction of the state government, which puts them beyond the reach of the federal government," Fuziah told BenarNews.
Kuala Lumpur Mufti Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri on Tuesday supported calls for a proper registration of the schools.
"The Office of the Federal Territories Mufti has been consistent in our opposition of any form of manipulation, abuse, injustice, and affliction on children," Zulkifli said in a statement sent to BenarNews.
In September last year, a fire that ripped through the three-story dormitory of an unlicensed Islamic religious school in Kuala Lumpur killed at least 21 children and two teachers, firefighters said. Authorities charged two teenagers with 23 counts of murder for allegedly causing the fire.
The Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah School in Kuala Lumpur has been operating for 16 years without an official permit, officials said, as the government set up a task force to look into the safety of similar schools across the country.




* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia's anti-corruption officials questioned the wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak for almost 13 hours Wednesday as part of the investigation tied to the state fund 1MDB.
Rosmah Mansor, 66, reported to the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at 9:52 a.m., accompanied by her lawyers. She emerged from the building in Putrajaya, the nation's administrative capital, at about 10:40 p.m. 

"I am OK, alhamdulillah," Rosmah told reporters, using an Arabic expression of relief that means "Praise God."

MACC investigators took her statements less than a week after her husband pleaded not guilty to counts of money laundering, corruption, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) probe. Najib, 65, is expected to face trial in February 2019. 

The questioning lasted four times longer than when Rosmah appeared before MACC the first time on June 5 when she spent about three hours at the same office.
One of her lawyers, K. Kumaraendran, said MACC investigators had completed their questioning.

"I have nothing else to say. I am not ready to make a statement," he told reporters.
MACC did not issue a statement to explain why the questioning lasted as long as it did.
The agency's chief commissioner, Mohd Shukri Abdull, told reporters on Monday that the agency's report related to Rosmah had been submitted to the attorney general's office.
"The MACC is only responsible for carrying out investigations. It is up to the [attorney general] whether to prosecute Rosmah or not," he told reporters at the time.
Authorities barred Najib and his wife from leaving the country after the Barisan Nasional coalition was swept from power in the May 9 general election. The coalition's electoral defeat ushered in Mahathir Mohamad's return to power and led to the re-openings of 1MDB investigations.
MACC had questioned Najib about how 2.6 billion ringgit (U.S. $642.6 million) and 42 million ringgit ($10 million) from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB, had ended up in his personal bank accounts.
Najib, who is out on a million-dollar bail, denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the funds were donated by the Saudi royal family.
Najib founded 1MDB as a sovereign investment fund ostensibly to pursue projects beneficial to Malaysians. But, according to court documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the fund was used between 2009 and 2014 to satiate the ostentatious lifestyle of people with power over it.
DOJ officials described the 1MDB affair as the "worst kleptocracy scandal in recent times," alleging that almost $4.5 billion from the state fund were embezzled and laundered through real estate and other assets.
Days after Mahathir took power, police raided a former office and residences linked to Najib and hauled off 567 designer handbags, hundreds of luxury watches and dozens of suitcases containing cash and 12,000 pieces of jewelry.
Police said the raids were part of an investigation into the 1MDB case, adding that the seized items were valued at an estimated $273 million.
Raising speculations

Shukri said Rosmah appeared to answer MACC questions.
"No arrest. Ongoing statement recording," he told BenarNews earlier Wednesday.

Rosmah's ostentatious lifestyle led her to being compared with former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, who kept thousands of pairs of designer shoes in her basement at the presidential palace in Manila before a civilian-backed military revolt toppled her husband in 1986.
But Najib and Rosmah maintained that most of the items seized by police were gifts accumulated throughout Najib's career as a government official, as well as gifts received by their daughter during her wedding.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Friday sentenced two suspected members of a terror cell linked to Islamic State (IS) to three years in prison for planning a terror attack last year in the southern state of Johor.
Judge Azman Abdullah sentenced Nik Muhamad Zaini Nik Hassan, 37, and Ismadi Md Nor, 30, after both pleaded guilty to planning an attack on the Free Mason building near Lido beach in the city of Johor Bahru, between Dec. 11 and Jan. 31, 2017.
Azman advised the men to repent and be thankful they were arrested before the attack was committed because they could have faced death sentences.
"Don't blame anyone but yourselves. Think positively that God loves you, as he has spared you the gallows for not being caught with firearms," he said.
Azman then ruled they be credited for time served since their arrest on Feb. 27.
During interrogation, both said they planned the attack in response to what they claimed were atrocities by the Western world against IS. They also asserted that the building was a symbol of anti-Islamic sentiments.
The men were charged in March along with Mohammad Zaki Ibrahim, 49, who allegedly had IS video clips on  his mobile phone and tablet and could face seven years in prison, if found guilty.
The three were part of a six-member terrorist cell arrested by Malaysian counter-terror officials in raids in February and March, Police Inspector General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said at the time.
Defense lawyer Sukhaimi Mashud pleaded for a minimum sentence as his clients had "merely planned the attack, but it never took place, and no weapons were found after they were arrested."
Deputy Public Prosecutor Noor Syazwani Mohamad Sobry, on the other hand, asked for a deterrent sentence that took into account the seriousness of the offense and what he said was a rising rate of violence in the country.
Alleged mastermind still at large
Meanwhile, the alleged mastermind of the plot, whom Malaysian officials have identified as Awae Wae-Eya, has not been captured. Awae, 37, is a Thai national and former member of a southern Thailand separatist movement.
In April, Thai military officials in the Deep South released Awae from custody, saying they had determined he had no ties to IS or other militants and had no criminal record.
Malaysian police are also looking for three additional suspects linked to Awae and thought to have fled Malaysia. The others are identified as Mumaham Faizal Muhamad Hanafi, 29; his father Muhamad Hanafi Yah, 51; and Nor Farkhan Mohd Isa, 31.
Malaysia, home to about 32 million people, including 19.5 million Muslims, is one of the most developed economies in Southeast Asia.
Authorities report that they have foiled at least nine IS-related bomb plots since 2013 including one that targeted the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur in August 2017.
A June 2016 grenade attack that injured eight people at a nightclub in Puchong, near the capital Kuala Lumpur, was the first terrorist act on Malaysian soil claimed by IS.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian immigration officials on Tuesday said they plan to extradite a Syrian who spent seven months at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 after refusing to return to his home country over fears he would be forced to join the military.
Hassan Al Kontar, 37, who spent 209 days at the airport's departure area, was detained by police on Monday.

Immigration Director General Mustafar Ali said Hassan will be handed over to his department after police finished questioning the Syrian national.

"Flight passengers with boarding passes at the boarding area are supposed to get on their flights. But this man did not do so," Mustafar told reporters at the immigration headquarters on Tuesday. "So he is in a forbidden zone, therefore the authorities had to take the necessary action."
"We will communicate with the Syrian embassy to facilitate his deportation to his home country," Mustafar said.

Police chief Zulkifli Adamshah told BenarNews that Hassan was detained after failing to produce a valid travel document and has been remanded for 14 days. If charged and convicted, Hassan could face a five-year prison sentence, a fine of 10,000 ringgit (U.S. $2,418) and a maximum six strokes of a cane.
Describing himself as a pacifist, Hassan said he worked in the United Arab Emirates beginning in 2006 and decided to stay there illegally because of the 2011 Syrian conflict after the Syrian embassy declined to renew his passport.

He was deported in January 2017 to Malaysia where Syrians enjoy visa-free entry and stayed after his three-month tourist visa expired.
Hassan said he has remained at KLIA2 since March 7 after trying to board a flight to Ecuador, another visa-free country, but was denied by the Turkish Airlines. He later tried to travel to Cambodia, but was barred by authorities in Phnom Penh.
Groups offered help

In a video posted to his Twitter account on March 23, Hassan said he felt "lonely, rejected, and unwanted."
"I lost all my money, almost $2,300 on non-refundable ticket, so here I am," Hassan said, adding that human rights groups were not helping.
"I cannot blame anyone. I can only blame us as Syrians," he said. "This is what we did to ourselves, keep fighting with each other."
Rights groups in Malaysia challenged Hassan's claim that he was not getting help and said he purposefully declined their efforts in hope of scoring better offers including being able to go to Canada.

On April 10, former British Columbia journalist Laurie Cooper offered to help Hassan by starting a crowd source funding effort and to write to the Canadian immigration minister to expedite a temporary resident permit.

Lilianne Fan, founder of the non-governmental organization Geutanyoe Foundation, told BenarNews that her agency decided to drop efforts to aid Hassan after he repeatedly rejected assistance from the Malaysian government and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"There are many more much more vulnerable refugee cases that we felt deserve our assistance," said Fan.
Despite her comment, Fan urged the government to not deport Hassan to Syria as it would be against the principle of not forcing refugees to return to a country where they could be subjected to persecution.
In a Twitter posting on Sept. 1, Hassan denied the comments by the rights groups, saying "I am not rejecting slightly suitable offers from UNHCR as they claimed."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- An Australian company involved in processing rare earths asked Malaysia on Tuesday to maintain a scientific approach in reviewing its refinery, as the government began an investigation that could threaten one of the only sources of supply of elements vital in the manufacturing of high-tech products such as smartphones.

Lynas Corp., in an open letter to the government published in local media, acknowledged the government's right to conduct a review and vowed to cooperate. It also emphasized the public's expectation of high standards of fairness and openness "as seen in other recent initiatives of the new government."
"I am appealing to the government to apply those same high standards – to be fair and just and to be objective and scientific – in any review of Lynas Malaysia," CEO Amanda Lacaze said.
Lynas mines rare earths out of a collapsed volcano in Australia and ships them to a sprawling industrial complex in Kuantan, capital of Malaysia's Pahang state, to be refined. 

Rare earths – minerals such as cerium, lanthanum and neodymium – are used in electronics, including televisions and smartphones. Refining is done on a large scale in only two places on earth: China and Malaysia.
Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur after the open letter was published, Lacaze said the company had secured license to open the plant in Australia but was invited by the previous Malaysian government to consider investing in the country.
"We were offered an exciting investment opportunity here in Malaysia and to be close to our market," Lacaze said, as she expressed concern about the review committee chaired by Fuziah Salleh, the assemblywoman representing Kuantan.
In 2011, Kuantan residents, championed by their representative in parliament, opposed the refinery's construction.
Lynas published its reaction after Fuziah, a deputy minister in the prime minister's department, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the three-month review of the processing plant would focus on the plant's radioactive waste management and its impact on the environment. .
Rare earths, which are made up of 17 elements found in the ground all over the world, are not actually rare and processing involved a complex and expensive process. Lynas said it produces about 12 percent of the world output and Chinese companies account for more than four-fifths, according to the New York Times.
Activists said that while Lynas' $800 million plant in Kuantan broke China's near-monopoly on producing the prized elements, the processing also left behind low-level radioactive waste.
But Lacaze defended her company, saying that after six years of operation, the background radiation up to 12.4 miles from the plant had not shown any sign of change.

"Air crews are exposed to seven times more radiation per year than our own staff who works directly with the material," Lacaze said, referring to airline pilots and flight crews.

She said the International Atomic Energy Agency sent experts to evaluate the plant in 2011 and 2014 and was satisfied their recommendations were put in place by Lynas.
"According to IAEA, the plant has intrinsically low risk," Lacaze said.

Lynas claims the refinery can produce up to 20,000 tons of praseodymium and neodymium, elements essential in manufacturing high-tech components used in mobile phones and hybrid cars. 

The refinery produces a waste material, a radioactive substance called gypsum that is handled and is stored in an on-site facility constructed according to the appropriate international standards, the company said.
On Sept. 3, 2016, the government renewed the Lynas license through September 2019.
Fuziah previously argued that while the waste material has low-level radiation, it has a long half-life and therefore leaves a longer-lasting effect on the environment.

"Furthermore, the whole operation was shrouded in secrecy and even my questions in the parliament regarding the plant was not entertained," she said, adding that the government of former Prime Minister Najib Razak was easy on the company.
Fuziah, in response to the published open letter, issued a statement saying the government led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad promised a safe environment in its pre-election manifesto. 

Mahathir and the Pakatan Harapan alliance took power after defeating Najib's Barisan Nasional coalition in the May general election.

"Promise 39 of the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto under the heading 'Balancing Economic Growth with Environmental Protection' states that 'The Pakatan Harapan Government promises to govern the country based on the principles of sustainability and sustainable development," Fuziah said. 

"In short, it will be an environmentally friendly government," she said.

Lynas reported it has committed 25 million ringgit (U.S. $6 million) over five years to join with the Universiti Malaysia Pahang to research viable uses of the waste material.
The company has not ruled out packing up and leaving the country if the situation calls for it, but Lacaze said Lynas has invested heavily in Malaysia and, in the process, created jobs.
"Anything can be done," Lacaze said. "We will not be out of business."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities arrested the wife of former leader Najib Razak on Wednesday and officials said she will face money-laundering charges in court in connection with the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.
Rosmah Mansor, 66, was taken into custody after giving her statement at the headquarters of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), where she will spend the night under detention before being charged in court on Thursday, the agency's deputy commissioner, Azam Baki, told BenarNews.
"Rosmah will face several charges," MACC said in a statement after her arrest that came following her third round of questioning at the anti-graft agency.
MACC has been probing allegations that more than $4.5 billion were misappropriated and laundered from the state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Last month, investigators questioned Rosmah for almost 13 hours. 

Her lawyer, K. Kumaraendran, told reporters he did not know how many charges would be presented against Rosmah.

"We were not informed on all the charges, so we are not able to tell you," he said. "We are also not sure where she is being detained."

Rosmah's arrest occurred after investigators questioned her husband, Najib, for more than three hours Wednesday at the anti-money laundering division of the federal police in Kuala Lumpur. 

Najib evaded a group of journalists awaiting his arrival by taking an alternate entrance. Police did not issue a statement and authorities did not disclose details.
The government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad intensified its 1MDB probe starting in mid-May after the Barisan Nasional coalition led by Najib was swept from power in the May 9 general election.
MACC had earlier questioned Najib about how 2.6 billion ringgit (U.S. $642.6 million) and 42 million ringgit ($10 million) from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB, had ended up in his personal bank accounts.
Najib, who is free on nearly $850,000 in bail, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the funds were donated by the Saudi royal family. SRC was under the finance ministry's control in 2012 when Najib served as its minister.
Najib faces a total of 32 charges related to the 1MDB corruption probe. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for the abuse of power counts and up to 15 years for the money laundering charges, lawyers said.
Najib founded 1MDB as a sovereign investment fund ostensibly to pursue projects beneficial to Malaysians. But, according to court documents filed by U.S. authorities, the fund was used between 2009 and 2014 to satiate the ostentatious lifestyle of people with power over it.
The U.S. DOJ said in court documents that jewelry for Rosmah was purchased with 1MDB funds that passed through Najib's bank account. A diamond necklace set alone cost $27.3 million and was bought in 2013, just months after $680 million was transferred to Najib's private bank account in Kuala Lumpur, according to court filings in July last year.
On June 27, police raided a former office and residences linked to Najib and removed 567 designer handbags, hundreds of luxury watches and dozens of suitcases containing cash and 12,000 pieces of jewelry. Authorities said the seized items were valued at $273 million.
On Wednesday, Rosmah's daughter, Nooryana Najwa, condemned the anti-graft agency's move. 

"I can accept taking action on a man who was in power but putting the women in his life in harm's way is going too far," she posted on Instagram, referring to the arrest of her mother.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The wife of former Malaysian leader Najib Razak pleaded not guilty Thursday to 12 money laundering and five tax fraud charges linked to a multibillion-dollar graft scandal that helped topple the previous government.
Rosmah Mansor, 66, and her husband, Najib, are facing a graft probe related to the billions of dollars that prosecutors said were misappropriated from the state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Rosmah's charge sheets did not mention 1MDB, but anti-grant agents arrested her Wednesday after her third round of questioning at the headquarters of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Putrajaya, where she spent the night under detention.
Lawyers said she was questioned about the fund.
MACC prosecutors alleged that almost 7.1 million ringgit (U.S. $1.7 million) were funneled in to her personal bank account from 2013 to 2017. They also accused her of having directly engaged in transactions "that involved proceeds of unlawful activity," referring to money laundering.
The charges against Rosmah, if she is found guilty, carry sentences of between five and 15 years in prison and possible fines.
The judge in the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur, where the charges were filed, allowed Rosmah to post a bail of 2 million ringgit ($482,000). She paid 500,000 ringgit ($120,690) on Thursday and has been ordered to pay the balance by Oct. 11.
The court will announce the trial date later, lawyers said.
Najib, 65, also appeared Thursday in the High Court, in the same Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex in Jalan Duta, for pre-trial hearing in connection with 1MDB-related charges lodged against him. He has denied any wrongdoings.
Najib tweeted late Wednesday following Rosmah's detention that he will not cease praying and will put his trust in Allah.
The former prime minister faces a total of 32 charges related to the 1MDB corruption probe. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for the abuse of power counts and up to 15 years for the money laundering charges, lawyers said. He is also free on 3.5 million ringgit (nearly $850,000) bail.
Rosmah lead attorney Geethan Ram Vincent told reporters the charge sheets did not make any mention of 1MDB.
"However, if the prosecution wanted to relate it (in the trial later), it is up to them," he said.
Calm in court
Rosmah, wearing an orange traditional dress known as baju kurung and a headscarf, smiled when she arrived at court.
She appeared to be calm when the court interpreter read out the charges and responded by shaking or nodding her head.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, 93, revived the 1MDB probe after leading the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan to triumph in the May 9 general election and barred Najib and Rosmah from leaving the country.
Rosmah, whose lavish lifestyle and penchant for luxury Hermes Birkin bags has been subject of criticism, has been widely compared to former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos, who left behind thousands of pairs of designer shoes when she fled the presidential palace with her husband in 1986.
The charges against Rosmah were filed more than four months after Malaysian police raided a former office and residences linked to Najib and removed 567 designer handbags, hundreds of Swiss-made watches and dozens of suitcases containing cash and 12,000 pieces of jewelry. Authorities said cash seized totaled 114 million ringgit ($28.75 million) while the items seized were valued at as much as 1.1 billion ringgit ($273 million).
In August 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was pursuing criminal action against those involved in the fraudulent diversion of funds from 1MDB, which Najib formed in 2009 ostensibly to pursue projects that would benefit Malaysian citizens.
Mahathir Mohamad told reporters that Rosmah's arrest and the filing of charges were in accordance with the law.

"No one is above the law. ... There is no idea about revenge or anything like that," he said Thursday morning. "The law says if you take money or steal money you will be charged."
Najib and Rosmah, who arrived at the court complex separately, left the building together.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Seven foreigners were among eight men arrested by Malaysian officers on suspicion of involvement in Southeast Asian recruitment efforts by a terror cell linked to a Yemen-based Salafi extremist group, Malaysia's police chief announced Saturday.
The arrests were carried out during coordinated raids in Perlis, Kuala Lumpur and Johor on Sept. 24, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement. Six of the foreigners were students at an Islamic school located in the northern state of Perlis, Fuzi said.
The arrests by counter-terrorist police were made "following an intelligence report obtained by the police regarding efforts by a Salafi Jihadist terror group in Yemen to establish a school in the Southeast Asian region to propagate Salafi Jihadism ideology," Fuzi said.
Five of the suspects came from the same European country while a sixth suspect was a citizen of a country in the Americas. He did not elaborate, but said the eight suspects ranged from 24 to 38 years old and that most of them, based on information shared by foreign intelligence, were linked in their home countries to the so-called Islamic State (IS) organization or other extremist groups.
A former student of the school and a former member of its faculty were among those arrested, Fuzi said. He did not disclose the school's name.
The former teacher, 33, who comes from the Middle East, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur and known to be giving unsanctioned classes in the Malaysian capital on Salafi Jihadism, the police chief said.
All eight suspects were connected to a madrassa, or Islamic boarding school, in Yemen that was founded by an icon of Salafi Jihadist movement, the late Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i, according to Fuzi.
"The Yemeni madrassa adheres to strict Salafi Jihadist ideology that allows for the murder of non-Muslims and Muslims who differ from them in their beliefs," Fuzi said.
"They also label democracy as a system hostile to God."
The eight men were arrested on suspicion of committing terrorist-related offenses and were being investigated under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA), Fuzi said. None of the suspects have been charged yet.
Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the chief of the Malaysian police's counter-terrorist special branch, told BenarNews that the school in Perlis where most of the suspects were arrested had been operating since 2011. He declined to reveal the campus's name.
Perlis is reputed for permitting the Salafist or Wahhabist strain of Islam that has been exported to Southeast Asian Muslim countries by predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia. Salafism is a revivalist movement that advocates for the return to the Islam as practiced during the time of Prophet Muhammad.
Reacting to the Fuzi's announcement about the arrests, Asri Zainal Abidin, the mufti of Perlis, said the state was not "a center for radical teachings," according to Bernama, the Malaysian government-run news service.
He said students who intended to pursue their studies at religious learning centers in Perlis, as well as teachers who wanted to work there, must first be screened by police as a security measure.
"I always ask the state police chief about the students at these learning centers, especially the foreigners," Bernama quoted him as saying. "Only with police confirmation will we allow them (to pursue studies at the religious learning centers)."
Earlier last month, Malaysian police said they had arrested five other suspects who were allegedly involved in a terrorist plot targeting a country in the Middle East. When he announced those arrests at the time, Fuzi did not identify the country in question but said the five were believed to be members of an extremist group known as Asoib.
A government source told BenarNews then that the suspects had planned to travel to Yemen to carry out the attack in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
"Yemen has been a hotbed of al-Qaeda, like in other countries in the Middle East. Some groups which advocate Salafi Jihadism set up school there," Ahmad El Muhammady, an expert on counterterrorism at the International Islamic University Malaysia, told BenarNews.
According to him, such groups are taking advantage of an interest in Islamic studies among Malaysians by importing Yemeni-based teachings into the country.
"Unfortunately the content is Salafi jihadism," El Muhammady said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia's Islamic Affairs minister called Monday on the Sharia court system to seek a balance during sentencings by not focusing on mere punishment but striving to be more in line with the principle of Islam as a merciful religion.
The philosophy of "Rahmatan Lil Alamin" (mercy to the world) as introduced in the Quran is necessary to counter the growing negative perception of the Sharia court system, Minister Mujahid Yusof Rawa said during a roundtable forum in Kuala Lumpur of the nation's top Sharia court judges, Islamic law enforcers and NGOs.
"There must be a balance between retribution and rehabilitation in the implementation of the punishments under Sharia law," Mujahid said. "The philosophy of the judiciary must shift away from punishing for its own sake, to a philosophy of restorative punishment that is more reformative in nature."
Following Monday's roundtable discussion on the "philosophy and procedures of Sharia criminal punishments toward achieving the aim of being a mercy to the world," the minister said participants had agreed with this new direction.
Mujahid said such support was essential because under Malaysia's system, the federal government has limited power in matters pertaining to Islam including the Sharia courts, which are overseen by the nation's 13 states.
"This will eventually affect the method of the punishment being meted out, with the possible introduction of community work, bonds for good behavior, as well as others that fall into the restorative and reformative criteria," he said.
While the Sharia court will retain its ability to order canings, Mujahid said he expected the exact method of carrying out the punishment to be reviewed.
"We will be looking into how the whipping is done, where it will be done as well as who gets to observe the punishment," said Mujahid.
A second meeting was planned for Thursday at the Sultan Mizan Mosque in Putrajaya.
Judge: Caning of woman 'like a fiesta'
Interest runs high among Muslims to witness canings, said Terengganu state chief Sharia judge Wan Mohd Zakri, who attended the roundtable.
He said more than 800 people swarmed the courthouse in Kuala Terengganu earlier this month demanding that they be able to witness the punishment against a woman who had confessed to engaging in prostitution.
"It was like a fiesta with people selling food and drinks just outside the courtroom, prompting us to postpone the punishment and angering a lot of the people there," the judge told BenarNews.
In early September, two other women were caned together in Terengganu after pleading guilty to charges linked to allegedly attempting to have sex in a parked car. Later, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad criticized their caning witnessed by more than 100 people, saying it tarnished Islam's image as the nation's new leader called for lighter sentences under Sharia law.
Monday's roundtable and a press briefing by Minister Mujahid followed a weekend report in The Star that it has since clarified about comments he made regarding intrusion into the private lives of Muslims.
The Star's report began with: No more knocks on the door in the middle of the night and no more breaking down of doors by the religious authorities investigating reports of khalwat (an unmarried couple being alone in a secluded place) or other alleged wrongdoings.
The clarification showed that while Mujahid said that the khalwat had been exploited or misused, the federal government could not outlaw the practice because it fell under state courts.
Reacting to the Star's original reporting, Riduan Mohd, who sits on the central committee of the conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), said the federal government was more concerned with upholding human rights rather than the moral requirements as dictated by the religion.
"Now comes fake scholars and leaders who are bringing this new narrative of a personal sin and a public sin," Riduan told The Star. "This is a strategic effort by the enemies of Islam to make Muslims feel that sinning is not a serious matter."
Mujahid addressed those concerns during a press conference following Monday's roundtable.
He said officials must proceed cautiously in investigating khalwat and similar complaints.
"You must have very solid information because we do not want to be a peeping tom," he said. "When you want to enforce something on moral values, you have to be very wary and concerned."
Mujahid said he was speaking in his role as a government official while offering a message to the community.
"You as a Muslim, if you see your neighbor do something bad, it is your responsibility to advise your neighbor."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian human rights groups reacted furiously on Tuesday after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad appeared to backtrack on an electoral promise to repeal the nation's colonial-era Sedition Act, which the previous government had used notoriously to silence its critics.
NGOs Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and Anti-Sedition Act Movement (GHAH) reiterated their calls for Malaysia's new government to abolish the law. They also urged Mahathir's administration to impose a moratorium on it during the legislative process for doing away with the act.
A day earlier, the prime minister said it would take time for parliament to repeal the law, but added that his government had no timeline for this.
"Since the transition of power on May 9, Suaram and other civil societies have consistently called for a moratorium on draconian laws that continue to repress everyday Malaysians," Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy told BenarNews.
Without a moratorium and no clear directives adopted by the government, it was not surprising that law enforcement agencies, especially police, were still using the act, he said.
"The position by the Pakatan Harapan administration, is now a mockery to the aspiration for change held by all Malaysians," Sevan said, referring to the country's new ruling coalition.
Critics have said that the Sedition Act of 1948 was widely used by Prime Minister Najib Razak to repress criticism of his government before his Barisan Nasional coalition suffered a shock defeat to Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the May 2018 general election.
In its campaign manifesto leading up to the polls, Mahathir's Pakatan alliance pledged to abolish the Sedition Act and other national security laws, including the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) and the National Security Council Act.
But on Monday, Mahathir said his government would keep the 70-year-old law in force for the time being.
"The Sedition Act is still there. To repeal it may take some time," Mahathir said. "It will have to go to parliament and in the meantime we will continue to apply the law."
Hours later, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said the act would be repealed during the next parliament sitting, which is scheduled to run from Oct. 15 to Dec. 11, according to the government calendar.
Gobind, a prominent lawyer and advocate for the act's abolishment, said he would not wait for parliament to act. Instead, he said, he planned to call for a moratorium during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
"PH on track to repeal Sedition Act. AG working on it. Just checked again this afternoon," he tweeted on Monday, referring to the attorney general.
Meanwhile, GHAH spokesman Amir Abdul Hadi also called for the government to act.
"We supported Gobind's view and we, from the start, have been urging the government to put a moratorium on the law until it can be brought to parliament," he told BenarNews. "We also understand the prime minister's remark saying there is no perfect timeline. But we ask that this matter will be debated in the next session.
"Whether it will be repealed or not is another thing, but to table the debate shows that the government is committed to repealing the law."
Freedom 'must be fought for'
Lokman Noor Adam, who organized gatherings of Najib's supporters to rally outside the courthouse when the former leader was brought in to be charged with money laundering and other counts stemming from the 1MDB financial scandal, slammed the new government for using the law against his brother.
Azman Adam was arrested on Oct. 2 for allegedly insulting Mahathir on Facebook and was remanded for four days and was released on bail, according to police. Mahathir has said that people should not be arrested for criticizing him.
Meanwhile, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, who is being investigated for what she wrote about the Malaysian monarchy, said that PH's electoral platform promise was mere rhetoric.
She said the government could easily abolish the act, but lacked the political will to do so.
"In the interim, the government could impose a moratorium if they wanted to. The utter disregard for human rights and democratic principles is a disgrace," she told BenarNews. "It also serves as a reminder to the people that freedom is never given, it must be fought for."
Fadiah was questioned in July after several police reports were made against her under both the Sedition and Communications and Multimedia Acts.
In a blog post on Malaysia Muda, Fadiah wrote "Don't Kiss the Hand that Beats You" where she questioned the Malaysian royal institution describing it as incompatible with democracy.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- As rights groups commemorated World Day against the Death Penalty, the Malaysian government on Wednesday took its first step toward abolishing capital punishment, while a Bangladesh court ordered 19 people be executed for participating in a 2004 assassination attempt.
And in response to a call by Amnesty International (AI) to abolish capital punishment in all cases, Indonesia's attorney general said the death penalty was needed as a deterrent.
In Malaysia, Law Minister Liew Vui Keong announced that the cabinet of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had decided to make a motion to parliament to get rid of the death penalty as a punishment for 17 crimes, including drug offenses.
"We need to look into it and hear the views of all, but as it stands today, the decision is to abolish the death penalty," Liew told reporters.
"New Malaysia, new look, new hope where everyone has a right to life," he told BenarNews, adding, "All death penalties will be abolished. Full stop."
Parliament's next session begins on Oct. 15 and runs through Dec. 11.
Amnesty International later responded with a statement on its website praising Malaysia's move.
"Today's announcement is a major step forward for all those who have campaigned for an end to the death penalty in Malaysia. Malaysia must now join the 106 countries who have turned their backs for good on the ultimate cruel, inhumane, degrading punishment – the world is watching," AI Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said in a statement.
Bangladesh's sentencings stemmed from a grenade attack 14 years ago targeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who served as opposition leader at the time.
The court sentenced 19 others to life in prison, including Tarique Rahman, the son of Hasina's nemesis, then-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. He has been living in exile in London while his mother has been in prison since February after both were sentenced for their roles in an embezzlement case from a trust fund.
Earlier this week, Hasina's cabinet approved draft legislation allowing capital punishment in drug-related cases. Parliament must approve the legislation before it can become law.
In Indonesia, Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said the government would exercise prudence and transparency in carrying out executions and only after a death-row inmate had exhausted all legal avenues to get the sentence overturned.
"The death penalty isn't something pleasant," Prasetyo told reporters in Jakarta. "But it has to be done, considering the danger posed by criminals who deserve the death penalty."
Indonesia has not executed anyone over the last two years after 18 drug traffickers were put to death in 2015 and 2016. Of those executed, only three were Indonesian citizens.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo defended the government's tough stance at that time, saying the country faced a drug emergency.
Philippines and Thailand
In the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte declared a war on drugs when he took office two years ago, leading to the deaths of about 4,500 drug suspects, according to police estimates, and as many as 12,000, as claimed by rights organizations, capital punishment has been illegal since 2006.
Duterte has said he would like to change the law.
"Capital punishment is not only about deterrence, it's about retribution," he said during his annual address in 2017.
The president could run into a road block getting lawmakers to approve any changes in the majority Catholic nation. House Speaker Gloria Arroyo served as president when the punishment was abolished.
In Thailand, a 26-year-old man was put to death for aggravated murder in June, the first use of capital punishment since two convicts were executed in August 2009.
At the time, AI called the move a major setback for Thailand.
"This is a deplorable violation of the right to life. Thailand is reneging on its own commitment to move towards the abolition of the death penalty, and is putting itself out of step with the current global shift away from capital punishment," AI's Katherine Gerson said.
AI recorded nearly 1,000 executions in 23 countries in 2017. It said the figures did not include executions in China where the death penalty is classified as a state secret.
The World Coalition against the Death Penalty said two thirds of countries across the globe have abolished the death penalty in law and practice, but 56 countries and territories use capital punishment.
"All governments retaining the death penalty must immediately abolish it and put an end to the appalling conditions of detention that too many death row prisoners are forced to endure," said Stephen Cockburn, deputy director of AI's global issues program.
Arie Firdaus in Jakarta, Hadi Azmi in Kuala Lumpur, Felipe Villamor in Manila and Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The Malaysian government sent 11 Uyghur refugees from China's Xinjiang province to Turkey after dropping immigration charges against them in defiance of a request by Beijing that they be returned there, their attorney said Thursday.
The move came after a Kuala Lumpur Court granted a request by prosecutors to apply a discharge not amounting to acquittal. Fahmi Abdul Moin, a lawyer representing the Uyghurs, said his team sent a letter in July to the Attorney General's Chamber asking that the charges be dropped.
Officials with the Attorney General's Chamber, as well as the home minister and his deputy could not be reached for comment late on Thursday.
Fahmi said he had raised the issue of the alleged systematic oppression of the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang and discrimination against them by the Chinese government, which have forced many to flee the country.
"As such, my clients are part of the victims of the ongoing turmoil in the Xinjiang province and were forced to escape," Fahmi told BenarNews.
He told prosecutors that his clients had entered Malaysia as a temporary transit point and hoped to sort out their refugee status with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) before joining an existing Uyghur community in Turkey.
Fahmi said they flew from Malaysia to Turkey on Wednesday morning.
Escape from Thailand
The Uyghurs fled to Malaysia after escaping from a detention center in southern Thailand in November 2017. The 11 were part of a group of 20 who broke out of the center by drilling holes in a wall.
Their capture and detention in Malaysia for violating the Immigration Act by entering the country illegally became known in February when Chinese officials requested they be returned to Beijing.
Later that month, then-Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia was in talks with Thailand to return the Uyghurs, while the government led by then-Prime Minister Najib Razak sought a diplomatic solution to the case.
"We will take action that will not hurt the feelings of any country," Zahid said at the time.
Dolkun Isa, the German-based president of the World Uyghur Congress, had urged the Malaysian government to not send them to China and to respect the international principle of non-refoulement by working with UNHCR and resettling the refugees in a safe third country.
"When Uyghurs are handed to Chinese authorities, they will face torture and jailed, they probably will go missing or face death," he told Radio Free Asia, a sister-entity of BenarNews.

He said Uyghurs sent from Malaysia to China had disappeared.
International relations
The decision by Kuala Lumpur to release the Uyghurs move could further strain Malaysia's relationship with China.
Since assuming power in May, the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has halted major Chinese projects including a railway and two pipeline projects approved by Najib, citing a mounting national debt.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Mahathir's likely successor as prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, called for formal talks with China regarding its crackdown against the Muslim minority that has included the reported incarceration of Uyghurs in secret detention camps.
Anwar said the Malaysian government had raised the Uyghurs with the Chinese government, which sees them as an internal issue.
"This has gone out into the mainstream media as an issue, and I believe we should use a proper forum to start highlighting these issues and seek this understanding from the Chinese authorities," he told Bloomberg.
Anwar also shared his thoughts on why Muslim governments have been silent on the Uyghurs.
"They're scared. Nobody wants to say anything," he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim emerged victorious in a special election Saturday, election officials announced, setting the stage for his return to Parliament with a landslide win widely seen as a first step toward eventually replacing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Figures released by the Election Commission showed that Anwar received more than 71 percent of the total votes cast in a by-election battle for a parliamentary seat representing the coastal town of Port Dickson in Sembilan state, about 100 km (62 miles) south of Kuala Lumpur.
"I am, of course, extremely pleased and humbled by the result," Anwar, 71, told supporters hours after the close of the polling.
"I just called and spoke to Tun Mahathir and he is glad," he said, using a common honorific title for the 93-year-old Malaysian leader.
Anwar described his win by a huge margin as unexpected but convincing.
"This to my mind is an important milestone, a vote of confidence for the government and the reform agenda, and the prime minister," he told reporters as about 1,000 supporters cheered at his campaign headquarters.
Anwar was the nation's most famous political prisoner until he received a royal full-pardon in May this year, when the opposition alliance that he jointly led with Mahathir pulled off a stunning election victory, ushering then-Prime Minister Najib Razak's political downfall.
More than 58 percent of the 75,770 registered voters turned out in the Port Dickson by-election that pitted seven candidates, including Saiful Bukhari Azlan, an ex-aide who had accused Anwar of sodomy. Anwar received 31,016 votes, Saiful bagged 82, election officials said.
The by-election for the parliamentary seat took place after the incumbent, Danyal Balagopal Abdullah, resigned on Sept. 12 to give way to Anwar. Danyal is a member of the People's Justice Party or PKR headed by Anwar.
Anwar, who was once the country's former deputy prime minister, spent eight of the past 20 years in prison on what his supporters claimed were politically-motivated sodomy charges, including one that was orchestrated by Najib.
To defeat Najib, Anwar and Mahathir set aside their bitter feud. Mahathir had pledged during the campaign for the May general election that he would eventually hand over power to Anwar.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed on Monday that his government had freed 11 ethnic Uyghur Muslims, saying the refugees had not broken laws in his country, in a move that defied Beijing's request that they be repatriated.
Malaysia allowed the Uyghurs to depart for Turkey last week after dropping immigration charges against them, the men's lawyer told BenarNews on Thursday.

"They have done nothing wrong in this country, so they are released," Mahathir told reporters in parliament.
China, which had asked for their extradition, said Friday that it "resolutely" opposed Malaysia's decision to release the 11 Uyghurs, according to Reuters.
"These people are all Chinese nationals. We resolutely oppose them being deported to a third country," Reuters reported China's Foreign Ministry as saying in a statement.
The 11 men were part of a group of 20 who fled to Malaysia in November 2017 after escaping from a detention center in southern Thailand by drilling holes in a wall.
Their capture and detention became known in February when Chinese officials requested they be returned to Beijing.
Malaysia was under pressure from China to return the Uyghurs, but some Western diplomatic missions sought to dissuade Kuala Lumpur from sending them back, local reports said.
In August this year, Mahathir announced the postponement of the Chinese-funded $20 billion East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project and a natural gas pipeline project in Sabah. The 93-year-old leader made the comment to reporters in Beijing during his five-day trip to China, saying Malaysia could not afford the projects.
During the campaign for the May general elections, Mahathir attacked what he called "unfair" deals with China, approved by his predecessor Najib Razak, who is facing graft charges related to a multibillion-dollar embezzlement scandal linked to the state fund 1MDB.
James Chin, Asia Institute Director at the University of Tasmania, told BenarNews this was not the first time that Kuala Lumpur had allowed Uyghurs to leave Malaysia for a third country.

"This is a sensitive issue and we might see China responding to it. But this is not the first time that we allowed a group of Uyghurs to leave Malaysia for a third country and China is aware of this," he said. "The last time it happened was under PM Najib but I am not sure about the details."
'Internment camp'
China has rejected allegations raised by a U.N. panel in August that as many as one million Uyghurs are being held in what resembles a "massive internment camp" in the restive Xinjiang region, where Beijing has spent decades trying to suppress pro-independence sentiment. 

According to lawyer Fahmi Abdul Moin, who represented the 11 Uyghurs, Malaysian authorities freed his clients, and allowed them to fly to Turkey after dropping the immigration charges against them.

Fahmi had asked that the immigration charges be cancelled, saying that systematic oppression of the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang had forced many of them to flee their country.

"As such, my clients are victims of the ongoing turmoil in the Xinjiang province and were forced to escape," Fahmi told BenarNews on Thursday.
Chinese authorities had earlier denied the existence of internment camps, but said petty criminals had been sent to "employment training centers."
China's state-run news agency Xinhua quoted a senior Chinese official as saying Saturday that Muslims in Xinjiang must practice "Chinese-style Islam" to promote ethnic solidarity and religious harmony in the troubled region.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities on Thursday arrested opposition leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is expected to be taken to court on Friday to face money-laundering and corruption-related charges, officials said.

Zahid is the next highest-ranking official from Malaysia's previous government to be taken into custody by the national anti-graft agency, after former Prime Minister Najib Razak was arrested twice and charged in connection with a massive financial scandal linked to 1MDB, a state investment fund.

Zahid, 65, was placed under arrest at the headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Putrajaya, soon after arriving there in the mid-afternoon in response to a summons from the agency. It said his arrest resulted from its probe into Zahid over alleged corruption involving money from a foundation that he chaired.

"The MACC has arrested former Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in connection with our investigation related to power abuse, criminal breach of trust and money laundering linked to a foundation after we received a green light from the Attorney General's Chamber," it said in a statement.

"[Z]ahid will be facing several charges under the MACC Act 2009 and Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001," the agency said, adding he would be charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Friday morning.

Zahid was to be held in MACC custody overnight before Friday's court appearance, according to a source at the agency.

"Yes, he is arrested and will spend the night at the headquarters in Putrajaya," the source told BenarNews via a text message.

Zahid is president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the anchor party in the Barisan Nasional coalition, which lost a general election in May after ruling the country for 61 years. 

His arrest is the first of a sitting UMNO president in the party's 72-year history. He is also the second top party leader to be arrested over suspected corruption and abuse of power after Najib, who resigned as chief of Barisan and UMNO soon after the electoral defeat.

Zahid served as Najib's deputy from July 2015 until Barisan was upset in the May 9 polls by the Pakatan Harapan alliance. It won on a platform of promising to rid government of corruption and to investigate the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a sovereign wealth fund started by Najib in 2009.

MACC was investigating Zahid on suspicion that he misappropriated 800,000 ringgit (U.S. $192,000) from the Akal Budi Foundation to pay off credit bills accumulated by him and his wife, according to Malaysian media reports. Zahid chaired the charity, which gave money to religious schools and provided students with grants.

On the eve of his arrest, Zahid told Benar that his expected arrest and the charges to be brought against him were "politically motivated." He did not answer any more questions.

Zahid's lawyer, Hamidi Mohd Noh, said his client was officially arrested at 3:42 p.m. after being brought to the commission's subterranean investigation room.

"Despite usually being allowed to follow Zahid, lawyers are not allowed to go with him this time," the attorney told BenarNews in a text message. "Nobody was allowed to follow him after 3 p.m."

Questioned multiple times

Before his arrest Zahid spent some 32 hours being questioned in four separate interviews with MACC that took place on July 3 and between Oct. 10 and Oct. 12.

In July, he was also grilled by the agency over his knowledge of the 1MDB affair, where he purportedly claimed to have met with a member of Saudi Arabia's royal family who was said to have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to former Prime Minister Najib. The ex-leader has denied any criminal wrongdoing in MACC investigations targeting him.

In early October, Najib's spouse, Rosmah Mansor, was arrested and charged with money-laundering and tax fraud in connection with the 1MDB scandal. She pleaded not guilty. 

'Revenge burning in their hearts'

At 9 p.m. on Thursday (local time), hours after Zahid was arrested, a crowd that included his daughter and granddaughter gathered in front of the agency's headquarters in a show of solidarity with the former deputy prime minister.

Zahid's wife, Hamidah Khamis, called on the UMNO faithful to give the party's president their full support.

"He has given his support for his race, religion and country in the past," she said in an audio recording obtained by BenarNews.

She also urged the Pakatan government to be fair and not point fingers at people.

"There are still elements of revenge burning in their hearts that pit Malays against Malays," she said, adding that this could lead to the destruction of the country's ethnic majority.

When asked on Thursday whether Zahid's arrest would affect his standing as party chief, UMNO Secretary General Annuar Musa replied that it was too soon to say.

"We shall follow the legal process. We as UMNO are very obedient to the law as long as it is carried out through the right process," Annuar said.

* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Thai troops will join their Malaysian and Chinese counterparts this weekend for a 10-day naval training exercise in the Strait of Malacca off Malaysia, marking the first time the three nations will drill together at the Indian Ocean gateway.
China and Malaysia began the "Peace and Friendship" as a table top exercise in 2014 and expanded to on-sea training involving troops from both nations the next year.
Thai officials said they were invited to join as a result of military talks with Malaysia in September. Bangkok will send 53 troops and three senior Thai Royal Navy staff members to participate in the drills, which will kick off on Saturday.
"This trilateral military training is the first of its kind between China and ASEAN nations," Lai Yew Ming, a South China Sea analyst at Universiti Malaysia Sabah, told BenarNews. "We shouldn't see China's trilateral military training from a new perspective, but instead it should be expected."
China announced it would be sending 692 troops along with three ships, two helicopters, three airplanes and four vehicles.
"The exercise aims to further demonstrate the common will of the armed forces of the three countries in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea region, strengthen practical exchanges and cooperation, and enhance their ability to jointly respond to various security threats," the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said in statement earlier this week.
"It does not target any country."
The Strait of Malacca is not in the South China Sea. It is a chokepoint between the southern Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.
Malaysia, the host country, meanwhile, has not announced the number of troops or ships that will be involved in the exercise planned for ports Dickson and Klang, near Kuala Lumpur.
Only China would issue a statement about the exercise, a Malaysian military press officer told BenarNews.
The trilateral exercise helps China build relations in the region, said Prashanth Parameswaran, a fellow with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.
"China has been looking to cast its growing security links with Southeast Asian states as a demonstration of its commitment to regional stability, including in the South China Sea, even as it continues activities perceived to undermine that very stability," he told BenarNews.
"Thailand's inclusion is not surprising – China has been strengthening security ties with Thailand over the past few years including with new exercises, and that is seen as an even bigger win considering that Thailand is a U.S. treaty ally," he said.

[https://www]

BenarNews

 
Indonesia reacts
Neighboring country Indonesia, whose Sumatra island borders the Strait of Malacca, is aware of the training exercise.
"This is something countries regularly do in their waters," foreign ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told BenarNews. "We will continue to monitor."
In May, Indonesia and India – China's largest rival in Asia – announced plans to establish a strategic naval port at the mouth of the Malacca Strait. Arrmanatha said he did not have updated information on the port.
Anil Wadhwa, an Indian diplomat who served as ambassador to Thailand, said the exercise was not a threat to his nation, but he signaled that Malaysia and Thailand were willing to work with China to promote regional security.
"It is also significant that the exercise is being held off the Straits of Malacca, which is an important choke point on sea lanes from the Indian Ocean leading to the Pacific Ocean," he told BenarNews.
China to host ASEAN navies
The exercise begins two days before China hosts Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members in their first joint naval exercises amid ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
Running from Oct. 22 to 29, the training follows a computer-simulated exercise that took place in Singapore in August.
Both China and the regional bloc agreed that the upcoming exercises would take place in Zhanjiang, which sits on the South China Sea.
The sea region is the focus of tensions between rival powers the United States and China, and it is where territorial disputes between four ASEAN members and Beijing have simmered for years. China has transformed seven disputed reefs in the mineral-rich sea into man-made islands that house surface-to-air missiles and runways.
Zam Yusa in Kuala Lumpur, Ahmad Syamsudin in Jakarta, Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok and Jaishree Balasubramanian in New Delhi contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A court charged Malaysian opposition leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Friday with 45 offenses, including abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering, as Malaysia's new government widened its crackdown on corruption.
Zahid, who is now the leader of the main opposition United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, pleaded not guilty to all charges at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court. He was freed after posting half of his 2 million ringgit (U.S. $481,000) bail.
If found guilty, Zahid could be sentenced to 765 years behind bars, as each charge carries a prison term of 15 to 20 years, prosecutors said. He will also face fines of up to 481 million ringgit (U.S. $116 million).
Judge Azura Alwi ordered Zahid to settle the remainder of the bail before Oct. 26 and to surrender his passport.
Zahid appeared tired and was seen nodding his head when the charges were read out to him in the courtroom: Eight counts of abuse of power, 10 counts of criminal breach of trust and 27 counts of money laundering, amounting to $27.56 million.
After being freed on bail, he told supporters that the raft of charges against him was "a test from Allah."
"Whatever the public opinion is, I leave it to Allah to decide. Allah willing, with all the good things I have done with the intention of upholding Allah's religion, I hope Allah will protect me," he said, according to the Associated Press.
Zahid was accused of receiving bribes in exchange for helping companies win contracts for government projects when he was home minister, the state-run Bernama news agency said.
Zahid, 65, is the next highest-ranking official from Malaysia's previous government to face graft charges since Mahathir Mohamad led the Pakatan Harapan alliance to a stunning victory in a general election in May.
Former Prime Minister Najib Razak has also been arrested twice and charged in connection with a massive financial scandal linked to 1MDB, a state investment fund. 

Najib appeared at the Kuala Lumpur court on Friday and told reporters he was there "to give support to an old friend." Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, has also been arrested and charged. Both are free on bail but are barred from leaving the country.
Zahid served as Najib's deputy from July 2015 until the May 9 polls.

After the elections, as Najib faced a swirling probe from anti-graft investigators, Zahid became president of UMNO, the anchor party in the Barisan Nasional coalition. 

Court: Luxury yacht belongs to government
In a related development, the Malaysian High Court on Friday declared that the luxury yacht Equanimity, which has been at the forefront of the 1MDB probe, belonged to the Malaysian government with the scandal-plagued state fund as the beneficiary owner, a government lawyer said.
"To that effect, the government is now free to sell the super yacht," lawyer Sitpah Selvaratnam, who is leading the legal team for the government, was quoted by Bernama as saying.
The registered owner failed to appear in court to claim the vessel, she said.
"The court today has declared that the two 1MDB companies, which are 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited and 1MDB Global Investment Limited, be the legal and beneficial owner of the vessel. Therefore, indirectly the government of Malaysia is the ultimate beneficiary of these two companies," she said. 

Previously, fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho – better known as Jho Low – staked his claim on the vessel after it was seized from him by Indonesian authorities in February before it was handed over to Malaysia on Aug. 7.

Sitpah told BenarNews that it would be very difficult for Low or his representatives to claim the vessel now.

"They were given the opportunity, they had two and a half months, they chose not to come," said Sitpah. 

Malaysian authorities expect the U.S. $250-million yacht to be sold by year's end.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia is going ahead with a joint ship-building venture with China even as it reviews other China-backed projects launched by the previous government.
Under a defense deal signed by former Prime Minister Najib Razak in April 2017, Malaysia is purchasing four littoral mission ships (LMS) from China at a reported cost of 300 million ringgit  (U.S. $72 million) per ship.
Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu visited a shipyard in Wuhan, China, on Tuesday to monitor construction of the first two ships which began in late July. The other ships are to be built in a joint venture with Malaysian shipbuilder Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd.
Sabu said the shipbuilding phase in Malaysia would involve technology transfers between the two countries, according to a text of his speech.
"I sincerely hope that the efforts to complete the construction of the ships on time will gain its momentum until the physical handover of the ships," he said.
The deal has survived amid project cancellations and reviews announced by the new Pakatan Harapan government after its May 9 general election win. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad previously said he was issuing stop-work orders for China-backed projects to deal with the country's mounting debt.
"This doesn't signal any change of Malaysia's stance toward China," Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst at the Kuala Lumpur-based Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said of the ship deal.
Coastal stealth
The move is part of an ongoing effort to modernize the Royal Malaysian Navy that includes reducing its 15 ship classes to five. "By having fewer types of ships, it will eventually reduce the operating expenditure of the navy," Shahriman told BenarNews.
In an interview with Defense IQ in April 2017, Royal Malaysian Navy chief Adm. Ahmad Badaruddin Kamarulzaman said Malaysia would eventually have a total of 18 LMS in its fleet.
"Littoral mission ships are relatively small, thin vessels, designed for stealthy combat near coastlines and sometimes to take on bigger enemies. With a coastline stretching from the Sulu Sea westward to the Indian Ocean, we need these four littoral platforms to be made in China. They will be delivered to RMN in 2019-2020," he said at the time.
After his Pakatan Harapan alliance defeated former Prime Minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional coalition, Mahathir said his government had inherited a 1 trillion ringgit ($240 billion) debt necessitating "cancelation" of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project, among others.
"With that debt, if we are not careful we can become bankrupt," he said in a video interview at the time. "This is the work of Najib."
However, four days later, national news agency Bernama reported Mahathir said the government was seeking to renegotiate the terms of the deal.
"We have to bear in mind that the renegotiation of major projects like the ECRL was due to apparent irregularities and high costs," Shahriman said, adding the ship deal represents a savings.
"If anything, the project appears to be ahead of schedule while delivering a relatively affordable alternative to anything we can get from European producers of combat ships," he said.
A Defense Ministry spokesman contacted by BenarNews said he had no information about the cost of the LMS deal.
In August, Asia Times quoted a senior fellow at Malaysia research institute REFSA saying the project would cost the government 300 million ringgit ($72 million) per ship.
Hamzah Ahmad, an analyst at the National Defense University of Malaysia, said the nation's demand for the ships is based on current needs.
"The LMS is a more versatile and faster combat patrol boat. It's much more agile and maneuverable than the other types of combat patrol vessels," he told BenarNews.
"Almost all countries have or are acquiring the LMS and in our region, Singapore already has a few. Strategically speaking, the LMS will be a welcomed addition to the Malaysian navy's fleet."
Malaysia and its neighbors have been grappling with piracy and kidnapping along their coasts along with a flow of foreign militants across the Sulu Sea to the southern Philippines.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the reported price of the deal as 300 million ringgit ($72 million) total.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- An earthquake and tsunami that devastated Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province last month were "God's punishment" for LGBT behavior, Malaysian opposition leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said during question time in parliament on Tuesday.
Zahid linked the natural disaster that killed at least 2,250 people in Sulawesi to the LGBT issue while questioning government officials on the parliamentary floor about a state-run program to "rehabilitate" lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
"If we look at the situation in Malaysia, it is worrying, because of what happened in Palu, Indonesia, when an earthquake and tsunami happened," said Zahid, a deputy prime minister in Malaysia's previous government who heads the opposition Barisan Nasional bloc.
"It was reported that there were about 1,000 people in their community that were involved in LGBT activities. This resulted in the destruction of the whole area. This is God's punishment," he said.
His remarks were videotaped and disseminated online, including on the website of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), his party that anchors the opposition alliance.
Zahid, 65, made the comments while asking questions about a government program known as Mukhayyam, an initiative by the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) that aims to "reform" gay people and "return them to the right path." 

"My question is what are the measures being taken by [Jakim] to ensure the effectiveness of the Mukhayyam program because, we see that until mid last year, about 1,195 people had joined the program," he said, adding, "And I also want to know the effectiveness of the program so we can avoid God's punishment toward all Malaysians including those who reject LGBT."

The Mukhayyam program consists of sessions lasting three days and two nights. Enrollees receive religious instruction and take part in team-building activities. The participants, according to Jakim, enroll in the program voluntarily.

Mujahid Yusof Rawa, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, responded to Zahid's comments on the floor of parliament.
He said the government's stand on the LGBT issue was clear and that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had rejected the LGBT "way of life." In late September, the 93-year-old leader of Malaysia's new government said same-sex marriage and gay rights went against the values of the Muslim-majority nation.
Mujahid said "the rights of the LGBT community to practice their way of life is not allowed under the law."
"At the same time, the rights of them as humans and Malaysians are always protected based on the customary and culture in Malaysia and within the frame of the Federal Constitution that puts Islam as the federal religion," he said.
During Tuesday's session in parliament, government officials did not respond to Zahid's remarks about the Sulawesi disaster.
But Hannah Yeoh, an MP with the Democratic Action Party, one of the constituent parties in the ruling Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) coalition, criticized Zahid for focusing on the LGBT issue.
"Of all the pressing issues the Opposition Leader @Zahid_Hamidi could have raised, he chose this. Corruption is the biggest social ill and immoral activity in Malaysia. State UMNO's stance on this instead," she said via Twitter.
Last week, Zahid was arrested and charged on suspicion of committing a raft of graft-related offenses, including abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering amounting to U.S. $27.56 million.

[https://www]

A woman clears debris from her house in Palu, in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province, in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and tsunami last month, on Oct. 8, 2018. [AFP]

 
'Conversion therapy'
Mujahid said general attitudes toward the LGBT community had not helped, but marginalized gay people and caused many of them to drift into the sex trade.
There are about 20,000 transgender people in Malaysia, of whom almost 80 percent are involved in the sex industry, Mujahid said, citing studies.
Besides the Mukhayyam program, Mujahid said one of many initiatives to be introduced by the new government was to help community members find proper jobs.
Mujahid also told parliament that his department would be upgrading an app-based e-book for the LGBT community that was introduced by the previous government in 2016.
The e-book, titled "Hadis Sahih Mengenai Perlakuan LGBT" (a compilation of authentic Islamic Hadiths on LGBT behavior), can be downloaded from the Google Play Store application. The app contains guidelines on how to "control lust and behavior" and includes verses from the Quran.
Wan Salim Wan Mohd Noor, the mufti of Penang state, applauded the initiative from Jakim despite not having heard about the app before.
"I think it is good because we want them to return to the right path," he told BenarNews. "We have to agree and support the initiative because LGBT is not the norm. Not just in Islam but other religions as well."
Meanwhile, LGBT rights activist S.Thilaga criticized the "conversion program" started by Jakim as a waste of public money that was harmful to people. 

"The fact is that conversion therapy, rehabilitation or balik pangkal jalan (return to the right path) efforts are not evidence and rights-based," she said.
"Constantly being told that we need to be corrected and rehabilitated, amongst other things, can increase stigma and misinformation, further isolate people, create additional stress, lack of self-worth, create even more barriers for LGBT people to access basic services, and more," Thilaga told BenarNews.
Malaysia's LGBT community has long suffered discrimination in a country where homosexual sex remains banned under a British colonial-era law and cross-dressing as the opposite sex is illegal.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and an associate were charged in a Kuala Lumpur court Thursday with criminal breach of trust linked to Chinese-backed rail and pipeline projects that were suspended by the new government.
The charges were the latest brought against the ex-leader over allegations of massive corruption since his government crashed out of power in a general election in May. Later on Thursday, a second associate appeared in the same court to face a different breach of trust charge, according to court documents.
Najib and Irwan Serigar Abdullah, the former Treasury secretary general, were charged with six counts linked to the alleged misuse of government funds totaling 6.63 billion (U.S. $1.59 billion), according to the charge-sheet.
They pleaded not guilty to all charges, which each carry a sentence of two to 20 years in prison and a possible fine.
Najib had appeared in court four times previously to face 32 other graft-related charges. On Wednesday, Najib and Irwan were questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). The commission allowed Najib to leave but held Irwan overnight.
Speaking to reporters after exiting the courtroom on Thursday, Najib said the charges were too general and not plausible, noting that the prosecution did not allege he had benefited from the transactions.
He said his actions were taken to benefit Malaysia.
"What we have done is for the good of the country, in settling the country's debts, failing which it would affect the country's economy, and its people," Najib said.
Two charges involved funding tied to the recently suspended East Coast Rail Link and the Suria Strategic Energy Resources pipeline projects estimated to cost 1.2 billion ringgit ($288 million) and 665 million ringgit ($160 million), respectively.

[https://www]

Former Malaysian spy agency chief Hasanah Abdul Hamid arrives at the Kuala Lumpur court building to face a corruption charge, Oct. 25, 2018. [S.Mahfuz/BenarNews]

 
Intelligence official charged
Hasanah Abdul Hamid, the former director-general of the now defunct Malaysian External Intelligence Organization (MEIO), appeared in court later in the day to face a criminal breach of trust charge.
The charge was tied to the alleged misuse of 50.38 million ringgit ($12.1 million) in government funds between April 30 and May 9, the day Mahathir Mohamad's Pakatan Harapan coalition defeated Najib's Barisan Nasional bloc in the general election.
Her case is not related to a massive corruption scandal around 1MDB that has implicated Najib, Hasanah's lawyer, Shaharuddin Ali, told reporters. He said the use of the money for intelligence purposes was a state secret and must not be made public in an open court, the Associated Press reported.
She pleaded not guilty, was released on bail of 500,000 ringgit ($120,000) and is to return to court on Nov. 29.
The other charges involving 4.78 billion ringgit ($1.15 billion) were linked to a the alleged misuse of government funds to settle an agreement between state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), a government-run fund in Abu Dhabi.
The majority of the funds were used allegedly to pay IPIC. Under an agreement reached in 2017, 1MDB agreed to pay 5 billion ringgit ($1.2 billion) to settle a debt dispute, according to the charge sheets.
In court, Najib's lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, brought up the IPIC connection.
"These were funds that were initially allocated for a purpose, but on priority was revised, in the face of urgency and dire straits the nation was placed into. For the purposes of settlement of the IPIC issue, an executive decision had to be undertaken very honestly," Shafee told the court, according to Reuters news service.
Following the hearing, MACC deputy commissioner Azam Baki confirmed the connection to reporters.
"There are some of the charges related to ECRL also, but the third through the sixth charge are related to IPIC," he said.
Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court Judge Azman Abdullah set bail at 1 million ringgit ($240,000), to be paid in two installments. Both men were released after making the proper payment and are to return to court on Nov. 29.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A Malaysian woman who was stranded in Syria after her Islamic State fighter-husband died in battle was repatriated with her children through efforts by local authorities and the Turkish government to secure safe passage, Malaysia's police chief said Thursday.
The 31-year-old woman and her children – ages 2 and 5 – arrived in Malaysia on Oct. 6 after a delicate and dangerous process that took about a month to plan, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said as he introduced her at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
"We managed to bring home three people – this lady here next to me, who's from Terengganu and has spent quite a long time in Syria – and her children, a boy and a girl.
"We attribute this success to the cooperation between the police special branch, Malaysian embassy in Turkey, our foreign ministry and the Turkish authorities," Fuzi told reporters.
Fuzi said the process of returning the woman – identified by police only as "Aisyah" – began after her parents asked the authorities to help bring her home.
He said he did not think Aisyah and her children would pose security risks on Malaysian soil.
"Based on our investigations, the woman went to Syria because of her husband's wish," he said.
Aisyah was not involved with Islamic State (IS), but she will be required to enroll in a government-run rehabilitation program while authorities assist the family in obtaining citizenship papers, the police chief said.
IS widow: 'Life is not like here'
Aisyah said she flew to Istanbul with her husband and their first child two and a half years ago, when she was pregnant with their second child, only to learn that they were bound for Syria.
"I was seven months into my pregnancy when we took a flight in March 2016. We stayed in a hotel in Istanbul for five days before my husband took me and our child to a rented house, also in the city. During our stay in the rented house, I sensed my husband wanted to go to Syria," she told reporters.
"After a year in Turkey, we were then smuggled into Syria. The journey was rough as we had to go through jungles and were left behind on a hill to find our own way to our destination."
The family settled in a small village in Idlib, a city in northwestern Syria, where she stayed for more than a year while her husband became an IS fighter.

Aisyah said they survived on assistance from IS.

She said it was not difficult to learn the local language, but explosions scared her children in their first month there, adding they were the only Malaysians, along with several Indonesians who stayed in the area.
Aisyah's life changed for the worse after she learned on Feb. 9 that her husband was killed in battle. Prior to his death, he told Aisyah to take care of the children and asked her to remain in Syria.
But Aisyah kept thinking about her parents and was in constant contact with her mother who advised her to return home.
"I missed home a bit, but I didn't pay much attention when my husband was still alive. After he was killed, then only I thought of going home," she said.
"I hope women and children who desire to travel to Syria think twice because life there is hard, bombs explode everywhere and life is not like here."
Trying to bring others home
Since 2013, as many as 102 Malaysians have travelled to Syria to join IS, police said. Of those, 37 were killed, 11 returned home and 54 remain, the police chief said. Among the dead was the most wanted Malaysian militant, Muhamad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi.
"We hope those Malaysians still in Syria will meet us or request us to take them home. We will try to get them to return as their purpose there was misguided," Fuzi said, adding that another four Malaysians had expressed hope about being able to return to their country.
"We are trying to extricate them from the conflict zone, which is a critical problem that must be considered. This is our and the government's commitment to bringing them back to their family and society," Fuzi said, declining to offer details on the effort.
"The process is highly risky apart from connectivity problems because we are using a third party to take them out," he added.
Authorities have succeeded in repatriating some Malaysians from Iraq and Syria where IS militants have been defeated, while other attempts failed, Fuzi said.
A high government source said Aisyah's husband was influenced by Wanndy through Facebook.

"We do not know how and what he was told, but Wanndy was known for being very convincing in his way of approaching people," said the source who asked to remain anonymous.
"We need to protect her identity. She was not at fault. The children were not at fault. If we expose their identities, there will be repercussions," he told BenarNews.

Wanndy was killed in a drone strike in Raqqa, Syria, in April 2017.
Less than a year earlier, he masterminded a grenade attack at a nightclub on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, the first attack claimed by IS in Malaysia, authorities said.
After Wanndy's death a Malaysian militant took over his role with IS, said Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the chief of the police's counter-terrorism special branch.
"There's another one active, Akel Zainal, who traveled to Syria in 2014. He is still playing a role to recruit Malaysians to travel to Syria," Ayob told reporters after the press conference.
"Based on our monitoring of some 4,000 [profiles] on Facebook, there are 100 Malaysians still inclined to join either in the southern Philippines or Syria."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia on Monday put on the auction block a U.S. $250-million superyacht, which was seized from fugitive financier Jho Low as part of an international investigation into Malaysia's 1MDB graft scandal, a government lawyer said.
The first sale of a major asset linked to 1MDB began as the government prepared for an anti-corruption summit in Kuala Lumpur that would be attended on Tuesday by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. He took power nearly six months ago on a pledge to probe the alleged looting of billions of dollars from the state fund known formally as 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The month-long bidding for the 300-foot luxury yacht Equanimity started on Monday, lawyer Ong Chee Kwan, who is representing the government and 1MDB in the sale, told BenarNews.
Ong said the auction would be supervised by London-based Burgess Yachts, a global superyacht broker. He said he could not provide an estimate on how much the Equanimity would ultimately fetch.
"As high as possible," he said. "That is all I can say."
He said a potential bidder must first put in a $1 million (4.17 million ringgit) deposit to Burgess before Nov. 28, the date when officials could decide whether to push through with the sale.
"After paying the deposit, and after the closing date, the admiralty sheriff will determine the face value of the yacht. They will see which bidders meet the face value at least," he said.
The auction came almost three months after Indonesia turned the yacht over to Malaysia.
Indonesian and U.S. authorities impounded the Cayman Islands-flagged vessel, while it was moored off the Indonesian island of Bali in February, and a Malaysian court approved its sale two months ago.
On June 15, 2017, the United States filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit against the vessel, claiming that Jho Low – whose real name is Low Taek Jho – had bought it for $250 million with money "stolen and embezzled" from 1MDB. 

But after news broke that a California court had ordered the boat seized, Jho Low gave instructions to hide the Equanimity in a series of foreign locations, frustrating the government's efforts to bring the asset for forfeiture in the United States, according to the U.S. investigators.
While Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, has opposed the handover through his statements issued by his lawyers, he failed to claim ownership in the Malaysian court, prompting it to award ownership of Equanimity to the government.
Low's attorneys did not respond to emails from BenarNews seeking comments on the auction.

Burgess Yachts, on its website, said the Equanimity could accommodate up to 22 guests and 31 crew, with amenities that include a swimming pool, a beauty salon, a massage room, sauna, medical facilities and a helicopter pad.

The vessel is among more than $1.7 billion in assets that Washington claims was bought with money siphoned off from 1MDB, which was set up by former Prime Minister Najib Razak when he was in power in 2009.
Mahathir took power on May 10 after his Pakatan Harapan coalition had devastated the Najib-led ruling party in the general election the day before. Political observers had blamed Najib's political downfall partly on the 1MDB fiasco.
Najib, who faces multiple charges related to corruption, money laundering and abuse of power, had consistently claimed that the 2.3 billion ringgit ($556.23 million) of money from 1MDB that allegedly landed into his personal bank accounts were a donation from the Saudi royal family.
But, in an interview with Al Jazeera on Friday, Najib confirmed that he could not verify the source of the funds. He assumed, he said, that the donations were connected to Saudi Arabia after its king, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, had given him assurances of support.
However, in a Facebook post on the same day, Najib backtracked and said the money indeed came as a donation from the Saudi government.
Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, however, told reporters on Saturday that the Saudi government had said it was not connected to the funds received by Najib.
Saifuddin made the comments after meeting visiting Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Friday.
"He stated that (the money) has nothing to do with the Saudi government," Saifuddin said, referring to Adel.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia arrested five suspected militants in counter-terrorist raids since mid-October, including a former member of the South Asian extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and an ex-field operative of al-Qaeda, police said Wednesday. 

A 50-year-old Egyptian who had worked as an executive with a Kuala Lumpur-based advertising company was arrested on Oct.13 outside the country's capital, national police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said.
"The suspect was a member of the al-Qaeda militant group during his stay in Afghanistan from 1988 to 1993," Fuzi said in a statement. "He also met with Osama bin Laden, the former leader of al-Qaeda."
The suspect, who entered Malaysia with his wife in May this year, told investigators he had been arrested previously in Canada and Egypt for using fake travel documents, which he also used to enter Azerbaijan and Pakistan in the past, Fuzi said. 

The Egyptian had also been imprisoned in his home country for terror activities, Fuzi said. He did not identify the suspect. 

"The man was not cooperative with investigators at the moment," a high-ranking government source told BenarNews.
Authorities have not seen evidence that the suspect had denounced his involvement with the global militant organization, the source said.

"We are afraid that Malaysia will become a terror organization's base. Al-Qaeda, unlike the IS, is good at making long-term plans," the source said, using the other acronym for Islamic State.
He cited the meeting of al-Qaeda terrorists who met in 1999 in Kuala Lumpur as they plotted the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. The four coordinated terror attacks, which involved hijacked planes, killed almost 3,000 people and injured 6,000 others.

In 2000, the source said, high-level al-Qaeda members also met in Kuala Lumpur to plan the bombing on that year of the U.S. Navy ship USS Cole in Yemen, killing 17 American sailors and injuring 39 others. Some of the attendees in that meeting were hijackers of the plane that was flown into the Pentagon in the 9/11 attacks, he said.

That meeting was organized by Malaysian Yazid Sufaat, a former army captain, believed to be one of al-Qaeda's anthrax researchers. Malaysian authorities arrested Yazid in 2001, released him in 2008 and was rearrested in 2013 under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act for incitement of terrorist acts.
Apart from the Egyptian, the counter-terror agents also arrested a 31 year-old Pakistani with suspected links to the South Asian militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Fuzi said.
He said a 31-year-old man, who was only identified as a Middle Eastern, was arrested after he had allegedly posted Facebook comments threatening to kill a foreign ambassador.
Two Malaysians, aged 32 and 40, were also arrested, he said. All of the suspects were detained separately in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak and the Borneo state Sabah between Oct. 13 and Oct. 26, the police chief said.
Investigators said the Malaysians were believed to have channeled funds to slain Malaysian IS recruiter Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi and another top Malaysian militant, Muhamad Fudhail Omar, who was believed killed in Syria last year, and also to the Abu Sayyaf, a group of militants operating in the southern Philippines.
Four of the suspects were detained under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act 2012 while the Pakistani was arrested on charges of violating the country's Immigration Act.

Analyst: 'It's a residual effect'
A deradicalization expert told BenarNews that the presence of former al-Qaeda militants in nations outside of their home country was expected.

"It's a residual effect of the phenomenon of militants who were active somewhere else, like Afghanistan," said Ahmad el-Muhammady, a political science lecturer at the International Islamic University of Malaysia. 

After their early activities, Ahmad said, militants would want to seek safe sanctuaries. Muslim-majority Malaysia, being an open country with friendly citizens, fits the bill, he said. 

"Stringent security measures at the border and stronger intelligence cooperation with countries in the region and others, such as the Middle East and Europe, are needed to prevent the entry of foreign militants," he said.
First arrest of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Malaysia, analyst says 

A South Asian terrorism analyst told BenarNews the case involving the Pakistani could be unprecedented in Malaysia.

"I believe it's the first such a case in Malaysia," said Faran Jeffery, deputy director of the Islamic Theology of Counter Terrorism, a London-based think tank.

Lashkar-e-Taiba, which literally means the Army of the Righteous, is one of the largest and most active militant organizations in South Asia, operating mainly in Pakistan.
India blames the Pakistan-based LeT for several attacks on its soil, including the 2001 assault on the Indian Parliament that claimed 14 lives and the 2008 Mumbai attack. 

LeT, formed in 1987 with funding from al-Qaeda, claims to be primarily fighting to "liberate" Muslims living in Indian Kashmir, where its cadres routinely target security forces. It has been designated by the Australian, U.S. and Indian governments as a terrorist organization.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The U.S. Justice Department unsealed a criminal indictment on Thursday against fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low alleging he paid millions of dollars to officials from Malaysia's previous government while embezzling billions from state development fund 1MDB.
Another Malaysian national, Ng Chong Hwa (also known as Roger Ng) was named in the three-count indictment filed on Oct. 3 in a federal court in the Eastern District of New York, and has been arrested in Malaysia, according to the U.S. government.
In addition, former banker Tim Leissner pleaded guilty to two charges related to money laundering involving the state development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which was established by former Prime Minister Najib Razak and is central to the investigation.
"More than $2.7 billion (11.28 billion ringgit) was misappropriated from 1MDB and Jho Low, Ng, Leissner and others conspired to launder this money through the U.S. financial system to pay bribes to foreign officials and for the personal benefit of themselves and their relatives," the government said in a news release about the indictments.
Ng and Leissner both held positions with the investment bank Goldman Sachs, according to media reports, and were described in their indictments as working for U.S. Financial Institution #1.
The government alleges they hid their partnership with Jho Low – whose real name is Low Taek Jho – from the financial institution because compliance and intelligence officers refused to approve the business relationship over concerns about the source of his wealth.
Among those named in the indictment as having received kickbacks are Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) and his wife, referred to as "the Madam," in email correspondence among the three. MO1 has not been named in previous lawsuits related to 1MDB filed by the Justice Department, but sources have identified him as Najib.
Since his government was swept out of power in a general election in May, Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, have been arrested by authorities in their home country and charged with a raft of graft-related offenses linked with the 1MDB financial scandal.
The indictment alleges that in June 2014, Jho Low (also known as Low Taek Jho) and an unnamed conspirator discussed through electronic chat, the need to "suck up to" an unnamed 1MDB official "and to send 'cakes,' referring to bribes, to 'madam boss.'"
In October 2014, Jho Low and co-conspirators wire transferred $4.1 million (17 million ringgit) to a New York jeweler to pay for gold jewelry for the wife of MO1, U.S. justice officials alleged.
A year earlier, Jho Low was involved in an even bigger payment.
In September 2013, a high-end New York jeweler met with Jho Low along with MO1 and his wife at a hotel to show her a pink diamond necklace the jeweler had designed for her. Three weeks earlier, the necklace was purchased for about $27.3 million (114 million ringgit) from a shell company controlled by Low and others, the U.S. government alleges.
Projects Magnolia, Maximus and Catalyze
The government alleges that the conspirators cooked up three schemes to collect funds from 1MBD and diverted portions for their own use.
The first scheme, named Project Magnolia, began in early 2012. Jho Low, Ng, Leissner and other unnamed conspirators agreed that with the assistance of the financial institution, 1MDB would issue $1.75 billion in bonds guaranteed by an entity owned by Abu Dhabi's government.
"Low explained to Ng, Leissner and others at that time that, to complete the transaction, bribes would need to be paid to officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi," the government alleged in a news release, adding that millions of dollars were paid to officials in those two countries.
"After Project Magnolia closed on or about May 21, 2012, more than $500 million of the bond proceeds were misappropriated and diverted from 1MDB through numerous wire transfers to bank accounts in the name of shell companies beneficially owned and controlled by Low, Leissner, Ng and other co-conspirators," the release said.
Some of the money was used to produce the film "The Wolf of Wall Street," the American Justice Department said.
Najib's stepson Riza Aziz, is founder of Red Granite Pictures, the film's producer.
Beginning in May 2012 and running through 2013, investigators allege that the trio and unnamed conspirators pushed through a pair of bond transactions, Project Maximus and Project Catalyze, designed to raise more than $4 billion (16.7 billion ringgit) for 1MDB projects.
Following the close of Project Maximus, $790 million (3.3 billion ringgit) was transferred to accounts controlled by Low, Leissner and others, including Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials.
More than $1 billion (4.17 billion ringgit) "were laundered, at Low's direction to bank accounts in the name of entities beneficially owned and controlled by Low, Leissner and others, including 1MDB officials," when Project Catalyze closed.
Also, more than $160 million (668 million ringgit) laundered through the two projects was used to purchase a New York City condominium for Jho Low and high-end art, the government alleges.
Jho Low and Ng were charged with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by committing bribery and circumventing internal accounting controls along with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Malaysian officials did not confirm the U.S. report that Ng had been arrested.
Fugitive
Jho Low, who is in hiding, has maintained his innocence. Earlier this week, the Malaysian government began a month-long auction to sell his $250 million yacht Equanimity to recoup some of the losses tied to 1MDB.
Former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin said on Thursday that he had been in touch with Jho Low and the fugitive wanted to meet with him in Singapore.
"I decided not to meet him at all. We roughly know where he is now. The problem is he has many passports, he can run anywhere," Daim said in an interview with Astro Awani TV. "What he likes is his boat. When he had the boat it was easy for him."
Daim, who did not answer Jho Low's most recent call last week, said he told the fugitive to return if he is innocent.
"Only guilty people run away," he said.
Also on Thursday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) announced that it was looking for a British man, Paul Geoffrey Stadlen, whose last known address was in Kuala Lumpur, to assist in the 1MDB investigation.
Stadlen had served as a public relations officer for Najib, according to Malaysian media.
"The commission was working closely with the Immigration Department to locate the 39-year-old Briton. As of today, the MACC has yet to blacklist Stadlen from leaving Malaysia and we are still in discussion with the Immigration Department on that matter," MACC Chief Commissioner Mohd Shukri Abdull told reporters.
Muzliza Mustafa, Hadi Azmi and Noah Lee in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A former banker who allegedly conspired with fugitive financier Jho Low to embezzle billions from state development fund 1MDB was arrested in Malaysia and is to be extradited to the United States to face trial, a senior police official said Friday.
Ng Chong Hwa (also known as Roger Ng), who has been identified as a former Goldman Sachs banker, was captured during a covert police operation on Thursday, a day after an arrest warrant was issued against him.
"I can confirm that we have arrested the man [Ng] yesterday. He will be extradited, but there is no exact date. The process is ongoing," said Amar Singh Ishar Singh, director of the Malaysian federal police's Commercial Crime Investigation Department.
On Thursday in New York, the U.S. government unsealed a three-count indictment against Ng and Jho Low (also known as Low Taek Jho), and announced that former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner had pleaded guilty to two counts related to laundering money from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund.
A spokesman for Jho Low, who remains in hiding and is wanted by Malaysian authorities, posted a statement on the financier's website maintaining his innocence.
A source who asked to remain anonymous told BenarNews that Ng was being held at the Jinjang central police lockup on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur and was expected to be questioned before being extradited to face American charges.
"The Commercial Crime unit will record his statement first then the Anti-Money Laundering unit regarding the 1MDB probe," the source said.
The statement issued on Jho Low's behalf pointed out that he held no formal position at 1MDB and was never employed by Goldman Sachs.
"Furthermore, the bond offerings detailed in the indictment were undertaken openly and lawfully between experienced, well-regulated financial institutions and government entities," the statement said.
The site was launched in September by Wells Haslem Mayhew Strategic Public Affairs, an Australian PR consultancy firm representing Jho Low, to provide information through his lawyers, a top executive from the company told Reuters at the time.
In charging documents, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) did not name Goldman Sachs but alleged that Ng and Leissner had hidden their partnership with Jho Low from the financial institution because compliance and intelligence officers refused to approve the business relationship over concerns about the source of his wealth.
The statement from Jho Low's spokesman went on to say the indictment contained allegations only and he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
"Mr. Low simply asks that the public keep an open mind regarding this case until all of the evidence comes to light, which he believes will vindicate him."
The U.S. indictments alleged that Jho Low, Ng, Leissner and others conspired to misappropriate more than $2.7 billion (11.28 billion ringgit) from 1MBD, which was established in 2009 to fund Malaysian development programs.
The suspects "conspired to launder this money through the U.S. financial system to pay bribes to foreign officials and for the personal benefit of themselves and their relatives," DOJ said in a news release announcing the indictments.
In recent months former Prime Minister Najb Razak, who started the fund in 2009, and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, have been arrested by authorities in their home country and charged with a raft of graft-related offenses linked with 1MDB.
In addition, the U.S. indictments refer to Malaysian Official No. 1 (MO1) and his wife "the Madam," as having accepted payouts. MO1, who has been listed in previous U.S. documents, has been identified by sources as Najib.
Voters in May rejected Najib's Barisan Nasional coalition, forcing him from the prime minister's office.
On Friday, the new government led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad released its first federal budget – a 314.5 billion ringgit (U.S. $75.5 billion) spending plan for 2019, up from this year's 290.4 billion ringgit ($69.7 billion) budget.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said one of the reasons for the increase was to pay off the major shortfall created by Najib's government. The minister noted that the previous government had been paying off a portion of the 1MDB debt in the days leading up to the election.
"We have also confirmed that we may be liable to pay up to 43.9 billion ringgit ($10.5 billion) more, to settle all of 1MDB's debts," Lim said.
Mahathir said both countries wanted the fugitive to be captured.
"They would like to get Jho Low and put him on trial and of course Jho Low is nowhere to be seen. We do not know where he is," Mahathir said. "We also would like to have him because we have several charges against him."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The former chief minister of the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah pleaded not guilty Monday to 35 counts of graft linked to 263 million ringgit (U.S. $63 million) in bribes he had allegedly taken through timber contracts there.
Musa Aman, who was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, is accused of using his position as chief minister to take bribe money in Singapore and Hong Kong, between 2004 and 2008. He is the third highest-ranking official from the United Malays National Organization political party to be charged for corruption-related offenses since UMNO was swept from power in a general election in May.
Musa was released after meeting Judge Rozina Ayob's order to pay a bail of 2 million ringgit ($479,430). The judge allowed for two payments, but Musa was able to pay it off by the day's end.
The judge ordered Musa, 67, who serves as a lawmaker in the state's assembly, to surrender his personal and diplomatic passports and set Dec. 13 for the next court appearance.
The prosecution, led by former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram, told the court said it was surprised that two former attorneys general, Abdul Gani Patail and Apandi Ali, did not file charges against Musa. The two served as members of the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition under Prime Minister Najib Razak that was defeated in the May 9 election.
"The case has been investigated and I do not understand why it was closed. Now it has reopened and we have a strong case," Gopal said while filing charges.
Because the allegations are related to alleged incidents from 2004 to 2008, Musa was charged under the 1997 Crime Prevention Act because the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act did not become law until 2009.
Musa is accused of accepting bribes through individuals acting as his proxies, according to the charge sheet.
Among the individuals mentioned was Chia Tien Foh. Chia was sentenced in 2014 to a year in prison and a lash of a cane after being found guilty of cheating businessman Agus Hassan of 2.5 million ringgit ($600,000) in 2004.
'The fate of those who do not want to bow down'
Musa is the latest UMNO leader to appear in court since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition took control of the government six months ago. Najib, the former PM, faces 38 criminal counts and UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who served as Najib's deputy prime minister, faces 45 counts.
While BN ceded power to PH, Musa was sworn in as Sabah's chief minister on May 10 because the party held a simple majority in the state. He was removed two days later after two party members changed their alliance.
Musa filed a lawsuit against Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal, who replaced him, and state Gov. Tun Juhar Mahiruddin over his dismissal. The Kota Kinabalu High Court is to rule later this week.
Lokman Noor Adam, a member of UMNO's supreme council member and president of the Pemantau Malaysia Baharu NGO, said the new government's prosecution of Musa was a ploy ahead of decision on his lawsuit.
"This is the fate of those who do not want to bow down to (Prime Minister) Mahathir's greed," he said in a statement. "When they realize they will not win in the Sabah chief minister's case that is to be decided on Wednesday, they charge him and defame his name in order for other assemblymen to go against him."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad signed an agreement Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo for a loan of up to 200 billion yen (U.S. $1.76 billion) to help Kuala Lumpur tackle its mounting debts.
The deal came as Malaysia braced for slower economic growth, challenges to boosting revenue and higher debt amid a widening crackdown on corruption. It also followed the unveiling of Malaysia's expanded budget on Friday, which set a higher fiscal deficit target for 2019.
During a televised joint news conference, Mahathir thanked Abe on Japan's decision to help Malaysia battle its financial woes.

"Prime Minister Abe also assured us that, in the future, if we have a need to seek Japanese support in solving our financial problems, he is ready and the Japanese government is ready to consider," said Mahathir, who was on a three-day visit to Japan.
Abe confirmed that Tokyo would be issuing yen-denominated bonds to Malaysia with backing from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation.

Aside from financial cooperation, the two countries also agreed to look into improving Malaysia's rail transportation using the expertise of Japanese railway advisers from JR Kyushu and JR Freight.
"Japan will study with Malaysia the possibility of extending yen loans with primary focus on transportation, education and human resources development," Abe said.

"We launched a comprehensive study with the view to improving passenger and cargo transport. I hope this study will lead to a concrete cooperation in the future," he said.

Abe told reporters that a team from both companies would be dispatched to Malaysia at the end of November. Mahathir thanked Japan for its proposal and welcomed its help and advice on how to run Malaysia's national railway.
During his earlier stint as the nation's leader between 1981 and 2003, the 93-year-old Mahathir would often turn to Japan as part of his Look East policy, which he vowed to revive after taking power after the May general election. 

When Malaysia faced economic turmoil after the Asian Financial Crisis of 1998, the nation reportedly borrowed U.S. $5 billion from Japan. In a survey, Bloomberg economists forecast a Malaysian growth rate of 4.8 percent this year and about 4.5 percent in 2019. 

Massive debt due to 1MDB scandal
Faced with massive debt obligations inherited from the previous government and the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, Malaysia's new administration is focusing on its election campaign promises to lower the burden for its citizens, including scrapping a 6 percent consumption tax that left a 23 billion ringgit ($5.5 billion) revenue shortfall.

Last Friday, the Malaysia government announced that it had received a tranche in the form of 10-year debt securities called samurai bonds from Japan at a low interest rate of 0.65 percent that would be used to refinance the country's more expensive debts. The bond is a form of a loan issued in Tokyo by non-Japanese companies, providing the issuer with access to Japanese capital. 

After his Pakatan Harapan alliance defeated former Prime Minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional coalition, Mahathir said his government had inherited a 1 trillion ringgit (U.S. $240 billion) debt necessitating "cancelation" or suspension of several China-backed projects, including the multibillion ringgit East Coast Rail Link project.

Commenting on the incoming yen bond, Geoffrey Williams, an economist at HELP University in Kuala Lumpur, said the move to secure the Japanese loan at a lower interest rate allows Malaysia to be in a better position to manage its economy.

"A 200-billion yen bond is quite small actually compared to Malaysia's one trillion ringgit debt," he said. "But if Malaysia can manage its repayments well, it will demonstrate good creditworthiness to international investors which will sit well in the country's future economic plans."

Malaysia to be business friendly
Mahathir's Tokyo visit is his second since June after the Pakatan Harapan coalition he led took power in a stunning election victory.

Later on Tuesday, Mahathir pledged to remove obstacles to doing business in Malaysia, especially for foreign investors, in order to attract more direct investments.

"I promise you the government will always look upon you, that is Malaysia under the new government," Mahathir told about 600 businessmen in Tokyo.

He emphasized that under his new government, Japanese investors would be protected from corruption.
"Malaysia is going to be your profit center. You will gain much benefit for investing in Malaysia," Mahathir said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The defense phase of the trial of two Asian women charged with murdering the half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at a Kuala Lumpur airport will start Jan. 7, a Malaysian judge ruled on Wednesday, allowing a defense attorney time to heal from surgery.
The trial was set to resume on Nov. 1, but was delayed because Gooi Soon Seng, who is leading the team defending Indonesian citizen Siti Aisyah, underwent pancreatic surgery.
"He is recovering well," Hisyam Teh Pok Teik, who represents co-defendant Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese citizen, told BenarNews outside the courtroom.
The women are charged with the murder of Kim Jong Nam, who died after being exposed to the toxic VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13, 2017.
On Aug. 16, after the prosecution had rested its case, presiding Judge Azmi Ariffin ruled that both suspects must present their defense. He found that the prosecution had presented enough evidence for the trial to go on.
On Wednesday, the judge read out the new dates for the trial.
"The new dates will be on Jan. 7, 8, 9 and 10, 2019, beginning at 9 a.m.," he announced.
He set four more court dates in January, two in February, eight in March and six in April. Siti will be given 10 days to present her defense and Doan the next 14.
Siti and Doan, who were in the courtroom on Wednesday, appeared calm during the short hearing.
In addition, the judge set Dec. 14 to hear a request from Siti's lawyers that prosecutors produce statements from eight witnesses.
The witnesses include Dessy Meyrisinta and Raisa Rinda Salma, who were Siti's roommates in Kuala Lumpur and may have been present when police raided their room.

Another name on the list is Tomie Yoshio, a Japanese friend of the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un. During the prosecution's case, the lead investigator identified Yoshio as the Malaysian who provided his personal chauffer for Kim Jong Nam, who had expressed fear for his life six months before he was killed.
Meanwhile, Doan's lawyer said he planned to call up to six citizens – Malaysians and foreigners – for her defense.
"We have one or two foreign witnesses that might be a bit difficult to persuade to come. We will do our best to persuade them and we hope we are able to get them to come here," Hisyam said, adding Doan plans to testify.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian and Indonesian officials say they have not heard from the de facto Kurdish government in northern Syria about its claims that it has a large number of Islamic State fighters from those Southeast Asian countries and their families in custody.
Counter-terrorist officials from Malaysia and Indonesia said they could not confirm whether citizens of their countries, who had allegedly taken up arms for the Islamic State militant group, were being held by Kurdish rebels following the fall of IS strongholds in Syria and Iraq.
"It is hard to get the numbers as we do not have access at the moment," Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the chief of the Malaysian police's counter-terrorist special branch, told BenarNews.
"We still don't know definitely whether we have citizens held by Kurdish rebel forces," he said Thursday.
In Jakarta, the National Counterterrorist Agency (BNPT) had received no information on whether Kurdish authorities were holding IS fighters from Indonesia and their families, according to a deputy for international cooperation at the bureau.
"We haven't seen any report that confirms that," Hamidin, the official who uses only one name, told BenarNews.
Meanwhile, an official at the Indonesian foreign ministry, said the government would not allow Indonesian nationals who had taken up arms for IS in the Middle East to be repatriated, despite a recent plea made by the de facto Kurdish administration. It had called on dozens of countries to take back citizens who had become IS fighters and their families who were also in Kurdish custody.
"What we understand is that we will never bring home those who are fighters because when they fight for ISIS they have made a conscious decision to travel there," Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the ministry's director for the protection of Indonesians overseas, told BenarNews, using another acronym for IS.
"If they were fighters, we leave it to local law enforcement authorities to bring them to justice according to local Kurdish laws," he added.

[https://www]

British MP Maurice Glasman (left) meets with Kurdish official Abdulkarim Omar in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli, April 4, 2018. [AFP]

'Some of these fighters are dangerous'
The officials in Southeast Asia were reacting to comments made by a Kurdish official in a recent interview with BenarNews.
The rebels in northern Syria were holding nearly 900 IS fighters, along with 400 to 500 women and more than 1,000 children from 44 countries, who had been rounded up after IS strongholds in the region fell, said Abdulkarim Omar, co-chairman of the Foreign Relations Commission in North Syria.
"We have always expressed our willingness to hand over the foreign IS fighters to their governments, but unfortunately most countries try to shirk their responsibilities," Omar told BenarNews via email. "The number of Indonesian and Malaysian IS fighters, women and children is not little, especially the Indonesians.
"Our region is unstable. Any chaos may enable IS fighters to flee. Some of those fighters are dangerous and may pose serious threats in Europe and the international community," he said.
Women and children in IS families have been steeped in radical ideology and "they need rehabilitation, which we cannot secure alone," he warned. "Thus, every country should assume its responsibility and work to secure its citizens and prosecute them on its soil."
In late September, Omar told journalists that the de facto administration could not hold the captured IS fighters and their families indefinitely, according to a report by Reuters.
"For us it is a very large number because these Daeshis are dangerous and they committed massacres, and their presence in our detention is an opportunity for the international community to put them on trial," Reuters quoted Omar as saying in referring to IS members.
"We alone cannot bear this burden," he added then.
In his later comments to Benar, Omar said "our decision not to try them in our region is firm, and we will use diplomatic means to hand them over to their governments."
He declined to give an exact number for Southeast Asian IS fighters and their families in Kurdish custody, citing safety concerns.
"However, if our efforts do not yield results, then we would take a new position which will be announced at an appropriate time."
One option could be to try the IS fighters and send them back to their home countries to serve their sentences, he said.
'We do not engage with the rebels'
In Kuala Lumpur, Ayob said the Malaysian government would not negotiate with "non-state actors" in the Syrian conflict such as the Kurdish rebels.
"We have to get help from the ICRC, UNHCR or the Syrian government," Ayob told BenarNews, referring to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N.'s refugee agency.
"We do not engage with the rebels. But if the rebels decide to free them, we will get the ICRC to bring them out of Syria and bring them home."
Previously, Malaysian officials had said that 102 Malaysian citizens had traveled to Syria to join IS since 2013.
In October, Malaysian police revealed that they had succeeded in bringing home a widow and her two children from Syria following the February death of her husband, a Malaysian IS fighter.
The widow, given the pseudonym "Aisyah," was presented by Ayob and Malaysian police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 25. She said she had been duped by her late husband into believing that their 2016 trip abroad was to Turkey, before she and her then-only child were smuggled into Syria to join IS.

At the time, Fuzi said Turkish authorities aided in efforts to bring them home to Malaysia. He said authorities were looking at four more groups in Syria who had asked for help to come home.
After the IS Syrian stronghold of Raqqa fell last year, 18 Indonesians who were found in the area were deported back to their home country, said Lalu, the Indonesian foreign ministry official.
"After a vetting process by Kurdish forces, eighteen people were deported but they were not fighters – mostly women and children," Lalu told Benar.
"We haven't received any direct information from them [Kurdish forces] again," he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Family members of three murder victims urged the government Friday not to abolish the death penalty, a day after a Malaysian delegation faced the United Nations Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and agreed to abide by a moratorium on executions.
About 1,200 prisoners were on death row as October in the Muslim-majority nation, according to Malaysian officials.
Erni Dekritawati Yuliana, the oldest daughter of murdered cosmetic mogul Sosilawati Lawiya, said she understood the government's efforts to better protect human rights in the country, but disagreed with efforts to ban capital punishment.
Relatives of murder victims Kevin Morais, a former deputy public prosecutor; and banker Wong Jing Kui joined Erni during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur.
"It is so unfair to (murdered) family victims to abolish the death penalty," Erni told reporters, while emphasizing that she agreed with efforts to improve human rights in Malaysia.
Sosilawati and three others were beaten to death by her former lawyer and two farm hands, before their remains were burned to ashes in a case that gripped the nation in 2010. The defendants exhausted their chances to appeal after the Federal Court upheld the death penalty.
On Thursday during its third review by the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Malaysian representatives reaffirmed the government's decision to ratify all remaining U.N. rights treaties and to establish a moratorium on all executions until the death penalty is abolished.
Malaysian Human Rights Commission commissioner Jerald Joseph, who was part of the Malaysian delegation, told BenarNews he sympathized with the families.
"I can understand their pain, but the death penalty is not deterrence to those horrible crimes," Joseph said.
Government officials could not be reached for comment Friday to respond to the families.
Last month, Liew Vui Keong, cabinet minister in charge of law, said the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad decided to abolish death penalty with no exceptions.
"New Malaysia, new look, new hope where everyone has a right of life," Liew said on Oct. 10, underscoring that the new Malaysian view was in line with the internationally accepted convention on human rights.
Malaysia's move, announced during an event commemorating the World Day Against the Death Penalty, spurred positive comments from U.N. chief Antonio Guterres, who described it as a stride toward eliminating the death penalty worldwide.
About 170 nations have implemented a moratorium or ended the practice of the death penalty, Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres's spokesman, said in a statement.
Brother speaks out
Richard Morais, the slain prosecutor's younger brother, said those who have lost loved ones through horrific deaths have a special bond.
"You have to lose a family member to murder to understand," Richard Morais said as tears rolled down his cheeks while recounting his brother's murder.
Kevin Morais, an employee at the attorney general's office, was abducted while he traveling to his office on Sept. 4, 2015. His remains, entombed in a concrete-filled barrel, were found 12 days later in a suburb outside Kuala Lumpur.
"His whole body was like a rock, I couldn't even touch his body. Is this fair?" Richard Morais said.
Seven people charged with Kevin Morais' murder pleaded not guilty and are on trial in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Lawyer Christina Teng, who represented all three families, said the government should not bulldoze through the decision to abolish capital punishment because it is needed as a deterrence. 

Teng said the survivors think the government failed to consider their feelings.
Wong Jing Kui's family members did not speak to reporters.
Human rights group reacts
Amnesty International Malaysia challenged the claim that capital punishment deters crime, saying there was no credible evidence the death penalty was any more effective in reducing crime than life sentences.
"Abolishing the death penalty does not mean that those convicted of a crime will go free and justice will not be served," Executive Director Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu said in an email to BenarNews.
Shamini said the death penalty is a matter of taking a life and, by principle, the state has no right to take the life of another human being.
The rights group mentioned Canada, where the murder rate in 2008 was less than half the rate in 1976 when the country abolished capital punishment.
"The Malaysian government's plans to abolish the death penalty for all crimes has created an opportunity for Malaysians to have constructive debates on its effectiveness in deterring crime and also for the country to uphold human rights reforms," Shamini said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The wife of ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak pleaded not guilty Thursday to new graft-related charges, which accuse her of seeking and receiving a bribe to influence the approval of a 1.25 billion ringgit (U.S. $299 million) education-related energy project.
Prosecutors alleged that Rosmah Mansor asked for 187.5 million ringgit ($44.8 million) from Jepak Holdings, a company that sought a contract with the education department for a solar project and to maintain and operate diesel generators for 369 rural schools in Sarawak state, between March and April 2016.
She also was charged with allegedly receiving 1.5 million ringgit ($358,000) on Sept. 7, 2017, from the company for the project.
If found guilty, Rosmah, who already faces 17 money laundering and tax fraud charges, could be sentenced to up to 20 years and ordered to pay a fine of not less than five times the amount of the alleged bribe.
In May, Malaysian police raided a former office and residences linked to Najib and Rosmah, removing 567 designer handbags, hundreds of Swiss-made watches and dozens of suitcases containing cash and 12,000 pieces of jewelry. Authorities said the seized cash totaled 114 million ringgit ($28.75 million), while the items seized were valued at as much as 1.1 billion ringgit ($273 million).
Najib, who faces 38 corruption charges including many tied to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal, was present in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to see Rosmah charged. U.S. Department of Justice officials allege that almost $4.5 billion was embezzled and laundered through real estate and other assets from 1MDB, which was established by Najib in 2009 to fund development projects in Malaysia.
Judge Azman Ahmad set Rosmah's bail at 1 million ringgit ($239,000) and set Dec. 10 as the date for the next session in the case.

"Based on the defense appeal, the court allowed for the bail to be paid in stages – 500,000 ringgit ($119,500) today with the remaining to be paid within seven days," he said.
Isham Jalil, a former special officer to Najib, criticized the new government, claiming it was trying to ruin the couple by forcing them to pay so much to stay out of jail.
"Both had accumulatively paid 13.6 million ringgit ($3.24 million) for all previous charges," Isham said, arguing the court should require token bail instead.
In a different courtroom, Rosmah's former aide, Rizal Mansor, who is not related, was charged with four counts of graft related to the same solar project.  He was accused of asking for 189 million ringgit ($45.2 million) on behalf of Rosmah and 25 million ringgit ($6 million) for himself from the same company in March and April 2016.

Rizal also was accused of receiving a 5 million ringgit ($1.19 million) bribe on behalf of Rosmah and another 500,000 ringgit ($119,000) bribe for himself in December 2016. He could be sentenced to up to 20 years and face a fine of five times the amount received if convicted.
Deputy public prosecutor Khairul Bahrin Omar told the court a motion would be filed for Rosmah and Rizal to be tried together.
Judge Rozina Ayob set Rizal's bail at 1 million ringgit and reminded him to not contact any witnesses. Rozina also ordered Rizal, who made bail, to surrender his international passport and any diplomatic passports.
Land deals charges
Former minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor pleaded not guilty to charges related to allegedly accepting 3 million ringgit ($715,600) in bribes relating to land deals.
Tengku Adnan was accused of accepting 1 million ringgit ($238,500) and 2 million ringgit ($477,000) from two businessmen for two development projects while serving as the federal territories Minister.
Judge Azman set bail at 1 million ringgit ($238,500), ordered Tengku to surrender his passports and scheduled the next session for Dec. 12.
Property tycoon Tan Eng Boon, the alleged source of the bribe, was charged as well. He was released on 700,000 ringgit ($167,000) and instructed to report monthly to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The counter-terrorist special branch recently arrested eight suspects including a man who allegedly recruited children in the Philippines to join Abu Sayyaf, a pro-Islamic State (IS) militant group that operates in the country next-door, Malaysia's police chief said Friday.
Only one of the eight in custody is a Malaysian while six of the foreigners were identified as Abu Sayyaf members, according to police. None of the suspects were named in a statement released by police.
A 35-year-old Filipino suspect and his 46-year-old accomplice were captured together in the Malaysian Borneo state of Sabah and were active Abu Sayyaf members, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said.
"These two men from the Southern Philippines were detained Nov. 8. The suspect worked as a laborer while his accomplice was a technician," Fuzi said in the statement. "The 35-year-old was a child recruiter and an active Abu Sayyaf member. He helped find children and trained them to carry arms.
"In battles between the Abu Sayyaf and Philippines army, he turned the children into human shields," Fuzi added.
Philippine officials could not be reached to confirm the Malaysian police chief's allegation.
Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, who heads the Malaysian police's counter-terrorist special branch, said he had no information about children.
"The number of children recruited is unclear because it happened in the Philippines," he said.
"We are gathering as much information as we can," he said, adding that police were in the early stage of their investigation.
Last year, Philippine media reported that militants recruited children to join a five-month siege of the southern city of Marawi that ended in October 2017 when military forces reclaimed it and drove out pro-IS militants. The militants had taken control of Marawi in May 2017 and kidnapped some children to slow troop advances against them, according to Philippine media.
The battle, which killed more than 1,200 people – mostly militants, according to the Philippine military – ended following the deaths of Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf senior commander and the acknowledged leader of IS forces in the Philippines, as well as other pro-Islamic State leaders.
'They assimilated well'
A source, who was not authorized to speak to reporters, said the two suspects were arrested before they could carry out their plan to travel 100 miles (160 km) to Sandakan, a town in Sabah, before fleeing to the nearby southern Philippines.

Initial information received through intelligence reports showed that the 35-year-old, while in Sabah, had recruited seven people between the ages of 18 and 25 to join Abu Sayyaf, the source told BenarNews.
"Seven that we know so far, but we believe there were more," the source said.
The source said the suspect and his accomplice would approach people they worked with to recruit for Abu Sayyaf.
"No one would suspect that these people were involved in terror activities as they assimilated well with the community. They kept a low profile to avoid unwanted attention," the source said.
Malaysian arrested
Fuzi identified the Malaysian arrested as a gold trader who was captured at the nation's administrative capital, Putrajaya, at the end of October.
The 30-year-old had allegedly transferred funds to Malaysian IS terrorist Akel Zainal to finance his activities, police said.
Fuzi said one suspect, a Filipino who was arrested on Nov. 10, allegedly served as a top aide to an Abu Sayyaf leader in Basilan, a province on the main southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
"Our investigation revealed that the man we picked up was a commander of the militant group led by Furuji Indama," Fuzi said.
Police arrested three Filipinos in Sabah on Nov. 1, according to Fuzi, who added that all were suspected members of Abu Sayyaf.
He said all three were involved in kidnap for ransom from islands surrounding Sabah. One of the suspects was identified as a skilled firearms maker for the Abu Sayyaf militants.
The eighth suspect, who was arrested in Sabah on Nov. 12, was identified as a 60-year-old Filipino who worked as a night market trader. He allegedly provided a hideout for a terror suspect, according to the statement.
All eight are being held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012. 

Sabah security
Ayob said the situation in Sabah was safe.
"Everything is under control. There is no need to panic despite the many arrests in Sabah. It shows that our intelligence operatives are doing their work to ensure no unwanted incidents," he told BenarNews.
"There is no reason to be panic over the numbers of arrests. Just like many operations in the [Malaysian Peninsula], the police are looking to stop these terror activities from happening," Ayob said.
Despite his assurance, Ayob said he could not disclose more information about the foreign suspects.
"I have limited information for now because it is still early in investigation," he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Muslims in Malaysian are more likely to support global terror groups, including the Islamic State (IS) and the regional Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), than their counterparts in other Southeast Asian nations, researchers at a Malaysian polling firm said Monday.
In a survey of tolerance and susceptibility toward extremism, the Merdeka Center reported that 18 percent of respondents from Malaysia supported the actions of JI, which is linked to al-Qaeda. By comparison, in Indonesia, where the militant group launched a string of attacks including the Bali bombings that killed 202 people 16 years ago, there was 12.6 percent support for JI.
The other two nations included in the study, the Philippines and Thailand, showed 15.7 percent support for JI and 9.9 percent support, respectively. During a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Merdeka presented slides of the report and announced that the final version should be released by year's end.
In addition, support for IS in Malaysia was highest, at 5.2 percent – although the Merdeka researchers noted the figure was lower than 11 percent reported by the Pew Research Center's 2015 Global Attitudes survey. Figures for the other three countries were 3.8 percent in the Philippines, 2.4 percent in Thailand and 1.3 percent in Indonesia.
Citing the Pew report as a motivation, Merdeka researchers said the survey was aimed at identifying the prevalence of religious extremism among Muslim-majority countries Malaysia and Indonesia, and Thailand and the Philippines, where Muslims are religious minorities.
"Previous research tended to just focus on the extremists themselves," Merdeka director Ismail Suffian told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. "We are trying to gauge the level of tolerance and extremism in the larger population."
Conducted in 2017 and 2018, Merdeka researchers surveyed 5,014 individuals age 18 and older in 753 distinct areas across the four countries, with the exception of Indonesia where respondents were age 17 and older.
To better understand attitudes to the umbrella term "extremism," the researchers said they created one category to measure an individual's willingness to commit sacrifices in defense of his religion while a second category measured one's willingness to perform violent harm to others to achieve the same goal.
The report described a person willing to self-sacrifice for Islam as "someone (more likely a man) who is educated and religiously-identified, and who is drawn to a narrative that prioritizes purist Islamic goals and religious literalism, and denounces the West, while feeling that Muslims are treated badly around the world."
Ananthi Al Ramiah, who co-authored Merdeka's survey, explained its importance.
"As a psychologist, I approach humans as a biological entity and as such the dominant nature of such an entity is survival," she told reporters. "Therefore a willingness to self-sacrifice is a distinct deviation from that genetic code."
Despite support among Malaysian for extremist groups, the study found that Muslims in the country and neighboring Thailand were more likely to opt for self-sacrifice – 31 percent and 32 percent – compared with 25 percent in Indonesia and 11 percent in the Philippines.
Violence to achieve religious goals
Filipino Muslims respondents, at 52 percent, showed the highest tendency toward being receptive to violence to achieve religious goals. Merdeka surveyed 1,000 Filipinos between Nov. 13 and 17, 2017, just weeks after government forces turned back Islamic militants who had taken over the southern city of Marawi for five months.
By contrast, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand's responses were 28 percent, 26 percent and 21 percent respectively.
The survey described a person drawn toward violent extremism as "someone (once again, most likely a man) who is drawn to the narrative that prioritizes purist Islamic goals, religious literalism, and suicide bombing, while feeling that Muslims lack significance and dignity as a group."
The survey was able to uncover the difference in motivation toward extremism between countries with a Muslim majority and those with a Muslim minority, Ananthi noted.
"In Muslim-majority countries it is motivated by the pursuit of a purer form of Islam which is usually Salafism or Saudi-influenced Wahabbism," she said. "In Muslim-minority countries it is more abstract, and usually coupled with other struggles for land or livelihood."
Among Muslims there is the idea of protecting the "dignity of Islam" perceived as being humiliated by external forces, she added.
Although Malaysia has not suffered significant terror attacks, the survey shows that some Malaysians have terrorist tendencies, said Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid, an analyst at Universiti Sains Malaysia.
"This is not nearly the same as saying Malaysia or Southeast Asia is already extremist, we are not," he said, adding that Malaysia remained a moderate country with a rising degree of extremism.
Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst at Institute for Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur, said extremist views stemmed from the propagation of a warped and conspiratorial world view spread by extremist groups that has gone unchallenged for too long.
"When people believe in conspiracy theories about the world, there is a greater tendency for them to support extreme measures advocated by terror groups," he told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian police said they arrested 17 suspects Monday after violence broke out at a Hindu temple near Kuala Lumpur, in what authorities described as an escalation of a dispute over the relocation of the house of worship.
Seven people suffered injuries after a group of men attacked devotees at the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya township, said police. Eighteen cars and two motorcycles were smashed or torched during Monday's incident, authorities said.

"It has nothing to do with racism. This is related to the transfer of the temple to a new location nearby," Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. "As for those arrested, they are all locals."

Police seized two machetes, two sticks and two pipes allegedly used by the suspects during the early morning attack, Fuzi said.

"We have also identified the mastermind and will be calling in the person soon for questioning," he added.
Fuzi urged all parties, including politicians and religious figures, to avoid issuing statements that could inflame tensions in multi-ethnic Malaysia, which has a Malay Muslim majority and Chinese and Indian minorities who follow other religions.
"Stop making speculations and irresponsible comments even though the situation is under control," he said.

[https://www]

Authorities and residents look at a vehicle damaged during violence outside the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya, Nov. 26, 2018. [S.Mahfuz/BenarNews]

Jeyakumar Subramaniam, the temple's chief priest was quoted by New Straits Times newspaper as saying that the violence "had nothing to do with racial issues."
"I believe it has something to do with the relocation issue plaguing the temple right now," he said. "Some parties are attempting to twist the facts with regard to what happened."

In an audio recording obtained by BenarNews, Jeyakumar said the groups who launched the attack at the temple were not member of the Malay majority because they spoke an unfamiliar language.

"They were not Malays, he said. "They sounded like Indonesians."
About 61 percent of Malaysia's 32.4 million people are Muslims and about 1.6 million are Hindus.

Despite its multicultural make-up and civil liberties that are enshrined in the country's federal constitution, Malaysia has experienced racial violence, including rioting that occurred in the aftermath of the 1969 general election. 

The Sri Maha Mariamman temple sits on private land belonging to property developer One City Development. Four years ago, a court ruled in favor of One City and ordered the temple to be relocated more than 3 km (almost 2 miles) away.

The developer denied any involvement in Monday's violence.
"Allegations that One City orchestrated the incident are malicious lies. One City condemns any acts of violence or any insinuations that would resort to such despicable acts," it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a group of Malaysian Indian parliamentarians condemned what they called an "unprovoked attack on the temple."
"We call for a full and independent inquiry by the police to establish who is behind this serious attack on the temple and the motive for it. Those responsible for this violence must be caught and punished, said a statement signed by four MPs.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A Malaysian lawyer was among 30 people arrested and detained on charges of rioting in connection with violence that injured eight and caused damage to public property at a Hindu temple outside Kuala Lumpur two days ago, authorities said Wednesday. 

Mazlan Mansor, the police chief of Selangor state, said one of the suspects arrested was an attorney appointed by One City Development to handle the relocation process of the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya township on the outskirts of the capital. 

"It was only one lawyer arrested and not two," Mazlan told reporters. "The other was his friend."
Violence erupted at the temple Monday after a group of men attacked devotees and destroyed more than a dozen vehicles. Authorities described the incident as an escalation of a dispute over the relocation of the house of worship and not race-related. 

Mazlan made the statement hours after Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin alleged during a news conference that the detained lawyer had hired a group of Malays to encroach into the temple.

Muhyiddin, citing the police investigation, said about 50 Malays each received payment of between 150 ringgit (U.S. $36) and 300 ringgit (U.S. $71) to "take over and guard the temple."
"If these careless acts did not take place, I think the incident would not have occurred," Muhyiddin told reporters in the administrative capital Putrajaya.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday visited a firefighter who suffered injuries during the rioting.
Mahathir told reporters that police will conduct a thorough investigation to find the suspect who injured to firefighter. He also criticized the lawyer's alleged decision to employ the group of men, including those with permanent-resident status, to invade the temple grounds, according to the state-run news agency Bernama. 

"The act of hiring foreigners to guard the Hindu temple was also wrong," Mahathir was quoted as telling reporters at the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur. "These people are foreigners and do not understand the Malaysian culture."

Authorities said more arrests would take place as investigators widen their search for suspects.
Mazlan said the remand order for the lawyer and his friend expired Wednesday, but has since been extended to Saturday.

About 61 percent of the 32.4 million Malaysia are Muslims while 1.6 million are Hindus.
Despite its multicultural make-up and civil liberties that are enshrined in the country's federal constitution, Malaysia has experienced racial violence, including rioting in the aftermath of the 1969 general election.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Conservative Muslim groups pressed Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government Monday to further protect privileges for the ethnic Malay majority after he renounced his pledge to ratify a U.N. treaty against racial discrimination.
On Nov. 23, Mahathir backpedaled on a campaign promise to support the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), amid a backlash from critics who expressed fears that it could undermine privileges enshrined in Malaysia's constitution for Malays. 

Mahathir's office, in a brief statement 10 days ago, confirmed that his government would abandon the U.N. convention and continue to uphold the constitution. It did not provide a reason for that decision.
After the Kuala Lumpur City government announced on Monday that it had given a green light for conservative groups to stage a demonstration against the U.N. convention on Dec. 8, rally organizers said it was not enough for Mahathir to make the announcement through a simple press release.
"We want the government to make a firm statement through parliament ... in the presence of all lawmakers," Aminuddin Yahaya, chairman of the Ummah Defenders Movement, a Muslim NGO, told BenarNews. "Because as it stands, they can simply U-turn the decision."
Aminuddin was referring to Mahathir's speech before the United Nations General Assembly in September, in which he said that Malaysia would ratify all rights-related conventions left for it to adopt, including ICERD.
Mahathir made his recent reversal against the backdrop of Malaysia's race-based politics, raising doubts about the ratification of other treaties.
The multi-ethnic nation has ratified just three of the nine core U.N. rights-related conventions: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Last week, Mahathir told news website Free Malaysia Today that he remembered clearly what he said in his speech at the U.N. in New York, rejecting comments that his announcement about ICERD was an about-turn.
"When I spoke in the U.N., I remember exactly, I said we will ratify all the conventions of the U.N. But I pointed out that we are a multiracial and multireligious country. We will have problems with that," he said. "So now the problem that we predicted has happened, and we have to react to that."
Mahathir, 93, gave the interview a day after Malaysian police arrested 17 suspects after violence broke out at a Hindu temple in Subang Jaya township near Kuala Lumpur, in what authorities described as an escalation of a dispute over the relocation of the house of worship.
Seven people suffered injuries after a group of men attacked devotees and several vehicles were destroyed, police said.
Diplomats and analysts said that Mahathir's statement reneging on his vow to ratify the convention would impact the nation's image on the global stage over its willingness to combat racism.
"The nation must be consistent to become a global role model. Human rights commitments and compliance will be a game changer on the global stage," Denison Jayasooria, a member of the Foreign Affairs Ministry's Consultative Council on Foreign Policy, told the South China Morning Post.
"The Pakatan Harapan government did promise reform but now it's faced with a strong Malay-Muslim push towards a narrow understanding and approach," Denison said. "It is imperative for Pakatan Harapan – especially Malay-Muslim lawmakers – to engage with the Malay grass roots on how compliance with human rights is consistent with Islam and good governance."
ICERD, which commits its members to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of understanding among all races, was adopted and opened for signature by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 21, 1965 and entered into force on Jan. 4, 1969.
As of January this year, the convention has 88 signatories and 179 parties. Malaysia, Myanmar and Brunei are the three Southeast Asian nations that haven't signed the convention.
Religion and race are often political soft spots in Malaysia, half of whose population of about 33 million people is made up of Malays.
UMMAH and other similar Malay-based NGOs argue that certain provision of the convention, which seeks to eliminate racial discrimination, goes against the provision of the Malaysian constitution that provides special positions and incentives for ethnic Malays and other indigenous races, including provisions to allow quotas in public institutions.
Those incentives are not available for the ethnic Chinese and Indians who make up 27 percent of Malaysia's population.
Thanksgiving gathering
The Dec. 8 rally, initially planned by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) to pressure the government to not ratify the U.N. convention, had been changed into a thanksgiving gathering after Mahathir's announcement, organizers said, emphasizing that more than 3,000 volunteers had registered to help maintain order.
The road between Kuala Lumpur's iconic colonial Sultan Abdul Samad Building and the historic Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) will be cordoned-off from Friday to prepare for the event.
Despite reassurances given on the peaceful nature of the rally, its close timeline with the Subang Jaya Hindu temple riot raises alarm even among anti-ICERD supporters, said Teo Kok Seong, a principal research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). 

Teo, an ethnic Chinese who speaks fluent Malay and reads Arabic, told BenarNews that the situation was still tense after the riot at the temple last week.
"I feel that the rally should not take place," he said. "One provocative word can send the whole crowd wild."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Police were to question a cabinet member under Malaysia's Sedition Act, the home minister said Tuesday, after the government announced it was lifting a moratorium on that and other laws in order to preserve national security, order and race relations.
An aide to Waytha Moorthy, a cabinet minister in charge of a Unity division, confirmed that his boss was questioned at police headquarters, among other things, about comments he allegedly made about an upcoming rally by conservative Muslim groups who oppose a U.N. convention against racial discrimination.
Last month, Malaysia's new prime minister backpedaled on an electoral pledge by saying his government would not ratify the convention.
"Yes, the cops will be questioning him under the Sedition Act," Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters late Tuesday.
The nation's police chief, Mohamad Fuzi Harun, said Waytha was called to police headquarters.
"We have summoned him and we will record the statement today," Fuzi said without elaborating.
The police brought Waytha in for questioning about a week after a riot broke out at a minority Hindu temple near the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
Waytha's aide, meanwhile, spoke to Benar on condition of anonymity.
"The cops said Waytha is wanted for the speech he made on the ICERD rally that is to take place this weekend," the aide said, referring to the U.N.'s International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
"As far as I am concerned, Waytha did not comment [on] anything about the rally," the source added.
According to the aide, Waytha was also to be questioned about a 10-year-old video shot at a United Nations event, in which he spoke about discrimination against Malaysia's ethnic Indian minority, and pointed out that many born as Hindus were forced to convert to Islam to get jobs and education in the Muslim-majority nation.
Because the video recently went viral, critics of the government have called for Waytha to step down from his post.
"The police wanted to record his statement based on this two issues," the aide said.
Waytha's questioning came days after Mahathir's cabinet last week reversed course on its moratorium against the Sedition Act of 1948, Prevention of Crime Act (POCA), Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), and Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act of 2012 (SOSMA). The reversal followed the riot that occurred at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya.
"The decision has been made in consideration of these three areas of concern," Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said on Monday, citing national security, public order and race relations.
Home Minister Muhyiddin, who said he and Gobind had suggested that the moratorium be lifted, spoke out in favor of the cabinet's decision.
"This gives full authority for police to act to ensure public safety is always maintained," he said on Sunday. "The police were cautious before and some people took advantage of that because they thought the police were unable to act."
In July, Mahathir announced that his cabinet championed a return to the rule of law and vowed to rescind legislation including SOSMA, which allows for detention without trial.
Malaysia's main opposition party, former Prime Minister Najib Razak's United Malays National Organization, warned that such action could threaten national security.
Despite lifting the moratorium, the cabinet is in the process of reviewing the laws, according to Muhyiddin.
Fuzi, the police chief, told reporters that officers had arrested more than 80 suspects in connection with the riot at the Hindu temple.
Violence erupted after 50 masked men stormed into the temple and attacked devotees. Authorities described the incident as an escalation of a dispute over the relocation of the house of worship and not race-related.
"As of 8 a.m. today, a total of 83 men have been detained to assist investigations into the trouble at the temple," Fuzi told reporters at the police training college early Tuesday. "We are still investigating and those who broke the law will be detained."
Saturday rally
Meanwhile on Monday, the Kuala Lumpur city council granted a permit for a rally to be staged on Dec. 8 by conservative groups that oppose the U.N. convention.
Malaysia, Myanmar and Brunei are the three Southeast Asian nations that have not signed onto the United Nations treaty.
On Nov. 23, Mahathir announced that his government would not ratify the treaty despite a campaign pledge to the contrary and a speech that he gave to the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
When he spoke at the U.N., the prime minister said, "I pointed out that we are a multiracial and multireligious country. We will have problems with that. So now the problem that we predicted have happened, and we have to react to that."
The Ummah Defenders Movement and other Malaysia-based NGOs argue that certain provisions of the U.N. convention go against Malaysian constitutional provisions that guarantee certain privileges and incentives for ethnic Malays and other indigenous races, including allowing quotas in public institutions.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian police said Wednesday they were looking to extradite fugitive financier Jho Low and four other suspects, including former 1MDB employees, after a court filed fresh charges against them over the alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars from the state fund.
Low Taek Jho (better known as Jho Low) and his family friend, Eric Tan Kim Loong were charged Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court. They were indicted along with 1MDB Business Development Director Casey Tang Keng Chee, legal counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan and Executive Director of Finance Terrence Geh Choh Heng, authorities said.
The five face a total of 13 charges involving losses totaling U.S. $1.17 billion (4.85 ringgit). In a statement on Wednesday, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said all five had fled the country and police were increasing efforts to arrest them.

"The Royal Malaysian Police will seek cooperation from foreign authorities as well as Interpol to help track them," Fuzi said. "If they are identified to be in any other countries, the police through the Attorney General's Chamber will apply for an extradition notice to allow them to be brought back to Malaysia to face the charges."
Fuzi said Jho Low, who already faces eight charges, was charged with five counts of money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act for allegedly receiving $1.03 billion (4.27 billion ringgit) into the account of Gold Star Limited at a Zurich bank between Sept. 30, 2009, and Oct. 25, 2011.

In addition, he and Eric Tan were jointly charged under the same act over losses totaling $126 million ($523 million ringgit) relating to debt notes by the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) in May 2009 that the two allegedly received through a Singapore account.
TIA was set up with the help of Low in 2008 as a sovereign wealth fund for the Malaysian state of Terengganu before being taken over by the Ministry of Finance and incorporated into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) on July 31, 2009.
Former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who as finance minister founded 1MDB, has been identified as a close associate of Jho Low. His party was defeated in a general election in May by the Pakatan Harapan alliance led Mahathir Mohamad. As the new prime minister, Mahathir has reopened investigations into 1MDB that have led to 38 corruption charges against Najib.
'Cannot get a free trial in Malaysia': Jho Low spokesman
In the United States, Department of Justice officials described 1MDB as the "worst kleptocracy scandal in recent times," alleging that almost $4.5 billion (18.7 billion ringgit) from the state fund was embezzled and laundered through real estate and other assets.

On Tuesday, a Jho Low spokesman issued a statement through his attorneys alleging that the new charges against their client were trumped up and political.

"These charges are intended to create another false sense of security for the political loss that the Mahathir regime has brought upon itself due to its failures on current issues," the statement said.
"They are no more than a continuation of the trial by media and political reprisals by the Mahathir regime."
The statement affirmed Jho Low's claim of innocence and his stance of not submitting himself to jurisdictions "without an independent legal process."

"It is clear that Mr. Low cannot get a free trial in Malaysia where the regime has proven numerous times that they have no interest in the rule of law," the statement added.
Jho Low was charged on Aug. 24 with receiving $261 million (1 billion ringgit) from 1MDB between Dec. 26, 2013, and June 3, 2014.
Earlier that month, business daily The Edge Markets reported the money was used to purchase the yacht Equanimity, which is in the process of being sold after being repossessed by the government on Aug. 6.
Others charged

Fuzi said Tang was charged with one count of criminal breach of trust for his alleged involvement in moving $700 million (2.9 billion ringgit) into an account belonging to Jho Low and two counts under the Anti-Money Laundering Act for allegedly receiving $6.7 million (27.8 million) through offshore bank accounts in the Seychelles and Switzerland, on Aug. 5, 2009 and Dec. 23, 2010, respectively.

Two other 1MDB employees, Loo and Geh, each face two money laundering charges involving $6 million (24.9 million ringgit) and one criminal breach of trust charge involving $125 million (519 million ringgit), respectively.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian police said Monday they had foiled an alleged plot by the Islamic State (IS) terror group to attack places of worship in the capital Kuala Lumpur, by arresting two suspects last month.
The pair were among seven suspected militants taken into custody through a series of raids in launched between Nov. 19 and 28 in Kelantan, Selangor, Sabah and Kedah states that also netted alleged members of the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf militant group, officials said. In all, police arrested five Malaysians and two Philippine citizens.
Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said one of the two suspects apprehended in Kelantan had been in contact with Akel Zainal, a Malaysian citizen fighting alongside IS in Syria.
"The 28-year-old who worked as a honey seller was arrested in Kelantan on Nov.19. He received instruction from Akel to launch an attack in Malaysia," Fuzi said in a statement released on Monday that did not name the suspects.
Another suspect, a 35-year-old driving school instructor, had also received instructions from Akel, according to Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the director of the police's counter-terrorist special branch. He said the duo planned to strike early next year.
"They were planning to launch attacks at places of worships in Kuala Lumpur and police stations in Kelantan. Their targets were unknown as they were still in planning stages," Ayob told BenarNews.
"January is just around the corner. We do not want to take any risks, so we rounded them up as a proactive measure. For us, we should not take any risks," Ayob said.
An initial investigation showed that the two had been communicating with Akel since early this year, according to Ayob.
The delay in tracking them resulted from Akel adopting a method used by Malaysian terrorist Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi to recruit new members before Wanndy was killed in Syria last year. In October, Ayob told reporters that Akel took the lead in efforts to recruit Malaysians to Syria following Wanndy's death in Raqqa in April 2017.
Akel adopted Wanndy's method of recruiting individuals to serve a specific role and only communicate with the mastermind of an attack, according to investigators.
"One person would be tasked to do one thing, the other to work on different things. It was a method to make sure that each has no clue of the other person's identity. It took us some time to connect the dots. It was a method to slow us down," Ayob said.
Wanndy used this method to successfully orchestrate an attack in Malaysia in 2016 where a grenade tossed at a nightclub near Kuala Lumpur injured eight people, the police official said.
Other arrests
Among the latest arrests, a suspect taken into custody on Nov. 20 was identified by police as a 52-year-old Malaysian petroleum engineer who allegedly funneled 14,000 ringgit (U.S. $3,350) to Wanndy between 2016 and 2017 to fund terror activities.
A 26-year-old van driver in Kedah was arrested for allegedly providing funds to a pro-IS terrorist network, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which was linked to attacks on police stations in Central Java in April 2017. JAD was also blamed by Indonesian police for suicide bombings in the city of Surabaya in May 2018, where three churches were attacked by a radicalized Muslim family.
Police also arrested an alleged member of Abu Sayyaf on Nov. 21 in the Borneo state of Sabah. Officials identified the 45-year-old farmer as a Philippine citizen.
In addition, on Nov. 28 police arrested a 48-year-old Filipino in Tenom and his Malaysian wife for not disclosing knowledge of the presence of Abu Sayyaf members in the state.
Fuzi said the suspects were being investigated under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act. Since January, police in Malaysia have arrested 452 individuals linked to alleged terror activities.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and the former chief executive of 1MDB both pleaded not guilty Wednesday to one charge each in connection with alleged tampering of a 2016 audit into the beleaguered state development fund.

Najib, who is facing 38 other charges relating to a financial scandal around 1MDB, was accused of abusing his position as prime minister to shield himself from legal action by ordering amendments to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad final audit between Feb. 22 and 26, 2016.

Both Najib and Arul Kanda, the ex-CEO of 1MDB, were charged under the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Act of 2009. If found guilty, each man could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to five times the gratification amount. 

The allegations against Najib went public on Nov. 25 when Auditor General Madinah Mohamad announced that several parts of the 2016 audit were expunged under the former prime minister's orders.
The expunged sections allegedly included a mention of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (better known as Jho Low) attending a 1MDB board meeting. Malaysian officials said they wanted to extradite the financier who was charged in absentia earlier this month for his role in the 1MDB scandal.
Najib's Barisan Nasional coalition was driven from power when it lost the May 9 general election to the Pakatan Harapan coalition led by Mahathir Mohamad, who took over as prime minister and appointed new leadership throughout the government.
Mahathir also ordered the investigation into 1MBD to resume. Previously, the U.S. Justice Department had described 1MDB as the "worst kleptocracy scandal in recent times," alleging that almost $4.5 billion (18.7 billion ringgit) from the state fund was embezzled and laundered through real estate and other assets.
 
500,000 ringgit bail
Najib, who arrived at Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court with his son, Norashman, appeared calm while the charge was read by a court official.

"The court allowed bail at 500,000 ringgit (U.S. $119,310) to be paid today," Judge Azura Alwi said.

Before Azura ruled, lead defense attorney Shafee Abdullah argued against lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram's request for bail to be double that figure.
Shafee pointed out that Najib and Arul were charged with the same offense, and questioned the disparity in the bail figures. Arul, who appeared earlier before Judge Rozina Ayob where he was charged with abetting Najib in tampering the audit, was granted 500,000 ringgit bail.
Sri Ram argued that Najib was the principal offender while Arul is facing his first charge.

"The principal offender is always treated differently than the abettor. The fact that he had been charged before should not be a privilege," Sri Ram said.

Shafee argued that Najib had paid a total of 5.5 million ringgit ($1.3 million) to stay out of jail since being charged for the first time on July 4 and asked that he face no additional bail.
"If your honor press for further bail that would be oppressive," Shafee said.

[https://www]

Former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, Dec.12, 2018. (S.Mahfuz/BenarNew)


Arul's lawyer, N. Sivananthan, asked Rozina to allow his client to pay the bail in two equal installments of 250,000 ringgit (U.S $59,645) on Wednesday and Thursday.

But Rozina questioned the request.
"He has been unemployed since May, your honor," Sivananthan said.
The judge was not moved.
"The accused will surrender his passport to the court until the end of the case and the court orders the payment of a 500,000 ringgit bond to be made today," Rozina ruled.

Both men were released and their cases are to resume on Jan. 4.
Speaking to reporters in the courthouse lobby, Shafee said the charge against Najib specifically referred to him ordering the amendment of a draft and should not be considered tampering.

"It was not the final audit report, it was a draft report," Shafee said. "The last few days the allegation was that he tampered, now the prosecution agrees this is an allegation that he directed certain things while the draft report was ongoing."
Since the auditor general's announcement in November, former government officials including Madinah's predecessor, Ambrin bu****, have denied her allegations.
Ambrin, who was questioned by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission for seven hours on Dec. 5, maintained there was no tampering in the final audit accepted by parliament in 2016.

Madinah defended her previous comments, saying she had submitted all evidence to parliament's Public Accounts Committee and gave a three-hour explanation to the committee two weeks ago.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A superyacht seized from fugitive financier Jho Low is back on the market after Malaysia's government rejected secret bids that came in below a guiding selling price of U.S. $130 million (543.44 million ringgit), officials announced Thursday.
The government was now moving to sell the Equanimity off through private negotiations because of unacceptable bids received when the government placed the luxury vessel on the auction block from Oct. 29 to Nov. 29, said lawyer Jeremy M. Joseph, whom the attorney general appointed to represent the government and beleaguered state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) in the sale.
"We are going to the second phase because the market is very niche, very specialized so buyers prefer to have private negotiations," Joseph told BenarNews.
The yacht was confiscated from Jho Low as part of an international probe into allegations of massive corruption and embezzlement of billions of dollars in 1MDB money. The guiding price was set after Equanimity's value was assessed by Winterbothams, a Britain-based appraiser.

The Admiralty Court in Kuala Lumpur agreed to allow the sale through private negotiations, setting a deadline of March 31, 2019, Joseph said.

"But it is not a private negotiation with one party. We are open to anyone who wants to come with an offer, we can negotiate a deal provided that they can offer within the guiding price," he said.
Joseph said there were bidders, but declined to reveal how many there were.
" cannot tell which country they come from because we don't want the information to leak, and the interested parties use this information to manipulate their bids. We don't want that," he said.
Joseph said the government would have to consider the best offer on the table if bids did not reach $130 million.

"It's not a minimum price, it is a guide price. If somebody offers a sufficiently high value we have to negotiate," he said.
On Nov. 29, the last day to accept bids, government lawyers revealed that bids for the Equanimity came from prospective buyers in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States.

The 300-foot yacht is believed to have been purchased by Jho Low – whose real name is Low Taek Jho – for $250 million (1 billion ringgit) with funds allegedly stolen from 1MDB.
Jho Low and his father, Low Hock Peng, were both charged in absentia on Aug. 24 for allegedly laundering stolen funds from 1MDB to purchase the Equanimity. In addition, Jho Low was charged in absentia on Dec.4 on suspicion of other offenses related to 1MDB.
The U.S. Justice Department alleged that almost $4.5 billion (18.7 billion ringgit) from the sovereign wealth fund was embezzled and laundered through real estate and other assets.
In August, just weeks after the Indonesian government turned over the Equanimity to Malaysia, Jho Low issued a statement regarding the government's plan to sell it to the highest bidder.
"Given the illegal manner in which they took the asset, it is unlikely any bid will come close to its fair market value," Jho Low said in the statement.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Former officials at a tainted Malaysian state fund aimed at helping Muslims save for their pilgrimage to Mecca were accused Friday of making false statements over land purchases, as the government moved to save the fund from financial collapse.

Plantation company Trurich Resources Sdn Bhd lodged a police report accusing three ex-top officials at Tabung Haji, the state fund, of misleading it in overpriced acquisitions of two palm oil plantations in Indonesia totaling U.S. $58 million, according to a statement from the firm. 

"The misrepresentation and withholding of material information were to the detriment of Trurich which was misled to overpaying for both the lands as well as buying back shares it had already paid for," Trurich said.

The report by Trurich, co-owned by Tabung Haji and the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), was made at the Dang Wangi district police station in Kuala Lumpur by the company secretary on Thursday.

Former Tabung Haji CEO Ismee Ismail and two ex-chief executive officers of the fund's plantation arm, Zainal Azwar and Rashidi Omar, as well as two Indonesians – Rajasa Abdurachman and Badai Sakti Daniel -- were accused of misleading the company in the purchase of the palm oil plantations, the statement said.

Last month, Tabung Haji itself lodged two police reports against Ismee, its former chairman, Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, and several other senior management personnel alleging financial misconduct.

Abdul Azeez, however, disputed the police reports, saying they were made with bad intentions.

The latest accusations came as the newly elected government of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad unveiled a plan this week to rescue the financially ailing Tabung Haji, once seen as a model pilgrim fund management system among predominantly Muslim nations.
Under a restructuring plan, the Ministry of Finance will take over nearly U.S. $5 billion of the underperforming assets of the fund, which will come under the supervision of the central bank, starting in January.

It was revealed that the fund had been providing dividends to depositors even though it was reeling from a deficit, underscoring financial mismanagement during the administration of Mahathir's predecessor, Najib Tun Razak, who is facing a plethora of corruption charges. 

Mujahid Yusof, the minister in charge of Islamic affairs, had said that Tabung Haji's assets were valued at 70.3 billion ringgit (U.S. $ 16.82 billion) as of December 2017 but its liabilities were at 74.4 billion ringgit (U.S. $ 17.8 billion), resulting in a deficit of 4.1 billion ringgit (US.$ 980 million).

Mujahid said the deficit was in violation of the Tabung Haji Act 1995, which stipulates that the assets cannot be lower than its liabilities and there must be distributable profits before it can issue dividends.

"Tabung Haji's act of declaring dividends since 2014 was not in accordance with the Act, because its assets have been lower than its liabilities," he told a press conference in parliament on Monday.

Anwar Ibrahim, a key leader of the ruling party who is poised to take over from Mahathir in two years, said placing Tabung Haji under the central bank's supervision would enable the fund to focus on its primary role of being a savings fund for pilgrims.

"Tabung Haji is an example of how the damage has been inflicted and trust betrayed. It is not the fault of the institution, nor investors, but the management that misused power to rob the people and action should be taken against them," Malaysiakini, an online publication, quoted Anwar as saying.

Launched in 1963, the 55-year old Islamic fund was set up to manage the Muslim community's savings for the Hajj pilgrimage that is free from interest in the form of usury, which is frowned upon under Islamic law.

Angry but hopeful

Given the reverence placed upon the institution by the Muslim community, the revelations struck a raw nerve with many lifelong depositors angry with the way the fund was being managed.

Ferut Umar, a 58-year-old housewife in Penang, expressed her frustration with the fund's previous board, calling them liars and betrayer of the public.

"But more frustrating is there are still people out there who are skeptical and refuse to believe that those people on the Tabung Haji board wronged them in managing the funds," she told BenarNews.

The mother of four spent 18,000 ringgit (US $ 4,300) in 2004 to perform her Hajj to Mecca and has saved close to 300,000 ringgit (US $ 71,770) in her Tabung Haji account since the early 1980s.

She, however, intends to keep her money in Tabung Haji despite the revelation, saying she had faith in the new management to turn the institution around.

Commenting on the turnaround plan, Nazari Ismail, a senior business strategy and policy expert at Universiti Malaya, said it would be challenging for Tabung Haji to generate the same amount of returns as in the past of around 8 percent, especially since the economy was not doing too well.

"But even if the returns are low, the public will be aware that it is reflective of the true performance of TH [Tabung Haji] and will not be too upset in the future," Nazari told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia filed criminal charges Monday against U.S.-based investment bank Goldman Sachs, two of its former executives, fugitive financier Jho Low and a lawyer for allegedly misappropriating money through bonds linked with the 1MDB state fund in 2012 and 2013, officials said.
Goldman Sachs must be held accountable for benefiting from U.S. $600 million (2.5 billion ringgit) for underwriting and arranging the series of bonds, Malaysian Attorney General Tommy Thomas said, as he announced the latest move in a multinational investigation into alleged massive corruption at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) under the previous government.
"In addition to personally receiving part of the misappropriated bond proceeds, those employees and directors of Goldman Sachs received large bonuses and enhanced career prospects at Goldman Sachs and in the investment banking industry generally," Thomas said in a statement issued Monday.
"Their fraud goes to the heart of our capital markets, and if no criminal proceedings are instituted against the accused, their undermining of our financial system and market integrity will go unpunished."
Low Taek Jho, who is better known as Jho Low, former Goldman Sachs executives Tim Leissner and Roger Ng Chong Hwa along with Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, an ex-legal counsel for the cash-strapped fund formally known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), made false or misleading statements to misappropriate $2.7 billion (11.25 billion ringgit) from the proceeds of the three bonds, according to Thomas.
They are charged with violating the Capital Markets and Services Act of 2007.
Because the Malaysian government considers the allegations to be grave violations of its securities law, it is seeking a criminal fine of more $2.7 billion along with the $600 million gained by Goldman Sachs, Thomas said. In addition, the defendants could face a maximum jail sentence of 10 years if convicted.
The Malaysian charges related to the bond issues are similar to charges filed by the U.S. government in November against Jho Low, Ng and Leissner. Leissner pleaded guilty to two charges of money laundering related to 1MDB and was fined $43.7 million (182 million ringgit).
Goldman Sachs, a powerhouse on Wall Street, denied any wrongdoing related to the Malaysian charges, the Associated Press reported.
"We believe these charges are misdirected and we will vigorously defend them and look forward to the opportunity to present our case," Goldman Sachs spokesman Edward Naylor said in a statement. "The firm continues to cooperate with all authorities investigating these matters."
Three schemes
In its indictment last month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that the conspirators cooked up three schemes to collect funds from 1MBD and diverted portions for their own use.
The first scheme, named Project Magnolia, began in early 2012, according to DOJ. Jho Low, Ng, Leissner and other unnamed conspirators allegedly agreed that assistance from Goldman, 1MDB would issue $1.75 billion in bonds guaranteed by an entity owned by Abu Dhabi's government.
The U.S. government alleged that more than $500 million (2 billion ringgit) was misappropriated and diverted from 1MDB through wire transfers to bank accounts in the name of shell companies owned and controlled by Low, Leissner, Ng and other co-conspirators.
Beginning in May 2012 and running through 2013, the trio and unnamed conspirators pushed through a pair of bond transactions, Project Maximus and Project Catalyze, designed to raise more than $4 billion (16.7 billion ringgit) for 1MDB projects, the DOJ alleged.
"More than $2.7 billion (11.25 billion ringgit) was misappropriated from 1MDB and Jho Low, Ng, Leissner and others conspired to launder this money through the U.S. financial system to pay bribes to foreign officials and for the personal benefit of themselves and their relatives," the U.S. government said at the time.
Among those named in the U.S. indictment as having received kickbacks were Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) and his wife, referred to as "the Madam," in email correspondence among the three. MO1 has not been named in previous lawsuits related to 1MDB filed by the Justice Department, but sources have identified him as former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who faces 39 charges related to 1MDB in Malaysian courts.
Najib established 1MDB in 2009 to fund development projects throughout Malaysia. Investigators allege that $4.5 billion (18.7 billion ringgit) was embezzled from the beleaguered fund and laundered through real estate and other assets.
Guilt 'predetermined by politics'
Jho Low, through a statement issued by an Australian public relations firm on Monday, maintained his innocence and asserted that he would not be given a fair trial in Malaysia.
"Mr. Low will not submit to any jurisdiction where guilt has been predetermined by politics and there is no independent legal process," the statement attributed to Benjamin Haslem, co-CEO of Sydney-based Wells Haslem Mayhew Strategic Public Affairs.
Ng, who was arrested in Malaysia in relation to the U.S. charges, is the only one of the four defendants in custody. On Dec 13, a Malaysian court declined Ng's application to be released on bail as High Court Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah branded him as likely to abscond.
"This is a special circumstance case and Ng is a flight risk," the judge said.
Ng is expected to be extradited to the United States to face trial there.
Malaysian officials have said that Jho Low and Loo absconded and were to be extradited when captured.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The president of Malaysia's longest-ruling party relinquished his duties Tuesday, after 17 of its 54 members of parliament abandoned the party over the last six months in what analysts said showed its failure to adapt to being in the opposition.
UMNO, the acronym for United Malays National Organization, had been Malaysia's dominant political force since the country gained independence on Aug. 31, 1957.
But it emerged in tatters after elections in May, winning only 54 seats in the nation's 222-seat parliament in a devastating electoral defeat that saw the four-party Pakatan Harapan (PH) bloc take power. Since then, several of UMNO's top leaders have been investigated for corruption.
"Based on the crisis enveloping the party today, I am making the decision to entrust to the deputy president to carry the duties of the president," UMNO leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said, referring to his deputy, Mohamad Hasan.
"I feel there is a discontent among some UMNO leadership who are worried that they will be pressured, investigated and accused again and again like how I endured," said Zahid, the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia.
Zahid's statement came a day after lawmaker Nurul Izzah Anwar sent shockwaves throughout the Muslim-majority nation when she quit as vice president and state chairman of People's Justice Party (PKR), the leading party in the ruling PH coalition.
Nurul Izzah, 38, is the daughter of PKR president Anwar Ibrahim – who is expected to be Malaysia's next prime minister – and Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the current deputy prime minister.
She did not make clear what triggered her resignation, but local reports said there were signs she may have objected to UMNO bigwigs crossing over to the ruling party.
"Our party was attacked before by defections," she tweeted on Sunday. "Wouldn't want that kind of pain and antics upon anyone else. There is no meaning to democracy if Malaysia is governed by elite-based politicking."
On Sunday, UMNO cancelled its monthly Supreme Council meeting, as party officials reportedly scrambled to deal with the mass exodus and calls for Zahid to resign.
Last week, UMNO's bloc in Sabah, which claims a 100,000-strong membership, was rocked when more than 30 state leaders and office holders announced that they would leave the party.
UMNO's Sabah chairman, Hajiji Mohd Noor, said the party includes non-Muslim members and the current Islamist leanings of the UMNO leadership had put the support from that bloc in jeopardy.
On Dec. 8, several UMNO leaders, including Zahid, shared a stage with the Islamist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) at a massive rally in Kuala Lumpur to protest the government's proposal to ratify a United Nations convention against racial discrimination.
"It is for this reason that we have decided to take the initiative to chart our own political future," Hajiji said during a news conference in the state capital Kota Kinabalu.
'They will survive'
Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday, Zahid said he would continue to hold the post of president but without executing any of its duties.
"This decision is a middle ground to save UMNO, especially when there are intentions among members of parliament and division leaders, and also to prevent any more 'crossings' and incidents of party hopping," Zahid said, adding that his deputy would hold full authority "for a period of time."
Awang Azman Awang Pawi, a professor at the University of Malaya, said that the party would survive the crisis.
"It is a sign of UMNO leaders' failure to adapt to life as members of the opposition after being accustomed to the trappings of leadership for so long," he told BenarNews.
"They will survive, but perhaps as a much smaller party," he said.
All of the country's prime ministers had been members of UMNO – until the party's stunning defeat in the last elections ushered in a triumphant political re-entry for Mahathir Mohamad.
Ahmad Marthada, a former academician, said the growing rapport with the conservative Muslim party PAS had played a role in the mass exodus of UMNO members.
"PAS and UMNO are different. They cannot be in a coalition," Ahmad told BenarNews. "PAS wants an Islamic State with Shariah laws, but not UMNO."
"UMNO is more towards securing Malay power, not religion," he said.
'Tainted'
Zahid, like former Prime Minister Najib Razak, faces multiple charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering. Several other former officials are also being prosecuted.
Chandra Muzaffar, chairman of the nonprofit foundation Promoting National Unity, said the party had become too closely associated with corruption, as the new government pushed forward in investigating the 1MDB investment fund scandal and other cases.
"More than a lack of direction, it is perhaps the multiple charges of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering, among other instances of power abuse ... that have eroded the confidence of these legislators and other UMNO personalities in the party," he said.
"When the men at the helm of an organization are so badly tainted and tarnished with allegations of crimes of such magnitude, one should not expect the people around them to remain loyal to their authority," Chandra said in an opinion column published Monday by the Free Malaysia Today.
He said party's internal hemorrhage could also be linked to the psychological setback inflicted against its leaders after they lost the "perks and privileges of high office" that they used to enjoy when UMNO, the mainstay of the Barisan Nasional coalition, lost power after more than 60 years.
"This is why some of them are keen on getting back to power and are allegedly engaged in maneuvers in that direction," he said. "It is also said that they and others are also hoping that some deal can be made with individuals in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government that may help to keep UMNO bigwigs out of jail or at least lessen their travails."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A Malaysian court Wednesday ordered that the chief operating officer of an ailing state fund, which helps Muslims save money for their Mecca pilgrimage, be remanded for four days so the anti-corruption commission (MACC) could investigate bribery allegations, officials said.
Adi Azuan Abdul Ghani, the 48-year-old COO of Tabung Haji, is suspected of using his position to employ an interior decorator appointed by the fund to do renovation work at his residence. He is the first top executive of the fund to be held for questioning amid allegations of financial misdeeds by senior officials there.
Shah Wira Abdul Halim, a magistrate at the court in Putrajaya, ordered that Adi be held for questioning after hearing a request from investigators that he remain in custody for seven days while his lawyer asked for just three.
"I am setting remand for four days on Adi Azuan and his detainment will end on Saturday," Shah Wira said.
Investigators said Adi could face a prison sentence of not more than 20 years and fines not less than five times the amount of the graft if charged and convicted of violating the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act.
"He is suspected of receiving bribes from an individual who called himself an agent, and it is likely his remand order will be extended," lawyer Shaharudin Ali told reporters in the courthouse lobby.
MACC sources who requested anonymity told BenarNews that Adi was being detained for receiving a gratuity in the form of a home renovation valued at 400,000 ringgit (U.S. $95,700). The bribe was allegedly given as a kickback after a company secured a project through Tabung Haji (TH) valued at 15 million ringgit ($3.6 million).
The court action followed a complaint last week against other TH officials.
On Friday, plantation company Trurich Resources filed a police report against three former TH top managers for allegedly misleading it in overpriced acquisitions of two palm oil plantations in Indonesia totaling $58 million (242.4 million ringgit).
The complaint named former TH chief executive officer (CEO) Ismee Ismail, former TH Plantation Bhd CEOs Zainal Azwar and Rashidi Omar, as well as two Indonesians – Rajasa Abdurachman and Badai Sakti Daniel as being complicit.
In November, TH filed two police reports against Ismee, its former chairman Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahman, and several other senior management officers for alleged financial misconduct. Azeez denied the allegations.
Launched in 1963, the 55-year-old Islamic fund was set up to manage the Muslim community's savings for hajj pilgrimage that is free from interest in the form of usury that is frowned upon under Islamic law.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government recently unveiled a plan to rescue TH, once seen as a model pilgrim fund management system among predominantly Muslim nations. The plan calls for the Ministry of Finance to take over nearly $5 billion (20.9 billion ringgit) of the underperforming assets of the fund starting in January.

The government reported that the fund had been providing dividends to depositors even though it was reeling from a deficit, underscoring financial mismanagement during the administration of Mahathir's predecessor as prime minister, Najib Razak.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia's new government appeared to be abandoning its electoral campaign pledge to repeal provisions of controversial national security laws that Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had earlier described as "tyrannical."
During the campaign for the May general election, the then opposition Pakatan Harapan alliance led by Mahathir released a platform vowing to "abolish draconian provisions" of the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act, or SOSMA, a law that was introduced six years ago to fight terror threats, and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
Pakatan also promised to revoke the Prevention of Crime Act, or POCA, which was enacted in 1959.
But on Sunday, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said a special committee that was created by Mahathir's government to study the legal provisions of those laws had decided that such legislation was necessary to safeguard the country from organized crime and terror threats.
"There are those who threaten the safety of the nation by joining terror groups or they could be part of the triad," Muhyiddin said, using the common term for criminal syndicates. "If there is no law such as SOSMA, they can do whatever they want and will lead to a bad effect for the people and the country."
He said SOSMA, POTA and POCA should be defended, although some amendments might be needed later.
Muhyiddin made the statement during the general assembly of the Bersatu party in the administrative capital Putrajaya.
Under SOSMA, a suspect can be detained up to 28 days for investigation and that person can be denied access to an attorney for up to 48 hours.
"Some of these laws were inherited from the British colonial era without amendment to improve weaknesses. There are also tyrannical laws that were enacted by UMNO and Barisan Nasional," PH said in its campaign platform.
UMNO, the United Malays National Organization, had been Malaysia's dominant political force since the country gained independence on Aug. 31, 1957. Barisan Nasional, on the other hand, was the ruling coalition that was driven from power when it lost the May 9 general election to Pakatan.
Muhyiddin, who is also Bersatu's president, made the statement in response to suggestions by party delegates that the government bring back the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA), which was abolished in 2012 by then Prime Minister Najib Razak.
"If the existing legislations are not defended, some groups who think that they are free to do anything that could jeopardize the nation by becoming gangsters or terrorists could crop up," the state-run news agency Bernama also quoted Muhyiddin as saying, "As such, we will apply the existing laws which will be enforced fully by the police and other enforcement agencies."
ISA would not be revived under Mahathir's leadership, Muhyiddin said.

[https://www]

Malaysian Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin delivers his speech as president of Bersatu at the party's general assembly in Putrajaya, the administrative capital, Dec. 30, 2018. [S.Mahfuz/BenarNews]

Former detainee rejects government's decision

Maria Chin Abdullah, a former SOSMA detainee, criticized the government's decision to retain the special security laws.

"Total abolishment is needed, period. Not amendments. You cannot have a system that detains a person without trial," she told BenarNews on Monday. "That is injustice."

Maria was detained on Nov. 18, 2016 on charges of "engaging in activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy" after police raided the offices of election watchdog Bersih 2.0. Authorities alleged that they had found documents that could be considered as an offence under the national security laws. 

She was freed 10 days later after massive public protests.
Maria also said that police should efficiently use the 14 days of maximum remand allowed by current laws, instead of detaining suspects for 28 days without trial, as allowed under SOSMA.
"To detain a man for 28 days (without trial) without knowing if he is guilty or not is injustice. Moreover, the person is denied to have excess to lawyers and to see their family," she said. 

"There are many ways to curb terrorism and crime. To use a law that abuse one's right is not helping justice but it is an act of injustice," she added.

NGOs also slammed the home minister's announcement.
"In the Pakatan Harapan's manifesto ... they specifically said that they as government will repeal the SOSMA and POTA act," Mahathir Abdul Rahman, spokesman of Desak Sampai Bubar, or Pressure Until Repeal, a group of families of people detained under SOSMA, told BenarNews. 

He said his group, which would be directly impacted by the government's decision, was never consulted. 

"We want real justice, we want a government who listens to the public," he said.
Dr M: 'People will be protected by fair laws'
On July 27, more than two months after he returned to power in a stunning triumph, Mahathir promised that the public would be protected from cruel and draconian laws, as he chastised his predecessor, Najib, for introducing SOSMA in 2012.
"Najib's law allows a person to be arrested and not to be taken to court, and if that person died, there will be neither inquiry nor action taken against those who killed him," Mahathir, 93, said.
"The people will be protected by fair laws so that if they committed any offense, they will be judged by the court and the court will determine whether or not the person is guilty," he said.
But in response to violence and vandalism that took place at a Hindu temple in Subang Jaya last month, Mahathir's government also lifted a moratorium on laws used to repress dissent, including the Sedition Act of 1948, which was also on top of the list that Pakatan had pledged to revoke.
Human Rights Watch described that move as "a big step backward on the road to reform."
"The government that so recently took office promising a commitment to human rights should not return to the draconian laws used by the previous Malaysian administration to stifle dissent," Phil Robertson, a deputy Asia director for HRW, said in a statement.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- China's envoy to Malaysia said Thursday he was hopeful that negotiations to resume construction of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) would succeed, after the Malaysian prime minister signaled a softening in his stance against the U.S. $19.5 billion project.
Following an official visit to a Chinese-owned railway equipment production center in Malaysia's Perak state on Thursday, Ambassador Bai Tian told reporters he hoped the two countries could reach a deal to resume the stalled project.
A day earlier, Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad had indicated that the project might be revived on a "smaller scale." Last year, he announced that his government was cancelling construction of the rail line and other China-backed projects.
"Both governments have been talking to each other about continuation of the ECRL project and both have agreed to leave the negotiations for the project to the contractors and the owner of the contract. So now we are still waiting for the report from the two parties," the Chinese ambassador said.
"We haven't got the report yet (but) we are still optimistic of the outcome and we hope by the mutual respect, by goodwill and the spirit of mutual benefit and equal footing, the businesses will come out with a win-win result," Bai Tian said.
But Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who was with the Chinese envoy, sounded less optimistic.
"It is only fair we wait for the final report before we can make any decision as both sides leave it to the working committee to negotiate before making a decision. As far as we are concerned, the Malaysian government has yet to make a final decision," Loke told reporters.
Smaller scale
In August 2018, Mahathir, the new prime minister, told Chinese officials that his government was shelving the high-speed railway line along with other China-backed infrastructure projects, which included two gas pipelines.
At the time, he said Malaysia did not need them and could not afford them. Mahathir also said then that he had inherited 1 trillion ringgit ($241 billion) in national debt when his government took over three months earlier.
On Wednesday, Mahathir told the Chinese publication Sin Chew Daily that the ECRL might be revived, but it could be smaller than originally planned.
"But this is not easy as we are bound by the contract and cannot terminate the project easily as we have no money to pay China," he told the publication, adding, "we have paid a lot of money to China after the postponement."
In August 2017, then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, hailed the 688-km (430-mile) project spanning the states of Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan, as a game changer for Malaysia, stating it was to be completed in 2024 at a cost of about $13 billion.
The ECRL was also a flagship project in Malaysia seen as part of Beijing's One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative. Through this trillion-dollar infrastructure drive, Beijing plans to build a vast network of roads, railway lines and ports in South and South Asia that would allow China to trade more easily with European countries via the Indian Ocean and Central Asia.
The rail-link project was awarded to China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC) as the main contractor while Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRL) was listed as the owner. It received a loan from the Export and Import Bank of China.
Mahathir's government, which took power in May 2018 after defeating Najib's Barisan Nasional coalition in a general election, said the project's cost had ballooned by 26 billion ringgit ($6.3 billion).
After Mahathir's latest comments were published, Najib, in a Facebook posting, said he was surprised by the number of people who believed the country would be forced to lease land around the rail line to China.
"It is hard for me to believe why many Malaysians can still believe the PH propaganda and that Malaysia will become like Sri Lanka because of the ECRL," he said using the abbreviation for Mahathir's Pakatan Harapan government.
In 2017, Sri Lanka gave China a 99-year lease for a port in Hambantota after it failed to pay back loans for construction of the port project. The Sri Lankan port was one major pieces completed earlier as part of Beijing's OBOR initiative.
Najib also said he did not believe that the government lacked money to go on with the project.
The former prime minister faces 39 criminal charges linked to the beleaguered state development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which he established in 2009. The U.S. Justice Department alleges that almost $4.5 billion (18.7 billion ringgit) from the state fund was embezzled and laundered through real estate and other assets.
'Question of pricing'
Meanwhile, Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said the negotiations could help improve relations between Malaysian and China, adding that Beijing wanted to complete the ECRL.
"I think there is a need for a rail link across the breadth of the Malay Peninsula to facilitate primarily the transport of goods from Port Klang to, say, the Kuantan port. The existing East Coast rail line can be upgraded to serve better goods and human transport needs," he told BenarNews.
He said the cost of the project had been a sticking point.
"It has always been a question of pricing from the onset. As long as the price negotiations are satisfactory, then it can proceed," he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian King Sultan Muhammad V stepped down from the throne on Sunday, royal palace officials announced but without stating a reason for the first abdication by one of the country's monarchs in its 61-year history.
The resignation of the 49-year-old monarch, Malaysia's 15th king who is the sultan or ruler of Kelantan state, took immediate effect, the palace said in a statement. It gave no details about who would succeed Sultan Muhammad V, who had only ascended to the throne in December 2016 under Malaysia's rotating system of monarchs.
"The palace would like to inform that Seri Paduka Baginda Tuanku has resigned as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong or the Supreme Ruler of the federation effective January 6 in accordance with Article 32(3) of the Federal Constitution," said Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz, the comptroller of the Royal Household, referring to the king by his full title in Malay.
The abdication took place following days of reports in regional media speculating that the king might be stepping down after marrying a Russian woman abroad in late November.
The king sent a letter to the secretary of the Conference of Rulers notifying them about his decision to resign from the throne, Wan Ahmad Dahlan said. The conference is Malaysia's council of nine traditional rulers and four governors. They represent the 13 states in the Malaysian federation, elect a king to a five-year term, and take turns on the throne.
"During his tenure as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, His Majesty had worked to fulfill his responsibilities and the trust placed in him as the head of state, serving as the pillar of stability, the source of justice and as an umbrella of the solidarity and unity of the people," the royal comptroller said, adding that Sultan Muhammad V was preparing to return to his home state to "safeguard its people" and work for their betterment.
"His Majesty also hopes that all Malaysians will continue to stay united, tolerant and in agreement in shouldering the responsibility to safeguard the country's sovereignty so that Malaysia will remain in peace and harmony," Wan Ahmad Dahlan said.

[https://www]

Mahathir Mohamad (left) is sworn in as Malaysia's seventh prime minister by Sultan Muhammad V, the nation's king, at the royal palace in Kuala Lumpur, May 10, 2018. [Bernama via Reuters]

Deputy PM: 'I feel sad'
Sultan Muhammad V was officially installed as king of Malaysia, a multi-ethnic though predominantly Malay Muslim nation of nearly 32 million people, in a ceremony on April 24, 2017, four months after ascending to the throne.
In early November 2018, the king went on a two-month leave of absence for "medical treatment," during which the Sultan of Perak, Nazrin Shah, took over the throne as acting king, the palace said at the time.
During Sultan Muhammad V's absence foreign media outlets reported that he married a Russian beauty queen who had converted to Islam, Oksana Voevodina, in a wedding near Moscow on Nov. 22. The king was single before taking the throne.
On Nov. 29, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he did not know about the reported marriage and had not received any official confirmation about it, reports said. Mahathir later confirmed to the media that the ruler had returned and resumed his duties as the country's king. On Dec. 31, Sultan Nazrin Shah formally ended his duties as acting king.
Last week, the conference of rulers held a "rare and unscheduled" meeting on the night of Jan. 2, the New Straits Times reported. According to a source who spoke to the newspaper, the meeting focused on "a serious matter" but the report did not specify if it had to do with Sultan Muhammad V.
Late on Sunday night (local time), there was no comment from the prime minister about the abdication. A spokesman for Mahathir did not respond immediately to an inquiry from BenarNews.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told reporters on Sunday evening that the cabinet was "just being informed" about the abdication through the official statement from the royal palace.
"However, I feel sad as he was the king when we came into power. He was the king who swore-in the new prime minister during the historical change of government," said Wan Azizah, the country's first woman to hold the post of deputy PM, adding that she respected the sultan's decision.
She was alluding to last year's general election in which the opposition Pakatan Harapan alliance swept the Barisan Nasional coalition out of power for the first time in the country's history.
"The Yang Dipertuan Agong was also the one who pardoned my husband [Anwar Ibrahim]," the deputy prime minister added, while speaking to media on the sidelines of an event at the International Islamic University Malaysia campus in Gombak, Selangor state.
Under the Malaysian constitution, the king is the supreme head of the federation and supreme commander of the armed forces. He also acts as the head of Islam in his home state, and in the states of Malacca, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.
Under Article 153 of the constitution, the king must also safeguard the special position of ethnic Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the legitimate interests of other communities, according to information posted on websites belonging to the government and Conference of Rulers.
In addition, the monarch presides over the opening of parliamentary sessions and has the power to swear in members of the cabinet and grant royal pardons.
After a ruler has served as king, he cannot stand for re-election until all rulers of the other states have also stood for election under the rotational system.
The king may resign his office by writing to the Conference of Rulers, and may also be removed from office by his fellow rulers.
Sultan Muhammad V was on the throne when he granted a pardon that allowed Anwar Ibrahim, a senior opposition leader who was imprisoned by the previous government on a sodomy charge to be freed from custody and re-enter politics. Anwar, the husband of Wan Azizah, is next in line to become prime minister.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- An Abu Sayyaf leader who allegedly beheaded two Canadians in the southern Philippines in 2016 is back on the list of wanted criminals in Malaysia one year after authorities dropped his name over reports he had been killed.
In its list released over the weekend, the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) names Abu Sayyaf member Ben Tatoh Quirino along with 17 other Filipinos linked to alleged trans-border crimes such as maritime kidnapping and piracy. Esscom included Tatoh on its 2017 list.
"Ben Tatoh and a few others in our 2019 list used to be in our earlier list, but in 2018, we took their names off our record because we believed then they had been killed," ESSCOM commander Hazani Ghazali told BenarNews. "Most recently we received confirmation from our Philippine counterparts that they were still alive, so we re-added their names to the latest list."
In December, Canadian research group iBRABO stated Tatoh was alive after images appeared on social media. It said the fugitive had been laying low for more than two years after allegedly beheading Canadian tourists John Ridsdel and Robert Hall.
iBRABO senior analyst Jeff Weyers said his group's investigation revealed Tatoh was still on the loose and posing selfies on Facebook, including one that showed him wearing the Philippine National Police (PNP)'s counter insurgency unit's uniform.
"To see that he and virtually all of his Abu Sayyaf cell members were on Facebook was infuriating. But we also realized it was an immense opportunity to gather as much open source intelligence as we could," Weyers said in the report on iBRABO's website.
PNP officials said the photo was not authentic.
"No, he was never a PNP member. We don't have that name in our personnel database – former, active or AWOL," PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Benigno Durana Jr. told BenarNews.
Durana did not respond when asked if the militant could have been listed in the database under a different name.
"ASG are continuously being hunted by the government authorities," Durana said, using an acronym for the Abu Sayyaf Group when asked if authorities were hunting for Ben Tatoh.
Weyers told BenarNews that Ben Tatoh's images appeared on Facebook in October 2018 and updates were being posted as recently as November before the profile was taken down because he apparently had posed with the flag of the Islamic State (IS) terror group.
"Since then, another Facebook profile going by his other alias, Bhen Tatuh, has emerged," Weyers said.

[https://www]

The Eastern Sabah Security Command posted photos of the 18 men on the 2019 list of most wanted criminals, Jan.7, 2019. (Courtesy of Esscomm)

2019 list
ESSCOM added six new names to its list of wanted criminals. They are Salip Mura Kayawan, Sibih Pisih, Titing Alihasan (also known as i*** Panday), Roger Saji, Long Sahirin and Jul Aksan Abdurajan (also known as Halimaw).
"After our latest investigation and confirmation from the Philippine security forces, the new individuals are listed because they are suspected to have planned several trans-border crimes and are active and on the loose," Hazani said in a statement.
The other 11 names had made previous lists.
Two names from the 2018 list, Malaysian militants Mahmud Ahmad and Amin Baco, were removed after officials determined they were killed in the 2017 five-month battle in the Philippine city of Marawi.
"We know there were reports that both had been killed but we still haven't received official confirmation of their deaths through DNA testing," Hazani told BenarNews. "We put them both on our 2018 wanted list because of this lack of confirmation, but for this latest list, we have removed their names."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia's anti-graft agency said Tuesday it had arrested the former chairman of a state fund whose mission is to help Muslims save for their pilgrimage to Mecca following an investigation into alleged money laundering.
Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, who chaired the Tabung Haji fund, and his brother, Abdul Latif Abdul Rahim, were both detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and were to be charged Wednesday, MACC officials said.
"[MACC] today detained Baling Member of Parliament Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, together with his brother Abdul Latif Abdul Rahim, in relation to the investigation of corruption and money laundering after receiving the go ahead to charge them from the Attorney-General's Chambers," the agency said in a statement.
"The duo will be charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court tomorrow (Jan. 16) under the MACC Act of 2009 and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism and Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act of 2001," it added.
MACC Chief Commissioner Shukri Abdull confirmed the arrests to BenarNews without elaborating.
Meanwhile, a source close to the investigation who asked to not be identified said investigators had summoned Abdul Azeez on Tuesday to question him about money-laundering allegations.
"We believe that he received a huge sum of money from contractors who sought projects with the previous government," the source told BenarNews. Bribes and funds tied to money laundering allegedly totaled 140 million ringgit (U.S. $34.1 million).
Abdul Azeez chaired Tabung Haji under the previous government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, who lost power when his Barisan Nasional coalition was upset in the May 2018 general election. Najib faces dozens of criminal charges tied to allegations that he took millions of dollars from the beleaguered 1MDB state development fund.
Days after new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took the reins of government, investigators raided properties linked to Abdul Azeez, recovering 1.2 million ringgit ($292,000) in domestic and foreign currencies along with jewelry and luxury watches, the Malay Mail reported.
Ongoing investigation
The brothers' arrests followed an investigation dating back to September 2018 when a magistrate approved MACC's request to remand them for six days as it investigated Tabung Haji contracts.
In addition, MACC has investigated other leaders of the fund as well.
On Dec. 14, Trurich Resources Sdn Bhd, a plantation company, lodged a police report accusing three former Tabung officials of making misleading statements over two overpriced palm oil plantations in Indonesia, according to a statement from the firm.
Ismee Ismail, the former CEO of Tabung Haji, and two ex-chief executive officers of the fund's plantation arm, along with two Indonesians were accused of misleading the company in the purchase of the palm oil plantations, the statement said.
Five days later, a Malaysian court ordered a four-day remand for Adi Azuan Abdul Ghani, Tabung Haji's chief operating officer, who is suspected of using his position to employ an interior decorator appointed by the fund to do renovation work at his residence.
MACC sources who requested anonymity told BenarNews that Adi was being held for receiving a gratuity in the form of a home renovation valued at 400,000 ringgit (U.S. $95,700). The bribe was allegedly given as a kickback after a company secured a project valued at 15 million ringgit ($3.6 million).
One month earlier, Tabung Haji itself lodged two police reports against Ismee and Abdul Azeez along with several other senior management personnel alleging financial misconduct. Abdul Azeez disputed the police reports, saying they were made with bad intentions.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Two employees of a Malaysian airline were among eight people arrested for alleged links to a crime ring smuggling heroin and methamphetamines into Australia, police and media reports said Wednesday.
Among those arrested were a female Malindo Air cabin crew employee and another airline staffer who allegedly carried the drugs on their bodies as part of their involvement in a Vietnamese-organized crime syndicate based in Melbourne, according to the Australian Associated Press and confirmed by a Malaysian police source who requested anonymity.
Officials with the airline claimed that only one employee was arrested.
"Based on a body search conducted on the woman, authorities found one kg (2.2 pounds) of heroin on her," the Malaysian police source told BenarNews, referring to one of the Malindo employees and adding that a Malaysian man had also been arrested.
"He also was detained with one kg of heroin. Also in Melbourne," the source said.
An Australian police official described the investigation.
"Police identified that the drugs were being brought in to Australia by an international commercial airline with the cabin crew used as the drug couriers," Australian Crime Command Assistant Commissioner Tess Walsh told reporters without naming the airline. "This was a complex five-month operation targeting an alleged Vietnamese organized crime syndicate based in Melbourne."
Malindo Air officials, meanwhile, said one its employees had been arrested in what it described as an isolated incident.
"Malindo Air wishes to affirm that one of our cabin crew was arrested on arrival at Melbourne International Airport by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) on 7th January 2019. To date however, we have not had any official communication either with our staff or from the AFP on the said detention," the airline said in a statement issued after Australian police announced the arrests of four women and four men.
"Given all that we know to date & based on the findings of our internal investigations, we are confident that this arrest appears to be an isolated incident arising out of a crew's misconduct. None of the remaining Malindo Air crew on the said flight were detained," it said.
Malindo Air is owned by the Indonesian Lion Air Group. Last October, a new Lion Air Boeing 787 MAX 8 crashed into the Java Sea soon after takeoff from Jakarta's main airport, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
 
Details of arrest
On Wednesday, Australian police did not name or list the nationalities of the suspects who were taken into custody between Jan. 7 – the date Malindo Air said that its employee was arrested – and Jan. 14. All eight are to appear in Melbourne Magistrate's Court on May 15.
A police news release identified the only person arrested on Jan. 7 as a 38-year-old woman who was arrested in Tullamarine and charged with one count of importing a marketable quantity of border-controlled drugs. The international airport is in Tullamarine, a suburb of Melbourne.
Australian officials said they had seized six kg (13.2 pounds) of high-grade heroin and eight kg (17.6 pounds) of methamphetamine valued at AUS $20.9 million (61.6 million ringgit), over the course of five months. Also seized were one-half kg (one pound) of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, a Porsche and a Mini Cooper along with a "significant quantity" of cash.
Australian Border Force Regional Commander Craig Palmer issued a warning to traffickers.
"Would-be criminals should be aware that any attempts to bring these drugs into the country will be met with the full force of Australian border and law enforcement agencies before, at and after the border," he said.
"Airline staff are not above the law. They are subject to intervention at the border like everyone else and face significant penalties if they are found to be using their positions to attempt to circumvent our border controls."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- In its annual report out Thursday, Human Rights Watch painted a negative picture of the climate in the Philippines, Bangladesh and Thailand but credited Malaysia's new government for moving to fulfill electoral promises of cleaning up the nation's rights record.
As he unveiled the watchdog's World Report 2019 that reflects on the state of human rights last year, HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth offered some hope for the future. The big news from 2018 was not continuing authoritarian trends but the growing opposition against them, he said.
"The same populists who spread hatred and intolerance are fueling a resistance that keeps winning battles," Roth said in launching the report. "Victory isn't assured but the successes of the past year suggest that the abuses of authoritarian rule are prompting a powerful human rights counterattack."
The 674-page report took a harsh stance against Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, launched shortly after he took office in June 2016. It cited Philippine drug enforcement figures that nearly 5,000 drug users had died in police operations as of the end of September 2018, while police presented their own figures listing nearly 23,000 deaths since the war began. The police said these were classified as "homicides under investigation."
Human Rights Watch also took the Philippines to task for having the fastest-growing AIDS epidemic in Asia – pointing out that the number of new cases jumped from 4,400 in 2010 to 12,000 in 2017, the last year figures were available.
More than 80 percent of new infections were among men and transgender women who have sex with men. An estimated 68,000 Filipinos are HIV-positive.
Another Southeast Asian nation, Indonesia, was cited for an AIDS outbreak.
"Indonesian authorities continued to fail to up hold basic rights of LGBT people, fueling a spike in the country's HIV epidemic. Police arbitrary and unlawful raids on private LGBT gatherings, assisted by militant Islamists, has effectively derailed public health outreach efforts to vulnerable populations," the report stated.
"HIV rates among men who have sex with men have consequently increased five-fold since 2007 from 5 percent to 25 percent."
The report credited Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration for taking "small steps" to protect the rights of some of the nation's most vulnerable people – but also pointed out the president had not lived up to all of his promises since taking power in 2014.
In April 2018, Jokowi announced that he would ban marriages involving children but has yet to provide a timetable for the new law to be enacted.
Last year, he also pleaded for religious tolerance in his State of the Nation address, but "his administration has failed to translate his rhetorical support for human rights into meaningful policies," the report said.
"There is little sign that Jokowi is willing to extend the necessary political capital to make human rights a meaningful component of his campaign for re-election in 2019," HRW said.
On Thursday, Jokowi debated former President Prabowo Subianto on human rights issues in the first of five televised debates leading up to the presidential election on April 17.
Election reactions
HRW's report also focused on two nations that held general elections in 2018, praising Malaysia for ousting their "corrupt leaders."
But it challenged Bangladesh's government for lodging "politically motivated trumped-up cases against thousands of opposition supporters, and violated international standards on freedom of speech by cracking down on media and civil society," leading up to the December vote that saw the ruling Awami League and its allies swamp the competition.
In Malaysia, then-Prime Minister Najib Razak intensified suppression of freedom speech prior to the May vote.
"In March, the government passed the Anti-Fake News law, broad legislation imposing up to seven years in prison for anyone who maliciously spreads 'fake news,' deliberately defined vaguely to allow maximum discretion for the government to target critics," the report said.
Meanwhile, a coalition led by Mahathir Mohamad ran on an election manifesto that promised to abolish oppressive laws, ensure accountability for police abuses, improve the situation for refugees, ratify international human rights treaties and make the nation's human rights record respected by the world, the report said.
"By the end of the year, the new government had begun to take steps to fulfill some of those promises," it said, adding that freedom of speech had improved dramatically under Prime Minister Mahathir's government.
With regard to Bangladesh, the report pointed to the 107-day detention of acclaimed photojournalist Shahidul Alam after he criticized human rights violations in a television interview and on Facebook. Alam had been commenting on student-led street protests in Dhaka after two of their fellow students had been struck and killed by a speeding bus.
In September, the Bangladesh government passed the Digital Security Act to monitor electronic communications in an effort to address "abusive provisions in the Information and Communication Technology Act." HRW said the act actually contained new sections criminalizing free speech.
"Human rights groups remained under pressure, due to restrictions on accessing foreign funding. Journalists reported threats and intimidation to prevent any criticism of the government," HRW said.
Junta issues
In Thailand, the report challenged the junta-led government for delaying "lifting severe restrictions on free expression, association and assembly, despite announcing a national election in February 2019."
It said authorities had routinely enforced censorship while threatening media outlets; disrupted academic seminars and public discussion about human rights and democracy; and arrested at least 130 pro-democracy activists on illegal assembly charges.
In addition, pledges to protect human rights defenders have not been fulfilled.
"The killings of more than 30 human rights defenders and civil society activists since 2001 remained unresolved. Military cover-up and shoddy police work hampered the efforts to prosecute soldiers who shot dead teenage ethnic Lahu activist Chaiyaphum Pasae in March 2017 in Chiang Mai province."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia's finance minister on Friday described an apology from global financial firm Goldman Sachs over its links to the 1MDB scandal as inadequate, and demanded that it pay U.S. $7.5 billion (30.85 billion ringgit) in compensation to resolve the issue.
Minister Lim Guan Eng was responding to Goldman CEO David Solomon's apology to the Malaysian public earlier this week for the role played by the firm's ex-Southeast Asian head, Tim Leissner, in the 1MDB fiasco, which led to the ouster of the Prime Minister Najib Razak's government last year.
"Apology is not enough. It is necessary, but not sufficient enough. We are seeking the $7.5 billion," the finance minister said in Putrajaya, Malaysia's administrative capital.
"If we didn't change the government on May 9, would Goldman Sachs ever issue an apology?" he asked.
Leissner pleaded guilty in a U.S. court last year to conspiring to launder money and bribery over his dealings in the scandal around 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund started by Najib 10 years ago.
Leissner said in a court statement that he had concealed certain facts from Goldman, claiming that this was "very much in line" with the culture at the bank, according to reports.
Another ex-Goldman banker, Roger Ng, was arrested in Malaysia in November at the request of U.S. authorities and is fighting extradition to the U.S. after pleading not guilty to charges that Malaysian authorities have filed against him.
About U.S. $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates between 2009 and 2014, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Goldman had arranged three bond sales that raised $6.5 billion for 1MDB but, according to the Wall Street Journal, much of the total had gone missing.
Following his electoral defeat, Najib has been charged with dozens of counts of corruption, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving 1MDB-related monies.
On Wednesday, Solomon apologized to the Malaysian people for Leissner's role in the 1MDB affair.
"It's very clear that the people of Malaysia were defrauded by many individuals, including the highest members of the prior government," he said.
"For Leissner's role in that fraud, we apologize to the Malaysian people."
Najib on Thursday responded to Solomon's apology by saying that Goldman Sachs must take full responsibility for failing to protect Malaysia's interests in the scandal.
Speaking in an interview with CNN in Hong Kong, Lim said it was reasonable for Malaysia to seek the return of U.S.$ 7.5 billion from the financial firm after the agony and trauma that the nation had endured because of the scandal.
"You must have a heart. Sometimes you ask, does Goldman have a heart?" Lim was quoted saying.
Meanwhile, Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Goldman Sachs was obviously trying to placate the Malaysian government as Kuala Lumpur sought reparations for the bank's dealings with 1MDB.
"But they are also trying to reverse American investors' negative perception of their stock performance," he told BenarNews.
Oh explained that the actual reimbursement or compensation was the least of the banking giant's concerns, saying investors' attitudes as well as future prospective clients' preferences were more important.



* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS-Ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak appeared in a photo near a Mongolian model who was murdered later during his tenure as Malaysia's defense chief, her cousin said Wednesday while testifying in a civil trial over a lawsuit first filed by the dead woman's family 12 years ago.
Burmaa Oyunchimeg, the cousin of victim Altantuya Shaariibuu, took the stand as the opening witness in the trial at the Shah Alam Court in Selangor state. She testified that in 2005, Shaariibuu showed her a photograph of herself standing with Abdul Razak Baginda, a former aide to the then-defense minister, and Najib, who was also deputy prime minister at the time.
"I remember I saw a photo of three people, two men and Altantuya. I asked her who they were and she said one was the deputy prime minister and the other was Razak, who worked with him and did business together," Oyunchimeg said.

The trial, which began this week, stems from a 2007 lawsuit brought by Shaariibuu's family against the Malaysian government, Abdul Razak, and two former policemen who served in Najib's security detail in 2006. Najib, a former prime minister, has denied having ever met Shaariibuu.
The plaintiffs are seeking 100 million ringgit (U.S. $24.1 million) in damages, their lawyer said.
The photograph, which was displayed as an exhibit in the courtroom, was taken during a trip to Paris that her cousin took with Abdul Razak, Oyunchimeg told the court. There are no family ties between Abdul Razak and Najib.

The witness testified that she had also asked Altantuya if the two men were brothers, given that they shared a name.

"She said 'no' but they were best friends, business partners and worked together," Oyunchimeg recalled.

Responding to reporters' questions about the testimony govern on Wednesday by Oyunchimeg, Najib accused the witness of lying on the stand.

"Oh, God, that is slander. Lies. I never met her. I swore in a mosque about this," said Najib who was in Cameron Highlands to campaign for a Barisan Nasional candidate in an upcoming parliamentary by-election.

Abdul Razak, for his part, declined to answer questions from Benar News on Wednesday.

"As this is ongoing trial, please let the trial proceed," the former aide to Najib said.

Before Shaariibuu was murdered in October 2006, Abdul Razak was allegedly involved in a romantic relationship with the Mongolian beauty queen, who served as an interpreter while the Malaysian government was negotiating with France, back in in 2002, for the purchase of French-made Scorpene submarines.

The deal became the focus of major corruption scandal in Malaysia, following the murder of Shaariibuu, who had allegedly demanded a payoff for working as an interpreter during the negotiations. The Mongolian woman was slain by being shot dead and then blown up with C4 plastic explosives in a jungle outside Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Najib later became prime minister but lost power last May when his Barisan Nasional coalition crashed out in a general election against an opposition bloc led by a former mentor-turned-foe, Mahathir Mohamad.
Abdul Razak was Najib's political advisor when Najib served as deputy prime minister from 2004 to 2009.

Abdul Razak was arrested and charged with abetting in the murder of Shaariibuu. The two policemen who were also named in the suit, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar, were charged in November 2006 on suspicion of carrying out the killing. 

Abdul Razak was acquitted in 2008, but Azilah and Sirul were found guilty and sentenced to death in 2015 for the murder by a Malaysian court. At the time, Sirul escaped to Australia, where he is currently being held at a detention center. Meanwhile, Azilah is sitting on death row at Malaysia's Sungai Buloh prison.

A 12-year wait

Ramkarpal Singh, the legal counsel representing Shaariibuu's family, told reporters on Tuesday that the case took so long to be heard because the previous government had launched an effort to derail the lawsuit. That led to the family having to lodge a series of appeals against the government legal counter-moves, the attorney said.

"We had to postpone the suit temporarily back then to wait for the court come to a verdict on the criminal trial in the two police officers, who killed Altantuya," Singh said.

"At the same time, the previous government filed to the court to set aside the 100 million ringgit suit but the family appealed to the court, so all this takes time," the lawyer told reporters at the Shah Alam courthouse.

According to Singh, the family decided to sue over the trauma and suffering they had endured from Shaariibuu's murder.

"The family has suffered and has been traumatized by the nature of the murder – hence suing all parties involved," he said.

In June 2018, Singh and the dead woman's father, Setev Shaariibuu, met with Attorney-General Tommy Thomas in lobbying Malaysia's new government to reopen the criminal case into the murder.

"They are certain that there is enough new evidence to warrant a reopening of the case," Singh said on June 19. 

The next day, Malaysia's national police chief told Benar that the murder case would be re-opened.

"We will determine whether a new investigation team will be set up as soon as possible," Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said then, but without giving a timeframe on a new probe.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The sultan of Pahang state was named Malaysia's new king on Thursday following the unprecedented abdication of his predecessor earlier this month, the government announced.
Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah was selected as king by the Conference of Rulers, made up of nine sultans of Malaysian states and governors of five other states that do not have rulers, officials said.
"[The] Conference of Rulers in its 251st meeting held at the National Palace, on Thursday, Jan.24, 2019, has agreed to declare that His Highness Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has been chosen as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong XVI for a period of five years from Jan.31, 2019," said Syed Danial, the Keeper of the Rulers' Seal, in a statement, referring to the king by his full title in Malay.
The keeper is a government official charged with the custody and use of the symbol of the Conference of Rulers, the traditional Malaysian authority whose members select a king to a five-year term on a rotating basis.
"The Conference of Rulers has decided to continue with the rotational system and not seniority and it is why [the sultan of] Pahang was elected as the new king because he was the next in line after [the sultan of] Kelantan," Shamrahayu A. Aziz, a constitutional expert, told BenarNews, saying the decision was not a surprise.
Sultan Abdullah, 59, who recently succeeded his ailing father, Sultan Ahmad Shah as sultan of Pahang, is to be sworn in next week.
He is succeeding Sultan Muhammad V, who abdicated earlier this month amid media reports that he had married a Russian woman and taken a two-month vacation for a medical leave late last year.
Duties
The Malaysian constitution declares that the king is the supreme head of the federation and supreme commander of its armed forces. Under Article 153, the king must safeguard the special position of ethnic Malays and the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the legitimate interests of other communities.
In addition, the king presides over the opening of parliamentary sessions and has the power to swear in members of the cabinet, as well as grant royal pardons.
Sultan Muhammad V granted a pardon that allowed Anwar Ibrahim, a senior opposition leader who was imprisoned by the previous government on a sodomy charge, to be freed from custody and re-enter politics.
Following the May 2018 general election that saw the Pakatan Harapan coalition take power, the Associated Press reported that Sultan Muhammad V had offered the prime minister's position to another candidate before swearing in Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
In forming a coalition to defeat a coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Razak, Mahathir and Anwar agreed that Mahathir would assume power following the election while Anwar, who needed a royal pardon to be freed from prison and return to politics, would succeed him in a couple of years.
Earlier this month, Mahathir's government announced plans to adopt a Malaysian version of Thailand's anti-royal defamation Lese Majeste law, setting harsh penalties for those who criticize the monarchy.
The announcement on Jan. 10 followed the arrests of three people under the Sedition Act who had allegedly insulted Sultan Muhammad V on social media after his abdication was announced, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported.
The rights watchdog denounced the government for restoring use of the Sedition Act and looking to establish its own royal defamation law.
"Malaysia's government is not only delaying revoking abusive laws, but is even considering enacting new laws that curtail human rights," said Phil Robertson, HRW's deputy Asia director. "The proposed law on the monarchy would add to the laws already restricting free expression in Malaysia."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- An Indonesian defendant in the Kim Jong Nam murder case won an appeal to obtain statements from seven witnesses, but prosecutors said Thursday they would ask a higher court to overturn the ruling potentially delaying the trial's resumption.
A three-judge Appeals Court panel ordered prosecutors to turn over the witness statements, but stayed their order to allow an appeal to the federal court.
Indonesian citizen Siti Aisyah and co-defendant Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam have been standing trial for the February 2017 assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un during a chemical attack at a Kuala Lumpur area airport.
"When I was a trial judge, I would direct the prosecution to supply witness statements to the defense after the prosecution's case was concluded," Justice Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal told the prosecution team.
Attorney Gooi Soon Seng, who is leading the legal team representing Siti, said the statements were crucial for her defense, adding that the trial scheduled to resume on Jan. 28 likely would be delayed again by the appeal. Doan was not in court, because she was not a party to the appeal.
"If we are allowed to see the statements, then we will get a fairer trial. ... If we do not get a fair trial, where do we get justice?" Gooi said, according to the Associated Press. "Why must truth be shrouded by the policy of privilege?"
Siti and Doan are charged with the murder of Kim, who died after being exposed to the toxic VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13, 2017. They could face the death penalty, if convicted.
Prosecutors argued that their refusal to turn over the statements from the seven, including a Japanese friend of Kim and the man's chauffeur who transported Kim around Kuala Lumpur, was based on national security grounds. Two other witnesses were Indonesian roommates of Siti.
Dhaliwal, who serves on the panel with presiding Justice Umi Kalthum and Justice Rhodzariah Bujang, challenged the prosecution's concern.
"It was also a policy for the defense to get a fair trial," he said.
The ruling ordering lawyers to turn over the statements was unprecedented, prosecutor Iskandar Ahmad told BenarNews.
"That is why we are pushing this to the federal court, this is a matter of principle, and could set a new precedence in future cases," he said.
Withholding the statements was a policy issue, according to prosecutor Dusuki Mokhtar.
"For example, information could create an impact on national security and interests of justice. This information could be used by the defense to discredit the administration of justice and police," he said.
Since the trial began in October 2017, defense attorneys maintained that the two women were duped by suspected North Korean agents into believing they were being paid to perform a video prank at the airport. Four North Korean men, whom Malaysian police linked to the assassination, fled Malaysia hours after the attack.
Prosecutors rested their case in June 2018. On Aug. 16, presiding Judge Azmi Ariffin ruled that there was enough evidence against both women to carry on with the trial and allow them to present their defense.
He ordered the trial to resume in November. But he later allowed a delay until this month because Gooi, one of the defense attorneys, was recovering from surgery.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia has cancelled a $20 billion rail project financed by China, a minister said Saturday, citing high interest costs for the government's decision as he offered the clearest statement that one of Beijing's largest One Belt, One Road infrastructure initiatives would be scrapped. 

Kuala Lumpur, China's biggest trading partner in Southeast Asia after Vietnam, has pushed back against Chinese dominance in its economy since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad returned to power after a stunning electoral triumph in May last year, stalling billions of dollars of contracts.
"We cannot afford," Mohamed Azmin Ali, Malaysia's economic affairs minister, told reporters after attending a media event outside the nation's capital. "The cabinet decided to scrap the project because the cost of development is too high, and we do not have the financial capability at the moment."
Azmin was referring to the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a 688-km (430-mile) railway that would have connected the western and eastern coasts of the Malaysian peninsula. The project was being built with contractor China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCC).
"The decision has been finalized during a Cabinet meeting two days ago," he said. "It is better for us to make a decision (now) because the investor would also like to have clarity and we have made a decision."
Pushing through with the railway would involve interest payments amounting to half a billion ringgit ($120 million) a year, Azmin said, emphasizing that the project will be terminated without antagonizing one of the nation's largest investment benefactors.
Kuala Lumpur ran a trade surplus with Beijing last year. It exported palm oil, electronics and liquefied petroleum gas to China, accumulating a trade volume of $92.4 billion that includes imports of machinery and electronic products.
The minister's statement came against the backdrop of growing concern about China's spreading influence in Southeast Asia, mostly as a result of Beijing's multibillion-dollar infrastructure initiative to build roads, railways and ports, a move that has stoked fears of ballooning debt in the region's poor nations.
It was not clear if CCCC, the contractor, has been informed of the government's decision.
Azmin also did not say how much compensation Malaysia would shell out for terminating the project, explaining that the amount would be determined by the finance ministry.

Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said the cancellation would not affect the overall bilateral relations between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing.
"Of course, it would strain relations a bit, but the overall bilateral relations, economic and otherwise, remain fundamentally strong and not to be soured just due to one project," he told BenarNews.

But political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi said the announcement might slightly impact bilateral ties.
"It will hurt ties between Malaysia and Chine a bit but it depends on the compensation," he said. "If the amount can be agreed, I do not think this will become a major problem. Both countries can work again in the future."
Azmin's statement appeared to contradict earlier remarks from other cabinet officials, including Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, who had said that the decision on the project was not final, according to the South China Morning Post.
But the newspaper quoted two unnamed sources with knowledge on the cabinet's decision as saying that Azmin had expressed Malaysia's final position: that the existing contract with CCCC would be terminated.
The Singapore-based Straits Times newspaper reported that the contract, which was supposed to receive financing from the Export-Import Bank of China, was terminated after Malaysia failed to reduce the project cost by about one half.
Mahathir, 93, told reporters on Thursday that he was "not sure" whether the ECRL contract had been terminated, as he just returned from work visits in the UK and Vienna.

"I just came back from overseas," he said.
Early this month, China's envoy to Malaysia Bi Tian said he hoped that negotiations to resume ECRL construction would succeed. He made the statement after Mahathir said the project might proceed but in a "smaller scale."
The railway project was among the $34 billion worth of infrastructure projects approved by the previous government of Najib Razak, who once hailed it as a "game changer' for the Muslim-majority nation.
According to a report released last year by the U.S.- China Economic and Security Review Commission, the ECRL project is the second-largest One Belt, One Road project. The planned 772-km (482-mile) high-speed railway line connecting Moscow with Kazan city in the Russian Federation would cost slightly higher at $21.4 billion, it said.
Najib, who has enthusiastically endorsed Beijing-linked projects, faces 39 criminal charges linked to the troubled state development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which he established in 2009. The U.S. Justice Department alleges that almost $4.5 billion (18.7 billion ringgit) from the state fund was embezzled and laundered through real estate and other assets.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS-The defense phase of the trial of two Southeast Asian women charged with murdering Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's dictator, has been postponed to March, a lawyer said Monday.

Judge Azmi Ariffin made the ruling in his chamber at the Shah Alam High Court, defense lawyer Gooi Soon Seng told BenarNews. The ruling moves up the defense's presentation of its case for Vietnamese defendant Doan Thi Huong, who was to follow Indonesian defendant Siti Aisyah.
"We (the lawyers for Siti and Doan) just spoke to the judge in chamber and here are the new dates agreed by all parties. Doan will go first," said Gooi, who represents Siti.
Doan is expected to begin her defense on March 11 and finish it on May 8. The court has allowed 18 trial days for the presentation, Gooi said. Azmi ruled that lawyers for Siti were to present her defense from May 27 to July 31.
On Thursday, deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad told BenarNews that Doan could present her case first if all parties agreed.
Siti and Doan are charged with assassinating the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by exposing the victim to the toxic VX nerve agent at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13, 2017. The two could face the death penalty, if convicted of killing Kim Jong Nam.
Siti was supposed to begin her defense on Monday, but the trial was delayed last week when an appeals court panel ordered prosecutors to turn over statements from seven witnesses to her attorneys.
"Of course if we are allowed to see the statement, then we will get a fairer trial," Gooi told reporters regarding the appeals court's ruling. "If we do not get a fair trial, where do we get justice? If we are not entitled to see the truth, why must the truth be hidden?
"Why must the truth be shrouded by the policy of privilege?"
Prosecutors said they would appeal the ruling to the federal court, citing national security concerns for their reluctance to hand over the statements.
"The prosecution's appeal would take some time to be processed at the federal court," Gooi said.
Since the trial began in October 2017, the defense has maintained that the defendants were duped by suspected North Korean agents into believing they were being paid to perform a video prank at the airport. Four North Korean men, whom Malaysian police linked to the assassination, fled the country hours later.
Prosecutors rested their case in June 2018 and Azmi ruled on Aug. 16 that there was enough evidence against both women to carry on with the trial and allow them to present their defense.
Siti's defense presentation was to resume in November but was delayed until this month because Gooi was recovering from surgery. Last week's appeal led to the court to pushing her presentation to May.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Three-quarters of educated professionals surveyed across the ASEAN bloc say China is the country most likely to fill a vacuum created by a perceived growing lack of American interest in the region, according to a report published by a Singaporean think-tank Tuesday.
More than 1,000 respondents across the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were asked about geopolitical, economic and security matters affecting the region, for the report by the ASEAN Studies Center at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.
Sizeable percentages responded that China's influence in the region was rising compared with a waning U.S. influence. Still, almost 70 percent indicated that the two superpowers were "on a collision course in Southeast Asia," the report said.
In response to one of 32 questions, 74.1 percent said they expected China "to vie for political leadership in response to the growing indifference of the U.S. towards Southeast Asia and ASEAN."
"The region does not see any viable leadership other than China to replace the U.S. among other possible contenders – the European Union (EU), India, Japan or Russia," said the 38-page report titled "The State of Southeast Asia: 2019."
China also eclipsed the U.S. as the country or regional organization with the most economic, political and strategic influence in Southeast Asia, according to the report.
It also found that the American "Indo-Pacific" strategy aimed at countering Chinese regional influence was "unlikely to make any headway" in Southeast Asia, and the level of U.S. engagement in the region had decreased under Donald Trump's presidency, according to views expressed in the surveys.
In addition, more than a quarter of respondents expressed little or no confidence in the reliability of the United States "as a strategic partner and provider of regional security support," the report said.
In response to specific questions about China's influence, only about 9 percent viewed China becoming "a benign and benevolent power," while 45.4 percent saw China becoming "a revisionist power with an intent to turn Southeast Asia into its sphere of influence."
And while 30 percent responded favorably to China's One Belt, One Road initiative to finance and build infrastructure projects around the globe, 47 percent said Beijing's strategic endeavor would "bring ASEAN member-states closer into China's orbit."
Respondents were asked for their opinions on One Belt, One Road (OBOR) projects taking shape in their countries in light of the Sri Lankan and Malaysian experiences with the China-backed Hambantota port and East Coast Rail Link projects.
Sri Lanka has become straddled with a huge debt and was forced to grant China a 99-year lease on the port in order to repay its loans from the Chinese in building the project, while Malaysia's new government is considering canceling or shelving the rail project as too expensive.
Seventy percent from across ASEAN – including 84.2 percent in Malaysia, 79 percent in the Philippines, and more than 72 percent in Indonesia and Thailand – responded that "my government should be cautious in negotiating [OBOR] projects to avoid getting into unsustainable financial debts with China."
The report noted that it was based on responses given by 1,008 citizens of all the ASEAN countries "who are regional experts and stakeholders from the policy, research, business, civil society and media communities."
"As such, the results of this survey are not meant to be representative. Rather, it aims to present a general view of prevailing attitudes among those in a position to inform or influence policy on regional, political, economic and social issues and concerns."
Forty-two percent of those surveyed were working in academia and think-tanks and nearly 33 percent were employed in the governmental, inter-governmental and international organizational sectors.
The survey was conducted online between mid-November and early December 2018.
Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) is an autonomous research organization established by its parliament in 1968. It was renamed the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in 2015.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia will keep negotiating with China over terms of a controversial U.S. $20 billion rail project, but the talks will be held away from the public spotlight, Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said Wednesday.
Lim made the statement days after Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said that the cabinet had cancelled the government's contract with Beijing over the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a 688-km (430-mile) railway project to connect the western and eastern coasts of the Malaysian peninsula.
"The cabinet met today and made the decision to adopt the statement made by the prime minister yesterday that the matter will still undergo negotiation," Guan Eng told reporters on Wednesday.
"In view of the sensitivity of the contract negotiations, we should allow the discussions, which is government to government, to be held away from public glare, away from [the] public spotlight," he said.
After he returned to power as a result of a stunning electoral triumph last May, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has issued statements implying that several China-backed projects approved by his predecessor, Najib Razak, would be placed on the back burner.
Among the suspended infrastructure projects was the railway, which would connect Port Klang on the Malacca Strait with Kuantan on the eastern coast before running north through Tumpat, on the border with Thailand.
During a five-day trip to China in August last year, Malaysian newspapers quoted Mahathir as telling reporters in Beijing that the ECRL and a $2.5 billion natural gas pipeline project in Sabah would be cancelled until a time when Kuala Lumpur could afford the financing payments.
ECRL, the centerpiece of China's infrastructure push in Malaysia, was to be financed in large part by the Export-Import Bank of China. The project is a Malaysian component of China's massive One Belt, One Road (OBOR) international infrastructure expansion program.
According to the South China Morning Post, Kuala Lumpur has already paid 19.68 billion ringgit (U.S. $4.8 billion) to the China Communications Construction Company, which holds the construction contract for the mega-rail project.
But Mahathir had earlier expressed concerns about the exorbitant amount of compensation that Malaysia would shell out to Beijing if the contract was terminated prior to completion.
On Tuesday, Mahathir asked China for understanding, explaining that his government was not trying to renounce contracts, as he underscored that the cancellation fee of more than 100 billion ringgit ($24.33 billion) "may impoverish" the country.
"It is not that we don't want to honor our contracts, but we just cannot pay," he said.
"As such, we seek the understanding of the parties concerned," he said. "We don't want to frustrate or throw out a contract, but we are really tight in terms of finance."
Mahathir, 93, also sought to dispel confusion over the status of the railway project.
"No final decision has been made. Not off yet. No call off, no final decision yet," he told reporters who pressed him to confirm his economic affairs minister's earlier statement.
To avoid future media confusion on the ECRL, Lim said the cabinet had decided on Wednesday that no ministers would be authorized to make statements pertaining to the Beijing-backed project, other than Mahathir himself.
Mahathir, who has earned a reputation for being willing to stand up to China and its growing influence in Southeast Asia through its signature OBOR initiative, has described as "unfair" several Chinese-funded projects authorized by Najib, who was voted out of office amid a massive financial scandal.
U.S. federal justice officials have accused Najib of plundering the state investment fund known as 1MDB. He is facing 42 corruption-related and abuse of power charges.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia-brokered talks aimed at ending a separatist conflict in the Thai Deep South hit a snag after Thailand's new peace negotiator did not show up for an introductory meeting with his rebel counterparts in Kuala Lumpur at the weekend, prompting them to call for his removal.
Malaysian facilitator Abdul Rahim Noor told BenarNews that Udomchai Thammasarorat's "strange behavior" shocked him, while the chief Thai negotiator claimed he was never meant to attend the meeting, which he described as at the technical-level only.
Abdul Rahim, however, said that delegates from both sides had arrived in Malaysia's capital on Saturday for an introductory dialogue meeting between the Thai team led by Udomchai and MARA Patani, a panel representing rebel groups and that is led by Sukree Haree. In recent months, Malaysia's new government and the Thai government have launched efforts to revamp talks that were launched in 2015.
"On Saturday night, Udomchai told the Malaysian [officials] that he would only meet the separatists' panel head, Sukree, despite everyone being present for the dialogue," Abdul Rahim told Benar on Monday. Udomchai returned to Thailand on Sunday without taking part in talks.
"Udomchai also told Malaysia that the people from his team could meet with the separatists on Sukree's panel. This request was deemed strange by the separatists and to me, it was a strange behavior on the part of Udomchai. I was shocked," the Malaysian facilitator said.
On Sunday, Udomchai defended his actions. He said his side was ready to talk, but the Kuala Lumpur trip was meant for a meeting with Abdul Rahim only and not with any specific group.
"Regarding MARA Patani, both sides were scheduled to meet at a technical level. Our side was led by Maj. Gen. Kriangkrai Srisak, the secretary-general of the peace delegation," Udomchai told BenarNews. "But the facilitator's team informed us that MARA Patani wanted to meet us as a full delegation and everyone was there, whereas the full team was not scheduled to meet."
Udomchai said he was willing to hold a smaller meeting.
"To keep the relationship, MARA Patani peace talk chief Sukree Haree was allowed to meet one-on-one with me first, but MARA Patani did not accept that and resorted to issuing a statement," he said. "Formal talks must get through the technical level, to fix topics so that we don't waste time and we may be able to agree on something that we can start right away."
MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafez Al-Hakim brushed off Udomchai's statement.
"All were just his excuses," he told BenarNews on Monday.
MARA: 'Unacceptable'
Following the cancellation of the Kuala Lumpur meeting, Sukree Haree issued a video statement in which he announced that MARA had decided to suspend the peace talks until after the Thai general election on March 24. The group noted that Udomchai wanted to meet with the MARA delegation's leader only.
"MARA Patani sees the attitude of refusal to confront the dialogue team as unacceptable and (we) suspect a hidden agenda when he only wanted to meet me," Sukree said, adding that his team would propose that the Thai government replace Udomchai with a person "with more credibility."
Abdul Rahim said it was up to the two sides to determine when they would meet, and that his role was one of a facilitator. Udomchai's move to cancel the meeting could have come from a higher government official, the Malaysian peace broker noted.
"Udomchai told the Malaysian team he took that stand because Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha wanted him to," Abdul Rahim said.
He also discounted comments that Udomchai had planned to meet with him only and none of the separatists.
"If Udomchai was supposed to meet me only, why bring along the delegation for just one night in Kuala Lumpur," Abdul Rahim told BenarNews.
The Thai delegation's decision was calculated to delay the negotiations, said Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, a Kuala Lumpur-based think tank.
"And it could only have been done with the instructions of Udomchai's political masters. Any number of reasons could be behind it, including the forthcoming general elections," Shahriman told BenarNews.
"In any case, Malaysia should send a clear signal to Thailand that it would offer to continue to facilitate these talks only if the Thais are truly serious about them and will not waste our time in the future."
MARA Patani includes representatives from National Revolutionary Front (BRN), the largest and most powerful of southern insurgent groups, but its hardcore leaders have stayed away from talks between the Thai military government and MARA.
The Deep South borders Malaysia and encompasses Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces as well as four districts in Songkhla province. Nearly 7,000 people have been killed in violence in the region since the insurgency flared up again in early 2004 after a dormant period.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Authorities have portrayed him as a bomb expert – and he admitted to carrying out Indonesia's first known bombing launched by a foreign terrorist, according to police.
Taufik Abdul Halim expressed no remorse while recalling how he tried to set off a bomb at Jakarta's Atrium Plaza shopping complex 18 years ago.
The bomb, hidden in a Dunkin' Donuts box, exploded prematurely, police said. It blew off part of Taufik's right leg, and flying debris injured six other people.
"I have no regrets for what happened," Taufik told BenarNews during a wide-ranging two-hour interview.
In it, he talked about his past, the struggles that one of his two daughters has had to go through as a child of a convicted terrorist, and what caused him to launch an attack in a foreign land.
"In Islam, we know that it is not permissible to murder women, young children and all that, but when we do our strikes and they are killed, what can one do? They are collateral damage," he said. "They were affected by our attacks not because we purposely wanted to do it."
Taufik, who returned home to Malaysia in 2014 after serving 12 years in an Indonesian prison, claims he never had a chance to build a bomb.
'My decision all the way'

Still, militancy flows in the blood of some of Taufik's relatives: His brother-in-law, Zulkifli bin Hir (alias "Marwan") was killed in 2015 during a southern Philippine raid, which went awry and led to the deaths of 44 police commandos.
Marwan was suspected of heading the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia terror group, the U.S. State Department said in 2007, as it offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Washington had accused Marwan of involvement in deadly bomb attacks in the Philippines.
Marwan's brother, Rahmat Abdhir, was in an American prison in 2008 for financing terror activities, according to news reports. Marwan's cousin Mohamad Nazir Lep, an alleged member of the militant groups Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda, is also one of the two Malaysians still being detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
But Taufik, 43, said he was never influenced by Marwan, contrary to claims by Indonesian police.
"It was my decision all the way right from the beginning. They do their own thing, I do my own thing," he said.
"It is like when I wanted to go to Maluku I told him (Marwan) I wanted to go. He did not ask me to go there. It has nothing to do with him or the others. He knew I was going but my siblings or parents were not aware," he said, referring to the Indonesian province.
Indonesian authorities said Taufik had placed the bomb in the donut container, and was carrying it into the Atrium mall when it went off too soon. Police said "it was Indonesia's first known attack by an international terrorist," according to the Los Angeles Times.
The bomb was meant to be detonated at a church inside the mall area, Taufik said, as he provided previously unreported details about the bombing.
"There were a few people in our group," he said. "Our initial mission wasn't to launch an attack (at the mall), but to assassinate a few people who were the leaders and provocateurs in the earlier Maluku sectarian conflict."
Taufik was referring to deadly clashes that broke out between Muslims and Christians in the Indonesian province, including in several areas of its capital Ambon, in the late 1990s.
He said the original targets of that bombing had been tipped off, "so we had to do something, and the plan changed." Members of his group delivered bombs in three other target places, including a church, he said, but the person who was tasked to carry his bomb had cold feet.
"So I decided to deliver it myself," he said. "But the package exploded before it arrived at the intended target."
"I would have run if I could, but I realized I didn't have a leg," he said.

[https://www]

Taufik Abdul Halim wears a prosthetic leg during the BenarNews interview in Johor, Malaysia, Jan. 27, 2019. [Hadi Azmi/BenarNews]

Due to his serious injuries, Taufik had to be hospitalized under heavy guard. Three months later, authorities charged him for the explosion and his links to other terror attacks.
Taufik was initially sentenced to death, but it was later redacted to 20 years imprisonment after his attorneys filed an appeal.
Taufik has been closely watched by the police since he was deported to Malaysia after serving his sentence in the neighboring country. Five police officers were present while BenarNews was interviewing him at a site chosen and paid for by the police.

About 50 convicted terrorists and Islamic State (IS) sympathizers were being monitored by Malaysian police nationwide since 2013, according to Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the director of the police's counter-terrorist special branch.
"Our team is always monitoring Taufik to make sure he does not return to his old activities," Ayob told BenarNews, as he acknowledged that Malaysian police had no reason to arrest Taufik because he had not been involved in any criminal activities in his home country.
Life after prison
After his release from prison in 2014, Taufik returned to Malaysia and started a new life with his Indonesian wife, whom he married while in prison. He is believed to be working as a farmer and lives with their two daughters.
Taufik is a free man who can visit his relatives any time. But he complained about freedom.
"People see life in prison being hard, but actually being free is harder," he said. "Day-to-day survival is hard. Right now all I think of is my parents, my children, wife and my siblings."
Taufik, who wore an oversized purple collared shirt and a sarong during the interview, said no one ever dared to confront him about his past, even though he knew that his village neighbors were aware of his history.
"I was approached by kids at the mosque. They kept asking me what happened to my leg and asked me if it was blown off in an explosion," the bearded Taufik said. "So, there I knew they would not be able to get this information without having it being told to them."
Throughout the interview he conveyed his answers to the questions in a soft and barely audible voice; the bomb blast back in 2001 apparently affected his hearing.
He wore a prosthetic leg, but walked with an air of confidence as he strode in and out of the interview room.
He said that although he could tolerate people's perception about him and his past, it somehow had indirectly affected his 13-year-old daughter.
"One day, she came home crying. She was bullied. Someone said something about me. It was about me being in prison," Taufik said. "I told her that not all those who went to prison are bad people."
As he answered questions, Taufik remained calm. He did not deny what he had done, even providing insights about his teenage years when his family lived in the violence-hit Kashmir region, and how he ended up undergoing training in 1994 at a camp of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-backed militant group.
The militants trained him in how to use assault rifles, he said, and he also received training at a camps controlled by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. But he rebuffed claims from authorities that he was a bomb expert.
"I know the parts and I know what would make a bomb, but I have never made one," he said.
Not even the one he was holding in Jakarta, he said. "Another group assembled it and we just made sure it was delivered to the intended location," he said.
But he said he had accepted the consequences of his former militant links.
Asked if, given a chance, he would change anything about his past, Taufik hurled back a serious stare and minced no words:
"What if, what if, what if," he said. "It is delusional."
"What I have now, what I have to do, that's all there is. I am firmly in reality," he said. "I am in a village with one leg missing, so I have to do what I have to do, what I am capable of doing."
Nani Yusof contributed to this report from Washington.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Officials in Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province say they are undertaking preparations to release 47 Malaysians who were detained on suspicion of running an illegal gambling operation there.
Provincial Director Um Siphan confirmed that the group of 37 men and 10 women would be released soon, but could not specify an exact date.
"I don't have details but they won't be detained for a long time," he said in an interview with the Khmer Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews.
"They were very cooperative with us in jail and managing them was fairly easy," said Um Siphan.
The move to release the group was panned by an official from the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC).
"If we allow them to be released, it means that Cambodia doesn't implement its own laws. It will affect our laws," said Sum Chankea, coordinator of the NGO's office in the province.
He said that releasing the Malaysians would reflect a double standard in the application of Cambodian laws, and that legal measures should be taken against foreigners who break them.
He added that many illegal online gambling businesses in Banteay Meanchey were run by Thai, Chinese, and Malaysians, and that police have so far only arrested a few suspects.
Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday issued a press release on the case that suggested that many of the 47 could have been victims themselves.
"Officers from the Embassy of Malaysia in Phnom Penh made a consular visit to the detainees to ensure their wellbeing after receiving detailed information and approval from the local authorities," the ministry said in the release.
"The visit revealed that most of the detainees were offered jobs with an attractive pay," it said.
The embassy officers then met with prison officials and the judge, and finally sent a diplomatic note requesting their release to Cambodia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The release said that the embassy was "closely monitoring the case and [was] prepared to render the necessary consular assistance accordingly."




* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Ibrahim Haron is among ordinary Malaysians who had doubted the day would come when Najib Razak, an ex-prime minister and titan who seemed untouchable to many during his nine years in power, would stand trial over allegations of massive corruption.
The prospect is just days away with Najib expected to sit in the dock, starting Tuesday at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, over a raft of money-laundering, abuse of power and breach of public trust charges.
These stem from a financial scandal in which billions of dollars were allegedly looted from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund established by Najib a decade ago through his dual role as PM and finance minister. He faces up to 42 charges in all.
"For years, we have been hearing that Najib did this and that. But now, finally, we will get to hear in the court of law what actually transpired," Ibrahim, a bus driver, told BenarNews.
The trial is expected to unfold over 31 days, from Feb. 12 to March 29, officials said, but Najib's legal defense team filed a last-minute application on Friday with the Court of Appeal seeking to postpone the trial, local media reports quoted his lawyer as saying.
Whether the courtroom proceedings begin on Tuesday or later, it will mark the first time in the nation's 61-year history that a former prime minister will go on trial over criminal charges. Ever since Najib's name was first tied to the 1MDB affair in 2015, and after he was first charged in connection with the scandal in July 2018, he has maintained his innocence, assuring Malaysian citizens that he never stole any of the people's money.
In Ibrahim's eyes, the trial of the former prime minister, 65, will be the biggest story in Malaysia in 2019. Ibrahim said it would be seared into the public conscience for the foreseeable future.
"It will be like what happened to Anwar Ibrahim back in 1998 – the talk of the town," he said. He was referring to the Malaysian political icon and prime minister in waiting, who was twice tried and convicted on sodomy charges before being released from jail within days after last year's general election.
Najib is expected to stand trial nearly nine months after the leader and his UMNO party – which had controlled Malaysian government since the nation was born in 1957 – was swept out of power in the May 9 polls.
Najib's ruling coalition lost to the Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) opposition bloc, led by Mahathir Mohamad, a longtime former UMNO fixture who had previously served as PM for 22 years and who vowed to remove Najib from office and clean up corruption in government.
The U.S. Justice Department, which has filed court cases over the 1MDB affair, described it as the "worst kleptocracy scandal in recent times." The department alleged that high-level officials of the fund and associates had embezzled and laundered almost $4.5 billion (18.7 billion ringgit) in 1MDB money through real estate and other assets, between 2009 and 2014.
[https://www]
 
Image makeover
Since UMNO crashed out at the polls and Najib fell from his perch as party chief, other senior former government officials and his wife have also been charged over the 1MDB scandal.
Within weeks of the election, Malaysians were shocked to see videotaped images of police seizing suitcases containing millions of dollars in cash, and boxes of jewelry and high-priced handbags from Kuala Lumpur area residences linked to Najib's family.
On July 3, the day he was first charged, Najib accused the new ruling coalition of being out to get him, telling reporters at the courthouse that it was "what the new government wants."
"If this is the price I have to pay after 42 years of service to the Malaysian people, I accept it. What I hope is that the judicial process is a process that is truly fair, following the rule of law. I'm confident in my innocence; this is the best chance I have to clear my name," he said then.
However, as the days have counted down to his trial becoming a reality, the former minister has attempted to re-brand his image in the public eye as a more easy going, fun-loving and cool guy, according to reports.
For instance, he has been engaging with the public through social media and has used the Malay hashtag #MaluApaBossku in his rebranding effort. In English, it translates to "What is there to be ashamed of, man?"
As a result, young Malaysians like Fadhli Tahar say they have warmed up to the ex-PM.
Despite the dozens of criminal charges against Najib, the new style that the former leader has projected, in which he embraces the street culture of the ethnic Malay majority, was hard to ignore – and was even addictive, Fadhli said.
"He used to be uptight, very formal. But now, the way he engages feels very close to the masses, which we don't often see in politicians," Fadhli, a 31-year-old entrepreneur, told BenarNews.
"If he had been like this when he was prime minister, perhaps he would still be prime minister."
But Najib's new hashtag does not sit well with some other Malaysians, who have criticized him for trying to play down the serious allegations leveled against him.
Fahimah Abu Bakar, 55, said it was appalling to see Najib brazenly taking on the role of an internet "troll" and attacking the government through social media, while facing those criminal charges.
"It is unbecoming of him to stoop down to this level to appeal to the crowd to garner support," said the retired architect.
"Regardless of whether he is innocent or guilty, I feel that it is best for him to lay low for a while."
Calls for fair trial
Meanwhile, a prominent legal activist said that, no matter how passionately Malaysians felt about Najib's culpability and his upcoming trial, it was important to allow the law to take its course and ensure that he be treated fairly while in the dock.
"We may have our personal views about whether he is guilty or otherwise, but the law should treat him as an innocent person unless the charges are proven against him," Syahredzan Johan said.
"The rule of law, espoused frequently by this government should mean that an accused person be allowed to defend himself against a criminal charge in a fair trial before an impartial judge," he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS-Malaysia: Court Upholds Najib Appeal, Delays Start of Trial



* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim said Southeast Asian nations have to defend their territory amid Beijing's aggressive moves to expand shoals into artificial islands and build military facilities in the South China Sea.
Anwar, who is widely expected to take over eventually from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, made his statement during an open forum near the U.S. capital on Sunday, the same day that Washington drew Beijing's ire for sending two warships near the disputed Spratly Islands.
"On the South China Sea, we have taken a position that we will defend our territory," Anwar, 71, said in reply to a question that followed his speech at the International Institute of Islamic Thought, a nonprofit based in Herndon, Virginia, in the suburbs of Washington.
"The best option is to work with other small countries in ASEAN to defend our security position, particularly because we cannot expect the United States – given situation now – to be more positive with regard to the region," Anwar said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Shortly after the American navy sailed the guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance and USS Preble within 12 nautical miles of the Spratlys on Sunday night, China accused the United States of trespassing in its territorial waters, warning that it had deployed missiles "capable of targeting medium and large ships."
"The U.S. action violated the Chinese laws and international laws, infringed China's sovereignty, damaged regional peace, security, and order," Lu Kang, the spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing. "China will take necessary actions to protect state sovereignty."
China's warning came as officials from the two nations were in Beijing for a new round of trade talks scheduled for this week.
The U.S. Navy said the destroyers sailed as part of "freedom of navigation operation." In January, the destroyer USS McCampbell also sailed within 12 nautical miles of the Paracel Islands.
Cmdr. Clay Doss, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, was quoted by CNN as saying that Sunday's operation was carried out "to challenge excessive maritime claims and preserve access to the waterways as governed by international law."
The Spratly Islands, a chain of potentially mineral-rich islands and atolls in the South China Sea, are claimed in whole or in part by China, Taiwan and the Southeast Asian countries of  Brunei, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia. 

It is considered a flashpoint in the region. The claimants have agreed to desist from any actions that would complicate the matter, although China has been expanding and militarizing islands it occupies.

Beijing claims nearly the whole of the South China Sea, insisting that it has indisputable sovereignty over the region.
Keep negotiating with China, Anwar says
During his remarks in Virginia on Sunday, Anwar also defended the Mahathir government's decision last month to keep negotiating with Beijing over controversial China-backed projects.
"With China, we have to continue to engage because it's a very strong neighbor, powerful neighbor but strong economy," he said. "For our survival, we need investments, trade with the Chinese."
However, Anwar said, Malaysia must renegotiate contracts "when the economy does not allow us to go through these huge mega projects because of exorbitant price increase."
"If we fail, we cancel because the country can ill afford," he said, underscoring the government's right to junk agreements that were signed under "questionable or dubious" circumstances.
Anwar did not specifically mention the controversial U.S. $20 billion East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), a 688-km (430-mile) railway project to connect the western and eastern coasts of the Malaysian peninsula.
In January, Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Malaysian Cabinet had decided to adopt a statement from Mahathir that Kuala Lumpur would still keep negotiating the ECRL deal with Beijing.
ECRL, the centerpiece of China's infrastructure push in Malaysia, was to be financed in large part by the Export-Import Bank of China. The project is a Malaysian component of China's massive One Belt, One Road (OBOR) international infrastructure expansion program.
"In my experience in the government in the past, we would always say we will honor all our commitments, but when we have reasons, compelling case that the agreement signed is dubious, or through bribery, et cetera, then we can always question," Anwar said.
After he returned to power as a result of a stunning electoral triumph last May, Mahathir has issued statements implying that several China-backed projects approved by his predecessor, Najib Razak, would be placed on the back burner.
Anwar, a twice-jailed 70-year-old former deputy prime minister, received a royal full-pardon after the May general election led to a landslide victory for the Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope), an upstart coalition of political parties that he led together with Mahathir.
During the open forum, Anwar also defended Mahathir's decision in October last year to free 11 ethnic Uyghur Muslims, allowing them to leave for Turkey. Mahathir, defying Beijing's request that they be repatriated, said the refugees had not broken laws in his country.
"This engagement with the Chinese should not bar us from raising questions or issues which affect not only the interest of the country but justice for any community," Anwar said.
Anwar made the statement a day after Turkey denounced Beijing's controversial mass "re-education" camps in China's western region of Xinjiang, calling them a "great shame for humanity."
Turkey, in a strongly-worded statement issued by its foreign ministry spokesman, said thousands had been subjected to torture and brainwashing in the Chinese camps.
Chinese state-run media has strongly refuted some of Turkey's claims, saying they "violated the facts."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has broken up a syndicate led by a Vietnamese woman that specialized in forging records of foreign fishermen, enabling them to work and cross borders illegally, an official said Tuesday.
The syndicate targeted Vietnamese fishermen who did not have work permits or whose seaman's books had expired, MMEA deputy operations director Maritime Capt. V. Pannir Selvan said.
Selvan described the suspect as a Vietnamese woman in her 30s who holds Malaysian permanent resident status. The woman, who was not named, was arrested during a house raid by MMEA in the state of Pahang on Feb 3.
"During the raid on the suspect's house, the MMEA team managed to seize 36 Vietnamese passports, 54 Vietnamese seaman's books, fake seaman approval stamps, and other questionable documents," he said.
A seaman book is a continuous record of service that must be carried and is an official and legal record of sea experience.
On Jan. 30, MMEA arrested 19 Vietnamese between the ages of 19 and 50 who were in Malaysia illegally, as they attempted to leave aboard a local fishing boat off the southeastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
Investigators said they identified the syndicate's male ringleader as Vietnamese national Nguyen Au Yang, who apparently managed to evade arrest on Feb 6.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- At least 24 foreign fighters were arrested in 2018 in eastern Malaysia's Sabah state, a known transit point for Islamic State militants trying to reach the southern Philippines, officials told BenarNews.
Local security forces said they were boosting efforts to curb cross-border crime, amid signs of resurgent Islamic State activity in the neighboring country. Twin bombings at a cathedral on southern Jolo Island killed 23 and injured more than 100 in late January, and a man suspected by Filipino authorities of planning the attack has emerged as the likely new acting IS leader in the Philippines, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
"During 2018, twenty-four militants were arrested in Sabah under SOSMA," the Security Offences (Special measures) Act 2012, said Sabah Police Chief Omar Mammah, who added that none of them were Malaysian nationals.
"Sabah Police will continue to fight Daesh elements and terrorists from other groups who use Sabah as a haven," he said, using another name for IS.
Asked to confirm the information, Malaysian counterterrorist police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay put the number of IS arrests in Sabah in 2018 at 29. He did not explain the discrepancy.
Nationwide last year, authorities arrested 85 IS suspects – 44 of them foreign and 41 Malaysians, he said.
Two other states with significant numbers of arrests were the southern state of Johor (15) and Selangor (14), he said.
Overall, the 2018 numbers represent an ongoing decline from the peak year, 2016, with 119 such arrests.
Lai Yew Meng, a regional security analyst at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah, told BenarNews that the decline probably was a result of efforts by Malaysian authorities to combat militant movements. He pointed to a dusk-to-dawn curfew at the eastern front maritime border, among other programs.
In 2017, authorities also arrested 106 suspected militants, Ayob said. The breakdown of arrests by state or nationality in those years was not immediately available.
However, in October 2017, Malaysian officials announced that they had arrested 45 foreign militants thus far that year, and a total of 70 since 2013.
Key transit points
Two coastal towns in Sabah, Tawau and Sandakan, are among the key transit locations for Islamic-State militants, Malaysian police chief Mohd Fuzi Harun said in a Jan. 31 press statement.
During the past two months, six terror suspects, including four foreigners, were captured in anti-terror raids in Selangor, Johor and Sabah states, Fuzi announced on Friday.
Fuzi said the foreign suspects were from Singapore, Bangladesh, the Philippines and an unspecified South Asian country. Some of the suspects were linked to the militant groups Islamic State (IS) and Abu Sayyaf, he said.
"The first arrest was made on Dec. 19 in Johor, where a 48-year-old Singaporean businessman was nabbed," Fuzi said in the statement. Singapore officials have identified the suspect as Mohamed Kazali Salleh.
Fuzi said the suspect has been handed to Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD), which assisted in his arrest, after being questioned by Malaysian police. He remains in custody on charges of violating Singapore's Internal Security Act for his alleged involvement in terror activities.
The other five suspects have been detained in Malaysia under the Security Measures (Special Offences) Act (Sosma) of 2012. 

"The suspect was actively in touch with Akel Zainal (a Malaysian linked with IS in Syria), and assisted in channeling funds to him," Fuzi said, referring to the Singaporean. "The suspect also received instructions from Akel to recruit several individuals to launch an attack against the Freemason building in Johor Bharu."
Singapore officials said Kazali failed to carry out the attack because he feared being captured.
Akel, whose real name is Wan Mohd Aquil Wan Zainal, became famous as a drummer in a 1990s Malaysian rock band and left for Syria in 2014. Previously, authorities labelled him as one of four Malaysians who would likely become a top recruiter for the militants after the death of Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi in 2017.
In a statement Friday, the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs said Kazali had been working during the past decade in Johor Bahru, where he became acquainted with and provided financial assistance to Akel for his trip to Syria. The funding continued even after Akel had reached Syria.
As Kazali became increasingly radicalized, he saw IS fighters as righteous individuals fighting for the good of Muslims worldwide, according to the ministry.
"At Akel's urging, he took a bai'ah (pledge of allegiance) to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, which was conveyed to Akel via social media," the ministry said. "He also agreed to join Akel in Syria when invited by the latter to do so on several occasions; he did not, however, act on it as he was not ready to leave his life in Malaysia behind."
Singapore officials said they had also detained Hazim Syahmi Mahfoot, who befriended Kazali in May 2018 and allegedly was influenced to join IS.
Other arrests
Fuzi said a second suspect, a 31-year-old Bangladeshi cleaner, was arrested Dec. 19 in Selangor. Police believe the suspect was recruiting individuals in Malaysia to join the IS.
"The third arrest was made on Jan.10, in Sepang, Selangor, involving two locals, both age 38," Fuzi said. "Both suspects, who worked on a plantation in a foreign country, had been deported home from their country of employment for supporting IS in Syria."
The police chief said one of the suspects allegedly channeled funds to another Malaysian fighting for IS in Syria.
The fifth suspect, a 21-year-old Filipino construction worker, was arrested on Jan. 19 in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah.
"The suspect is a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and had illegally entered Malaysia in March 2018," Fuzi said, adding it brings to 39 the number of ASG members arrested since 2017.
A 26-year-old housing contractor from a South Asian country was arrested in Puchong, Selangor, on Jan. 28, according to the police official. He did not name the country.
"The suspect had provided shelter to an individual from a South Asian country, who had been listed in the Interpol's Red Notice, for being involved in various acts of crime and terror," Fuzi said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad confirmed Thursday that his government would launch a formal inquiry into allegations of judicial misconduct – including in cases involving senior politician Anwar Ibrahim – made by a sitting appellate judge in a 65-page affidavit.
Mahathir told reporters the claims would be investigated.
"We are setting up an RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry) and it is up to them to look into the allegations," Mahathir told reporters at a Defense Ministry event in Kuala Lumpur.
Among other claims, Court of Appeals Judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer alleged that during a dinner with several top judges a month before the 2018 General Election, they discussed how they could be removed from the bench, or be subject to investigation, if the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition won the election.
"Basically it was a confession relating to guilt," Hamid said in the affidavit filed last week, referring to the conversation.
He also pointed out concerns involving Anwar, who had been convicted of sodomy and remained in jail during the election. Shortly after Pakatan pulled off an upset against then-Prime Minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional coalition in the May 9 polls, Anwar received a royal pardon. He is expected to succeed Mahathir as prime minister.
"In Anwar Ibrahim's appeal at the Court of Appeal, a judge told me that the Court of Appeal corum (panel of judges) was called to the chamber of top judges regularly and briefed what to do," Hamid said.
Under the Malaysian legal system, a Royal Commission of Inquiry is a powerful inquiry initiated in the name of the Malaysian king on the advice of the prime minister. The RCI is limited only by the terms and scope of the matter in question.
"We haven't decided on that yet (terms and regulations) but we will set up the RCI and the terms will be determined later," Mahathir said.
Hamid also claimed that members of a "hit squad" of judges who were predisposed to rule according to a narrative established by Najib's government were inserted as members of three judge panels.
"I have information [on] many of the constitutional misconduct of top judges in aiding and abetting them (the previous government) or being instrumental to organize a cartel of judicial rowdies," he alleged.
Meanwhile, Latt Shariman Abdullah, who served in Najib's government as a special function officer, questioned Mahathir's announcement.
"A Royal Commission of Inquiry based on just one affidavit and a 20-minute MACC interview? Most impressive and historical indeed," he said sarcastically.
"Do we expect a full tribunal to remove sitting judges at the end of its findings, save one or two clean ones as Justice Hamid asserted (save himself of course), since judges can't be removed by this RCI but only by a tribunal of their peers," he told BenarNews.
Court proceedings to go on
Attorney General Tommy Thomas insisted that all cases at all levels of Malaysia's superior and subordinate courts would continue to be heard.
"The establishment of an RCI does not mean that an automatic or blanket postponement of all cases would follow," Thomas said in a statement Thursday.
He cited a 1988 tribunal into allegations of judicial misconduct as well as a 2007 RCI into allegations of outside intervention into the appointments of judges.
"The ordinary business in all the courts proceeded as usual and no adjournments were entertained by the courts," Thomas said.
Lawyer Haniff Khatri, who represents Hamid, argued that the previous cases were different because his client's allegations affected the integrity of the entire judicial system and not just some individuals.
"The scope of this RCI needs to be wider because it offers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to thoroughly clean up the judiciary from corrupt practices that besmirched the dignity of the government arm," Haniff told BenarNews.
The lawyer is calling for the government to allow the RCI to open a channel for other individuals from within the judiciary to lodge their own complaints to get a clearer picture of the state of corruption.
"It should not just be on my client's affidavit, even though it contains plenty of damning allegations," he said while adding most judiciary members are honest.
"We need to make sure the people at the bottom feel they are being heard where their honest work is seen, and not be lumped together with the corruption at the top," he said. "So the government should give them a chance to speak."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia identified and closed 140 plastic recycling operations nationwide since the beginning of the year to combat the illegal importation and dumping of waste in the country, a minister said Monday.
The government began targeting the illegal operations in July 2018 after discovering that 750,000 metric tons of harmful waste had been imported, said Yeo Be Yin, Malaysia's minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change.
"We are still suffering from the aftermath, so we launched this operation with the target of closing 100 illegal recycling factories along with those that failed to comply with the Environment Quality Act within the first quarter of this year," she told reporters Monday after a raid on three sites in Negeri Sembilan, south of Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, became destinations for hazardous plastic waste after China cracked down on imports in January 2018, Yeo had told parliament in October.
A Malaysian recycling company saw its waste volume surge by 28 percent year-on-year, as a result of the ban, Chinese news agency Xinhuanet reported.
Yeo announced that her ministry had reached its first-quarter goal just two months into the new year with the closing of 109 of 239 inspected factories. In addition, 31 others were closed for non-compliance, making the total number of closures 140.
She warned those planning to open illegal plastic recycling operations to drop the idea because the government was serious about clamping down on the activity.
Since the crackdown, four factories and their operators were found guilty, sentenced to a day in jail and fined a total of 389,000 ringgit (U.S. $95,600), Yeo said.
"We are still investigating another 44 cases before bringing them to court. We are confident that summons of up to 3 million ringgit ($737,400) and jail time can be imposed on them if they are found guilty," she said.
The ministry announced that the government would confiscate land used for the illegal processing and dump sites if the companies were unable to pay their fines and cleanup costs.
Along with the closings, the inspections led to the apprehension of 29 Bangladeshis, 18 Indian nationals and 35 Chinese nationals for alleged Immigration Department violations.
Environmentalist reacts
The chairman of the Selangor chapter of a local conservation group, the Organization for the Preservation of National Heritage (PEKA), said more needed to be done.
"It's welcoming news but Penang Port is holding 120 containers of this waste without revealing the details of who the owners are," Damien Thanam told BenarNews.
He said investigations should not focus on just the operators, pointing out that the importers and the ships used to bring the waste plastic into Malaysia remained free.
"What will happen to those who shipped these containers into the country? Shipping manifest should reveal many of those involved and the origin of these containers," he said. "The shippers should be charged in court and these containers sent back and not auctioned off."
Previously, Yeo suggested that the plastic waste material found at the closed factories be auctioned off or be sent to landfills or incinerated, with the cost billed to the offenders.
"We at PEKA have received reports that some schools in Kuala Langat have not had their physical activities sessions out in the open due to air pollution," Thanam said. "We have also reported to the Selangor department of health about an illegal incinerator operating in Shah Alam suspected of burning plastic waste."
Neighbors told him that the incinerator operated at night despite being ordered shut down, he said.
"Many of these operations are already being moved out of Selangor to other states now," he said.
Selangor state had the most illegal factories with 65 identified from a total of 114 inspected, followed by Kedah with 15 and Negeri Sembilan and Pulau Pinang with 10 each, according to government statistics published Monday.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Even as Islamic State finds itself cornered in its last redoubt in Syria and has all but crumbled, Malaysians are still thinking about traveling to the so-called "caliphate" to fight for the extremist group, according to Malaysia's top counterterrorist official.
As many as 102 Malaysians have ventured to Syria and Iraq since 2013 in hopes of joining Islamic State (IS), but 40 have been killed in combat or other circumstances, including nine in suicide bombings, and 11 have since returned home, Malaysian police officials said.
"There are people who are still influenced by IS propaganda ... and they plan to go to Syria. However, due to the difficulties in entering into Syria, their plans were blocked," Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, who heads the counterterrorist division of Special Branch, told BenarNews. Special Branch is the intelligence arm of the Royal Malaysian Police.
At the same time, 51 Malaysians including 17 children, still remain in the Middle East but six are trying to come home, he said in an interview conducted via WhatsApp.
The 51 are concentrated around Deir ez-Zor, the largest city in eastern Syria.
"Following defeat after defeat of IS, this group (of Malaysians) has broken into small groups. At this point, the information that we have are that several Malaysians are holed up around Deir ez-Zor," Ayob told Benar.
The Malaysian children left in Syria range in age from 7 months to 10 years old, he said.
"We have information they have undergone para-military training. For sure, their thinking will be different from other children as they grew up in a war-torn country," Ayob said, adding that Malaysian police possessed the latest photos of some of these children.
Meanwhile, Malaysians are also now training their sights on joining pro-IS militants on Mindanao, the largest island in the southern Philippines, Ayob warned.
"The possibility of them (IS supporters) moving to neighboring countries like Mindanao is very high, to join groups with ties to Daesh like the Maute Group and the Abu Sayyaf, Group (ASG)," said Ayob, referring to IS by its Arabic name.
In May 2017, pro-IS militants from the Maute Group and ASG seized the southern Philippine city of Marawi, provoking a five-month battle with government forces that destroyed the city in forcing the extremists out.

[https://www]

Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, the chief of the Malaysian police's counterterrorist wing, is seen in his office at Special Branch headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Dec. 2017. [Amy Chew/BenarNews]

What to do with returnees
Among the 11 who have already come back to Malaysia, eight were charged, convicted and jailed, Ayob said.
As the debate rages in the West over what to do with foreign fighters stuck in the Middle East, Malaysia has accepted all its citizens who returned.
According to Ayob, returnees are not automatically jailed, and each of them is assessed individually.
"The police will evaluate their involvement (with IS) on a case-by-case basis and action will be taken accordingly," Ayob said.
"If they are not arrested, they will still need to undergo a de-radicalization program that is run by us before they are released back into society. Apart from that, we will continue to keep contact with them (returnees)," the senior police official said.
IS cells remain serious threat
While Islamic State's physical caliphate is in its final throes, according to media reports out of Syria, the group's ideology remains a potent and dangerous force in Malaysia, the counterterrorist police chief warned.
"The biggest threat for Malaysia comes from IS small cells ... which we continue to monitor," Ayob told Benar.
From 2013 till February 2019, Malaysian police foiled 24 terrorist plots and arrested 457 suspected militants, including 131 from 21 countries, he said. Of those arrested, 200 were charged in court where 175 were convicted and jailed. Another 123 were released.
However, a grenade attack that injured eight patrons at a Kuala Lumpur area night club in July 2016 was claimed by Islamic State as its first terrorist act on Malaysian soil.
Among the foreigners who were taken into custody since 2013, the largest contingent of 47 came from the Philippines, according to Ayob.
"The conflict in Mindanao will have an impact here. Since 2017, E8 arrested 37 Abu Sayyaf members in Sabah where they were hiding from Philippine security forces who were hunting them," Ayob said, referring to the Special Branch's counter-terrorism unit and the east Malaysia state of Sabah, which lies close to the southern Philippines.
"Given the geography, where Sabah can connect the southern Philippines with Indonesia, Filipino foreign fighters will (continue) to make Malaysia a destination to take shelter and hide," he added. "It will not be surprising if this figure (Filipino foreign fighter) will increase in 2019."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- More than four years have passed since Lidia, a Malaysian medical technician, disappeared from home with her infant son and husband.
The Mandarin-speaking university graduate, now 29, is among 102 Malaysians who left their country for Syria or Iraq to live under the Islamic State (IS) extremist group's so-called caliphate.
Last week, her father, a businessman from Johor state, said he had received a text from Lidia informing him that she had left IS territory in northeastern Syria and wanted to come home. She is one of six IS-linked Malaysians who are in the Middle East but have expressed a wish to return to their country of origin, police said.
"She is currently sheltering at Al-Hol camp in al-Hasakah," her father, who declined to be named, told BenarNews during a phone interview. Lidia is his daughter's real name but he declined to release her full name and asked to remain anonymous, citing security reasons.
"She walked for five days together with her two sons, now aged 2 and 4, to reach the camp from Mayadin. Another Malaysian, named Aisyah, traveled with her," her father said.
Al-Mayadin is a town in the Deir ez-Zor governate, where Malaysian IS members are believed to be holed up, according to the Royal Malaysia Police.
For years, her father pleaded with her to return, but to no avail.
"I believe she now wants to return home because both her husbands are dead," Lidia's father said.
"She also said there were heavy bombings all around her home," he said.
The father and daughter have communicated sporadically since she left Malaysia, and the text message was the first time he had heard from her in more than six months, he said.
"She has just registered herself with the Red Cross. I hope she comes home safely with her sons," the businessman said.
Lidia left Malaysia in October 2014, a few months after giving birth to her first son whom her father has seen only three times.
Her father had no inkling that she was going to leave.
"It was her husband who brought her there. She does not understand what IS is back then," he said.
After her first husband died, Lidia did not want to return home despite pleas from her father. She then married again. Her second husband has also been killed.
Lidia is among thousands of foreign nationals and families who joined IS, but today are fleeing the final assault on the extremist group's last redoubt in Syria.
The al-Hol camp in the al-Hasakah governorate in Syria's northeast is under Kurdish control.
"She has food and shelter. But the place is not comfortable for her and her sons. She wants to return home as soon as possible," her father said.
[https://www]
 
'A lesson to her'
Malaysian police said they were working to repatriate at least six Malaysian IS members who are stuck in Syria but want to come home.
"We are trying to bring them home. But, you know, the situation is difficult as it involves many parties from different countries," Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, head of the counter-terrorism division at Special Branch, told BenarNews.
Special Branch is the intelligence arm of the Royal Malaysian Police.
Of the 102 Malaysians who ventured to Syria and Iraq since 2013 in hopes of joining IS, 40 have been killed in combat or other circumstances, including nine in suicide bombings, while 11 have returned home, Ayob said.
A total of 51 Malaysians, including Lidia and 17 children, remain in Syria, according to the top police official.
Asked whether returnees would be jailed, the chief of counter-terrorist police said each case would be evaluated individually, and not all returnees would be incarcerated.
"But all will have to go through a de-radicalization program," Ayob said.
As for Lidia's father, he said he just wanted her to be repatriated even if it meant that she might have to spend time behind bars.
"I don't care about the possibility that she would be detained. I just want her home and to see my grandsons," said her father.
"Let her experience under IS be a lesson to her. Now it is proven that Malaysia is better than the Caliphate. Now she can make the comparison," he told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian villagers rescued 35 hungry Rohingya women and children who were stranded along a beach in the nation's northernmost state on Friday, officials said, as reports surfaced that human traffickers could have dropped off the group from neighboring Thailand.
Police scrambled to the scene after receiving phone calls from local residents that they had found 26 Rohingya women and nine children covered in mud and weak while walking along the coast of Kuala Sungai Baru village in Perlis state, authorities said.
"Based on information gathered by my officers who were at the scene, a group of illegal immigrants believed to be of Rohingya descent was found by the side of the road while another group was still in the sea and assisted to the shore by the public," state police chief Noor Mushtar Mohd said in a statement.
He said the Rohingya Muslims were believed to have been dropped off by a fishing boat before dawn Friday and were making their way through the muddy shores during low tide before they were spotted and aided by villagers, who gave them new clothes.
The Rohingya women and children were fed before they were handed over to immigration officers who transported them to the Belantik Immigration Office, about 134 km (84 miles) south, Noor Mushtar said.
 
Malaysia, which has a dominant Muslim-majority population, does not make any distinction between undocumented workers and refugees. The nation's laws consider any illegal entry as a criminal offense.
Immigration officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Yante Ismail, spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kuala Lumpur, said the agency was aware of reports about the Rohingya Muslims, and would be ready to provide humanitarian assistance.
"UNHCR will be in contact with Malaysian authorities to seek access to these individuals in order to assess their protection needs," Yante told BenarNews.
A police official in Kangar, capital of Perlis, told the Associated Press that the group was believed to have come from Thailand. The official sought anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Lilianne Fan, international director of the Geutanyoe Foundation, a refugee assistance organization, said it was coordinating with UNHCR and other NGOs to assist the Rohingya women and children.
"I believe we could expect to see more of this happening," Fan said.
In 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya were driven out of Myanmar's northern Rakhine during a massive military counter-offensive, which the United States and the U.N. described as ethnic cleansing. The retaliatory operation took place after Rohingya militants attacked Myanmar security outposts, sparking an exodus of refugees into Bangladesh.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Ten months after its first-ever electoral defeat, Malaysia's oldest political coalition lurched further toward potential collapse Monday as leaders of two key component parties called for it to be dissolved or restructured.
The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) were founding members of the Barisan Nasional coalition, alongside the United Malays National Organization (UMNO). But in recent months that alliance has been undermined, its leaders said.
"MCA and MIC being representatives of their respective communities, acknowledge that the metamorphosis of BN to its present form has been rejected by their communities and are therefore calling for its dissolution or restructuring," a joint statement said.
BN, established in 1973, suffered its first electoral defeat in May 2018, leading to the end of its unbroken six-decade rule and the departure of 10 of its 13 coalition members. The upstart Pakatan Harapan coalition scored a stunning upset and returned former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had left BN, to power.
BN won just 79 of 222 parliament seats in May, but that number has since shrunk to 40 as 22 MPs representing the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak left the coalition and 17 UMNO MPs defected.
UMNO now holds 37 seats in parliament, while BN, MCA and MIC have one each – falling far short of the 112 needed to control the government.
'Racial remarks'
In their statement, the MCA and MIC leaders said their parties did not recognize the "illegal" appointment in October 2018 of hardline UMNO Supreme Council member Nazri Aziz as BN's secretary general.
They said Nazri's "repeated racial remarks" and UMNO's silence on the matter had "cracked the foundation of mutual respect that BN stood for all this while."
Speaking ahead of a by-election in Semenyih, Selangor late last month, Nazri reportedly accused the current government of failing to defend the rights of Malays, who make up 61 percent of 33 million Malaysians.
"It is the duty of every prime minister and the government to defend the (Malay) privilege. However, the government is weak," Malaysiakini reported Nazri as saying at a lecture on Feb. 23.
"Many things that never happened before are happening now – [look at the appointment of the] attorney-general, chief justice and finance minister," Malaysiakini reported the former tourism minister as saying.
He appeared to be referring to Attorney General Tommy Thomas, an ethnic Indian Christian, and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, an ethnic Chinese Malaysian.
"The uncalled for racial remarks by the Datuk Seri Nazri in Semenyih have further damaged the ties between the three founding parties," the joint MCA/MIC statement said.
'This might not be the end'
Acting UMNO president Mohamad Hassan said the coalition would hear the grievances.
"The BN Supreme Council will call for a meeting at the nearest possible time and discuss the matter in detail," he told BenarNews.
Hassan, who was elected as UMNO's vice president following the general election defeat, became acting president in December when Ahmad Zahid Hamidi took leave in response to the exodus of party members.
Prior to the election loss, Zahid had served as deputy to Prime Minister Najib Razak. Like Najib, Zahid faces multiple charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.
The U.S. justice department alleges that high-level government officials and associates embezzled and laundered almost $4.5 billion (18.7 billion ringgit) from the 1MDB state fund through real estate and other assets, between 2009 and 2014.
Nazri told BenarNews that he welcomed the MCA and MIC departures as it would be their own demise.
"Both parties have only one seat each, they need BN more than BN needs them," he said.
He added the parties should just leave like other members and not waste time with calling for a discussion.
Awang Azman Awang Pawi, a political analyst with the Academy of Malay Studies at Universiti Malaya, said UMNO might benefit from the latest defections, as it could cooperate with Malay Muslim-based Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) for control of Malay voters.
"With MCA and MIC out of the way, there is no stopping other parties from joining BN, and this might not be the end of BN just yet," added Awang Azman.
The most recent reports show Pakatan Harapan, with its Sabah-based allies Warisan and UPKO,  holding 135 seats in parliament, followed by BN and its allies with 40, the Sarawak Union Party with 19, the Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS), with 18, and the United Sabah Party with three. Seven members are independent.
CORRECTION: An earlier version incorrectly stated that Barisan Nasional was founded in 1957.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia's new government has reopened an investigation into mass graves of Rohingya and Bangladeshi trafficking victims discovered in the jungle along the Thai border in 2015, because officials determined that people were not satisfied with an earlier probe, the home minister said.
On Tuesday, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin introduced the seven members of a new Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) tasked with investigating the discovery of the gravesites and human trafficking camps at Wang Kelian, in northern Perlis state.
The commission must conduct a thorough investigation, although nearly four years have passed since the graves were found, the minister told BenarNews.
"Because from the prior investigation, many people were not satisfied," he said.
The government, which came to power last May, was taking the probe to the highest level so that, in the future, "no one can say that they are not satisfied and question Malaysia's commitment on human rights," Muhyiddin said, referring to the commission. "So even though it is late, it is never too late to get to the bottom of this."
Responding to a question from BenarNews about whether the royal inquiry would focus on complaints about an alleged cover-up in the previous investigation, he said, "We will look into every angle in regard to the mass grave discovery."
BenarNews contacted former national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, who headed the police force during the previous investigation, but he declined to comment.
The commission will be led by former Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria and former Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai.
Other members consist of Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) chairman Razali Ismail; former chief prosecutor Noorbahri Baharuddin; Junaidah Abdul Rahman, a former chief researcher at the Attorney General's Chamber; former Malaysian ambassador to Thailand Nazirah Hussin; and Tan Seng Giaw, former deputy chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
The members are expected to establish a timeline for the investigation and a list of persons of interest to question. They have been given six months to complete their investigation and file a report to be submitted to the king.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Muhyiddin said the mass graves had attracted the world's attention because of the countries involved.
"Victims were Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh, while Malaysia and Thailand became the transit point," he said.

[https://www]

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin (left) presents a Royal Commission of Inquiry appointment letter to former Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria in Putrajaya, Malaysia. March 5, 2019. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]

139 graves
In late May 2015, Malaysian police disclosed that they had unearthed 106 corpses from 139 graves at abandoned human-smuggling camps near Wang Kelian.
Officials arrested 12 police along with several foreign nationals soon after the discovery.
In 2017, then-Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters that the police were released from custody because of a lack of evidence. Four foreigners – two Myanmar nationals, a Bangladeshi and a Thai – were convicted on human trafficking charges and remain jailed.
Also in May 2015, Thai officials announced that similar graves of trafficked Rohingya and Bangladeshis were found at an abandoned camp in the jungle on their side of the border. Since then, the Thai government tried 102 individuals linked to the graves and convicted 62, including a former three-star general.
Muhyiddin said he was aware of public concern about the mass graves, pointing out the Pakatan Harapan coalition government was committed to finding out the truth through a transparent and fair investigation.
"At the regional level, Malaysia is at the forefront of issues pertaining to tackling migrant-smuggling," he said. "As pioneers in tackling this issue, Malaysia's action in setting up the RCI proves the government's determination to resolve the issues regarding the inhumane act."
In addition to its own investigation, the RCI is tasked with determining how the mass graves affect Malaysia's image on the global stage involving its human rights record and its bilateral relationships, he said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysia's oldest political party said Tuesday that it would work with a Muslim-based rival party, less than 24 hours after fellow founding partners in the Barisan Nasional coalition asked that the bloc be dissolved or restructured.
Mohamad Hassan, acting president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, announced plans to collaborate with the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) to ensure unity and stability in the country.
Hassan said the effort to join ranks with PAS did not change the Barisan coalition, which had controlled Malaysian government for decades until it crashed out of power in last year's general election.
"This is not the unification of parties. It is just a cooperation on the matter that is being championed by both parties," he said. "There will be no new symbol. It is just a matter of working together.
"Because what we want to achieve is the peace and harmony we used to have before this," he said.
Joining with Hassan for the announcement, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said the two parties would try to find issues that brought them together.
"Even in PAS, we have members who are not Muslim. "Our concept is ummah (community) and our focus is the government interest," he said.
On Monday, leaders of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) co-signed a statement calling for a change, stating their alliance with UMNO had been undermined in recent months. Specifically, they challenged the appointment of hardline UMNO Supreme Council member Nazri Aziz as BN's secretary general, stating that his "repeated racial remarks" had harmed the coalition's mutual respect.
Nazri responded on Monday, saying he welcomed the potential MCA and MIC departures.
"Both parties have only one seat each, they need BN more than BN needs them," he told BenarNews.
The possible defections by members of the ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indian parties could benefit UMNO by allowing it to cooperate with PAS to attract voters from the Malay Muslim majority, said a political analyst with the Academy of Malay Studies at Universiti Malaya.
"With MCA and MIC out of the way, there is no stopping other parties from joining BN, and this might not be the end of BN just yet," Awang Azman Awang Pawi said.
On Tuesday, Hassan said UMNO and PAS would focus on parliamentary by-elections and, if successful, could continue into the next general election. In addition, the parties would work together to serve as a check and balance on the new government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Exodus
Barisan Nasional suffered its first electoral defeat in May 2018. The upstart Pakatan Harapan coalition scored a stunning upset in the May 9 general election and returned Mahathir, who had served as prime minister while leading BN, to power.
Since then, 39 of BN's members of parliament have left the coalition with many aligning with Pakatan.
Hassan was elected as UMNO's vice president following the electoral defeat and became acting president in December when Ahmad Zahid Hamidi took leave in response to the exodus of party members.
Prior to the election loss, Zahid had served as deputy to Prime Minister Najib Razak. Like Najib, Zahid faces charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering linked to the beleaguered 1MDB state fund.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Iman Mohd Hazrin has spent half of her life pining for her father, who along with 238 other passengers and crew, has been missing since Malaysia Airlines flight 370 vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014.
Each night as she goes to bed, the 10-year-old keeps a photo nearby of her father, flight crew member Mohd Hazrin Mohamed Hasnan, never going a day without it.
"That framed photo never leaves her sight. Wherever she goes, it goes with her," Iman's mother, Intan Maizura Othaman, told BenarNews.
Five years ago Friday, flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur on a scheduled trip to Beijing.
But 40 minutes into what should have been a six-hour flight, its transponder was turned off and the plane veered  from its course, according to news reports that cited findings from an official investigation into one of civil aviation's greatest unsolved mysteries. The Boeing 777 flew for nearly eight hours and its last transmission showed the wide-bodied airliner flying south over the Indian Ocean.
Malaysian Minister of Transport Anthony Loke Siew Fook told BenarNews on Thursday that the government was willing to reopen search efforts if there was a suitable offer coming, but the government had yet to receive any.
Ocean Infinity, a U.S. seabed exploration company, ended its search for the missing airliner in May 2018 after more than three months of using underwater imaging technology to sweep an area of the southern Indian Ocean.
The company had signed a "no cure, no fee" contract with a 90-day timeframe in January 2018, more than a year after Australia, China and Malaysia officially called off their joint search efforts covering thousands of square miles of ocean waters off the western Australian coast.
'She wanted to see her father'
Five years on, relatives of passengers and crew of MH370 are struggling with not knowing exactly what happened to their loved ones.
On Thursday after going a long time without crying, Iman burst into tears after her mother showed a picture of her as a 4-year-old with her father.
"She told me it has been a long time and she wanted to see her father," Intan told BenarNews.
Iman's brother, Muhammad, who is nearly 5 years old, was not born when his dad's jumbo jet went missing but at times feels lost without his father, Intan said.
"I exposed him to Hazrin's photos and videos. So he knows who his father is. As he grows older he has started asking where his father is and if he can meet him," said Intan, who was six months pregnant at the time.
Intan credits her children with making her stronger.
"I would have gone crazy without my family, my kids. I tried to be strong for them," she said.
Intan said life had been tough both emotionally and financially since her husband's flight disappeared.
"I probably would not be here. I could have killed myself or ended up in the asylum – it was too much to bear," she said.
"Being pregnant and having to endure the years of not knowing what really happened to my husband, but Alhamdulillah (thankful to god) things got better. Slowly... I have to be strong for my children," she said.
Over the last five years, Intan kept herself busy hiking, participating in marathons and doing cross country runs.
She would try to bring her children along even carrying Muhammad on her back when mountain climbing.
"Memories. I want to spend time with them as much as I can. Doing things with them," she said.
She still thinks about Hazrin.
"But I think he is now in a good hands. I do not know where or by whom, but I would like to think that way," she said.
"It hurts not knowing what actually happened and where the plane is now after all these years, but I am trying to continue living so I can bring up the kids in the best way that I can as a single mother."
Intan hopes search efforts can resume – and she is not the only survivor – who wants answers.
Jacquita Gonzales, whose husband Patrick Gomes was MH370's inflight supervisor, has the same wish.
"I hope the government would accept an offer, if there is any, to conduct a search for the missing aircraft under 'no cure, no fee' terms. The government would not have to pay anything until it is found," she told BenarNews.
The 57-year-old kindergarten teacher added that the MH370 case was not just about finding what happened or where the plane could be, but for the government to reexamine the tragedy so safety procedures can be improved.
"We want to fly and we want to fly safe and to avoid such an incident from happening again," she said.
Hadi Azmi in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this story.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A Vietnamese woman accused of using a chemical warfare agent to kill the half-brother of North Korea's leader was "in good condition" to testify for the first time when her trial in Malaysia resumes next week, her lawyer said Friday.
Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong is expected to take the witness stand on Monday – with the trial's defense phase scheduled to begin more than two years after Kim Jong Nam was assassinated as he checked in for an AirAsia flight at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb.13, 2017. 

Prosecutors said Doan and Indonesian co-defendant Siti Aisyah approached Kim, the estranged half-sibling of Pyongyang dictator Kim Jong Un, and smeared a colorless and odorless substance across his face. Kim Jong Nam died about 20 minutes later.
"She is in good condition and confident to go on the stand," Salim Bashir, one of the three lawyers representing Doan, told BenarNews. "We will examine her by way of questioning, and later the prosecution will cross-examine her."

Both women have pleaded not guilty, with their lawyers arguing that they were misled into thinking that they were taking part in a prank for a Japanese comedy show on YouTube.
Prosecutors have argued that the two Southeast Asian women, along with four North Korean suspects at large, took part in a premeditated attack and also practiced for it in advance.
Salim said Doan will begin her testimony at the Shah Alam High Court by reading her sworn statement in Vietnamese, which will then be translated into English by an interpreter.
On Aug. 16, 2018, Judge Azmi Ariffin ordered the two women to remain in custody after ruling that the prosecution had presented enough evidence to move the trial to its defense phase.
Had the judge ruled in favor of the women, they could have been acquitted. But Azmi said "credible" evidence had pointed to a "simultaneous act" by the women.
In his ruling, the judge emphasized that he could not rule out that there had been a "well-planned conspiracy" between the women and the North Korean suspects, who fled the country after the assassination.
He called into question the defense argument that the two were carrying out a prank, saying there was no clear explanation why Doan had rushed to the bathroom to wash her hands after smearing the victim's face with a liquid.
Over the course of the trial, prosecutors laid out a bizarre plot claiming that the two women had been recruited by four North Korean operatives. They said the women, who were working in Kuala Lumpur as escorts, were trained as assassins to use VX, which has been classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.
In January this year, Siti won an appeal to obtain statements given to police by seven witnesses. Her defense lawyers said the documents were crucial to providing a clearer picture on what took place at the airport.
Her lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng, said the Appeal Court overturned the lower court's ruling that the statements were privileged, and ordered prosecutors to provide such documents to the defense. But Gooi told the Associated Press that the order has been put on hold pending prosecutors' appeal to the Federal Court.
"If we are allowed to see the statements, then we will get a fairer trial," Gooi told reporters. "If we do not get a fair trial, where do we get justice?"
Doan's lead attorney, Hisyam Teh Pok Teik, told a news conference in November last year that his side never applied to have access to the statements because the witnesses discussed in the documents were irrelevant for his client's defense.
"We have about five or six witnesses," he said. "One or two might be local while the rest are foreign."
But Naran Singh, the other lawyer in Doan's team, told BenarNews on Friday that the number of witnesses have been revised down to four, with one more witness still unable to confirm her availability.
"It is a foreign witness and she is declining to come, so we are working on finding a way to sort this," Singh said, as he expressed confidence on Doan's preparedness to face cross-examination.
"We are confident that upon hearing the entire evidence, I think one can say that she is innocent," he said.
The assassination bruised diplomatic relations between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang. Washington also imposed sanctions on North Korea in response to the murder.
If found guilty, Doan and Siti face a mandatory death sentence. 

Noah Lee in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The Malaysian police chief on Sunday announced the arrests last month of nine suspects linked to an African-based terror group, including five alleged members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood who planned to launch large-scale attacks in several countries.
Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun issued a statement announcing the arrests of two Malaysians, six Egyptians and one Tunisian national between Feb. 2 and 9 in the Klang Valley and the east Malaysian state of Sarawak. The Egyptians and the Tunisian have been deported.
The Federal Police's Counter Terrorism division made the arrests after receiving information from foreign intelligence agencies that several terrorist fighters were planning the attacks. The suspects are described as members of the Ansar-al Sharia in Tunisia, which operates in North Africa and is classified as a terror group by the United Nations because of its coalition with al-Qaeda, according to Fuzi.
"Five Egyptian nationals who were arrested admitted to being members of the Muslim Brotherhood and had facilitated the accommodation, transport, employment and purchased flight tickets for two members (the remaining Egyptian and the Tunisian) of the Ansar-al Sharia group," Fuzi said.
"This operation is a follow-up to a counter-terrorism operation conducted in April and November last year where two Egyptian members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested and deported due to their involvement in the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda terror groups," he said.
Fuzi said the arrests began in Sarawak, on Feb. 2, when an Egyptian along with a Malaysian man and woman were taken into custody.
"The trio, aged between 20 and 54, were nabbed for hiding information regarding the presence of Ansar al-Sharia operatives who were in transit in Malaysia, providing shelter for them and acting as facilitators in providing them with accommodation, jobs and flight tickets," he said.

That same day, Fuzi said a 42-year-old Egyptian working as a religious school teacher was arrested in Kuala Lumpur. The suspect admitted to being a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and provided accommodation to two members of the Ansar al-Sharia who infiltrated Malaysia in October 2018.
A 24-year-old Egyptian national who was a student at a university in the Klang Valley was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 2 as well. The man, who admitted to being a Muslim Brotherhood member, confessed to having bought flight tickets for two Ansar al-Sharia members who came into Malaysia in October 2018, according to Fuzi.
A 28-year-old Egyptian student who acted as a facilitator to the Ansar al-Sharia group members and assisted Essam Marzouk Al Hafez, an al-Qaeda operative who has since been deported to his home country, was arrested Feb. 2 in Selangor, the police chief said.
Two days later, a Tunisian and an Egyptian, ages 21 and 22, were arrested in Kuala Lumpur. They are suspected members of the Ansar al-Sharia group and had been arrested in 2016 for trying to sneak into a Central African country, Fuzi said.
"Both suspects entered Malaysia using fake Syrian passports, with the intent of using Malaysia as a transit point before entering a third country to launch attacks," he said.
Fuzi said a 50-year-old Malaysian who works as an Arab language teacher was arrested Feb. 9 in Selangor. The suspect is an alleged member of the Muslim Brotherhood who provided accommodation to two Ansar al-Sharia members last year.
In December, Fuzi announced police foiled an alleged plot by IS to attack places of worship in the capital Kuala Lumpur with the arrest of two suspects. The pair were among seven suspected militants – five Malaysians and two Filipinos – taken into custody through a series of raids between Nov. 19 and 28 in Kelantan, Selangor, Sabah and Kedah states.
Safe haven
Fuzi said investigators had determined that the foreign suspects arrested in February were trying to make Malaysia a safe haven transit point and logistics base. They had allegedly entered the country using legitimate and fake documents. In some cases, they married locals to obtain spouse visas, and exploited education facilities or conducted businesses.
"The infiltration of foreign terrorist fighters into this country has to be taken seriously, especially following the defeat of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq," Fuzi said. "They could use this country as a base to attack other countries or launch attacks within the country."
"Since the presence of the foreigners could endanger national security, all the (foreign) suspects were deported to their home countries, according to provisions under the immigration law, and marked for being blacklisted from entering Malaysia for life," Fuzi said.

Counter terrorism analyst Ahmad el-Muhammady told BenarNews that the arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members reflected the cooperation between the Malaysian security agencies and friendly foreign intelligence services.
"The case might send a strong message to the radical Muslim Brotherhood group that Malaysia is no longer safe for them to operate freely," said Ahmad, a lecturer at the International Islamic University of Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Lawyers for Liberty executive director Latheefa Koya previously said that deported suspects could be executed by the military regime in Egypt.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, she said the suspects were members of jailed former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's party and face persecution for their political beliefs.
Zam Yusa in Sabah, Malaysia, contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- An Indonesian woman accused of murdering the North Korean leader's half-brother at a Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017 returned home to Jakarta on Monday after prosecutors declined to press on with the case against her and Malaysian authorities released her.
An emotional Siti Aisyah left the courthouse in Shah Alam, Malaysia in the morning and flew to the Indonesian capital soon after. Malaysian authorities did not say why they were dropping the charges and letting her go.
"I'm so happy – I have no words to describe my feelings," Aisyah told reporters and others after landing at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in Jakarta hours later.
The decision came as lawyers for co-defendant Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam began their defense phase of the trial following a pause of several months.
"I move to have the charges against Siti Aisyah withdrawn under section 254(1)," prosecutor Mohamad Iskandar Ahmad said in court early Monday.
The court session in Shah Alam adjourned soon after as Doan's lawyers said they would petition for her to be freed as well.
Both Aisyah and Doan were charged with assassinating Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator King Jong Un, in a chemical attack at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13, 2017. Aisyah and Doan were accused of using a nerve agent, VX, to kill him.
Aisyah cried and waved as she was escorted by two of her defense attorneys out of the Shah Alam High Court.
The divorced mother-of-one who worked at a hotel spa in Malaysia before her arrest, flew home aboard a private jet owned by Indonesia's ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, Rusdi Kirana, who owns Lion Air.
Back on home soil, while being prompted by an official, Aisyah expressed thanks for being freed and discussed her time in a Malaysian jail.
"I thank our president Mr. Jokowi, and all ministers who have made efforts to help me and bring me back to Indonesia," she said.
Discussing her time in custody, she said, "they didn't do anything to harm me."
Her father, Asriah Nur Hasan, covered his face, got down on his knees in front of her and broke into tears when he and his daughter were reunited at the foreign ministry. Aisyah helped him stand.

"I thank everyone for their help, big or small. Thank you for helping my daughter get free," Asriah said. "We apologize for any mistakes. May God continue to protect us."
Aisyah offered thanks as well.
"I had wanted to see my family for a long time. I thank God that my parents always prayed for me," she said.
Reports of her release spread quickly in her hometown of Sindangsari on Java island.
"We've heard the news and we're so happy. We're getting a celebration ready!" her aunt, Darmi, told Agence France-Presse.
 
Letter from attorney general
Malaysian prosecutors did not state why they were not moving ahead with the case against Aiysah, defense attorney Gooi Soon Seng told reporters. He speculated that the prosecution had determined that it could not prove the charges against his client.
"There was no direct evidence that she applied anything on Kim Jong Nam. No evidence. The CCTV did not show that she did the act to the effect that she applied anything on the face of Kim Jong Nam. What was purely found was traces of the degrading product of VX," he said, referring to traces of the banned nerve agent found on Siti Aisyah's clothes.
In a letter shown to reporters on Monday, Malaysian Attorney General Tommy Thomas informed a senior Indonesian official of the upcoming acquittal and release of Aisyah, and said his decision in the matter took "into account the good relations between our respective countries."
Doan, who remains in custody, did not know about the prosecution's decision.
"I am shocked and I hope to be freed too," a tearful Doan said through a translator during a court recess. She had been scheduled to take the witness stand on Monday, but read only three sentences before her lawyers halted the testimony.
"On behalf of Doan, we will ask for the [attorney general] to review the case for the charge to be withdrawn on the same grounds as Siti Aisyah. We will make the application today," lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said.
"We were surprised by Siti Aisyah's decision. We were not informed of it earlier on," he told reporters.
"Doan is not in a state to testify. She is traumatized. She broke down and cried," he said, adding, "This decision is unfair. There is no equality and justice before the law. If Siti Aisyah is acquitted, so should Doan."
Judge Azmi Ariffin said he was "reluctant" to grant the petition on Doan's behalf. He said the trial would resume at 10 a.m. Thursday if the Attorney General's Chamber rejected the application.
He granted Aisyah a discharge not amounting to acquittal, meaning she could be charged again later if there was new evidence in the case.

[https://www]

Siti Aisyah (second from right) stands with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (center) and Siti's parents during a news conference in Jakarta, March 11, 2019. [Tia Asmara/BenarNews]

Negotiations led to freedom
In a statement issued midday Monday, the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur described Aisyah's release as the culmination of a long diplomatic effort directed by President Joko Widodo, who is aiming to win a second term in office in elections scheduled for April 17.
Indonesian Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly welcomed Aisyah at the airport.
"Today is a day of joy for us as a nation," he later told reporters during a press conference at the foreign ministry.
"At the behest of the president, the chief of the national police, the attorney general and other officials worked together to find ways to free her and communicated well with the previous government of Prime Minister Najib Razak as well as the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad," he said.
"So it was a long and concerted effort to help our sister Aisyah and make sure that she is here with all of us."
Prosecutors alleged that Aisyah and Doan approached Kim Jong Nam and smeared a colorless and odorless substance across his face in the airport's departures terminal. He died about 20 minutes later. The two young women were arrested within days.
Both pleaded not guilty, with their lawyers arguing that they were misled into thinking they were taking part in a prank for a Japanese comedy show on YouTube.
Prosecutors argued that the two Southeast Asian women, along with four North Korean suspects who fled the country and remain at large, took part in a premeditated attack and had practiced for it.
Ali Nufael in Kuala Lumpur and Nisita Kirana Pratiwi in Jakarta contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS-- A day after one of two women on trial for murdering the North Korean dictator's half-brother walked free, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Tuesday he did not know of any negotiations with Indonesia that led to her release.
The decision to drop charges against Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah was done "within the law," said the leader of Malaysia's new government.
In Indonesia, meanwhile, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo welcomed Siti and her parents to the presidential palace in Jakarta, and praised diplomatic efforts to secure her release.
Also on Tuesday, Vietnam's foreign minister called on Malaysia to drop charges as well against Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese defendant who remained in custody in connection with the February 2017 assassination of Kim Jong Nam at a Kuala Lumpur airport. Elsewhere, Doan's father said he was lobbying the Vietnamese government to push for his daughter's freedom.
Asked Tuesday if negotiations with Indonesia had helped secure Aisyah's release, Mahathir told reporters, "I do not have such information."
"I do not know the details. ... But from what I understand, the prosecution can withdraw the charge," the prime minister said. "There is a process within the law that one can withdraw the charges and that's what was done."
On Monday, as Doan began her defense phase of the trial after a pause of several months, prosecutors announced they were not pressing ahead with charges against her Indonesian co-defendant, who left the courtroom and then flew to Jakarta.
The two women were charged with assassinating Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-sibling of North Korean dictator King Jong Un, in a chemical attack using a nerve agent, VX.
Malaysian Attorney General Tommy Thomas on Monday made public a letter where he had informed a senior Indonesian official of the upcoming acquittal and release of Aisyah, saying his decision in the matter had taken "into account the good relations between our respective countries."
The Indonesian embassy in Kuala Lumpur had described Aisyah's release as the culmination of a diplomatic effort directed by Widodo, who is aiming to win a second term in office in elections scheduled for April 17.
As he thanked Malaysia for releasing Aisyah, Rusdi Kirana, Indonesia's ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, told reporters that President Jokowi had spoken to Mahathir about discharging her from Malaysian custody during their meeting last year at Bogor Palace in Indonesia.
In addition, Indonesian Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly, who welcomed Aisyah at an airport in Jakarta on Monday, discussed efforts to win her freedom.
"At the behest of the president, the chief of the national police, the attorney general and other officials worked together to find ways to free her and communicated well with the previous government of Prime Minister Najib Razak as well as the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad," he said.
On Tuesday, Jokowi spoke to reporters after meeting with Aisyah and her family.
"This is how the government pays attention to its citizens, and yesterday the government, represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, officially handed Siti Aisyah back to her family. I welcome her, and congratulate her return to her family," he said.
 
Efforts to free Doan
In Vietnam, Doan Van Thanh said he hoped Hanoi would press Kuala Lumpur to release his daughter.
"For the time being, I expect Huong to be released and go home, but I don't know what Malaysia will do," he told the Vietnamese service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews. "I do expect the Vietnamese government to help with proving Huong innocent and getting her released."
Meanwhile, a government official announced that he had reached out to his Malaysian counterpart in an effort to free Doan.
Vietnamese Foreign Affairs Minister Pham Binh Minh said that he had spoken with Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Saifuddin Abdullah.
Back in Malaysia, Doan is scheduled to return to court later this week.
Azmi Ariffin, the judge at the Shah Alam High Court who granted Aisyah a discharge not amounting to acquittal – meaning she could be charged again later if there was new evidence in the case – said he was "reluctant" to grant the petition on Doan's behalf.
He said the trial would resume at 10 a.m. Thursday (local time) if the Attorney General's Chamber rejected her defense team's application.
Radzi Razak in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this report.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Authorities in Malaysia's Johor State said Tuesday they had ordered the shutdown of 13 schools after hundreds of students and teachers were rushed to area hospitals when they inhaled fumes from chemicals illegally dumped into a local river.
Three suspects have been arrested, officials said.
The incident drew the ire of Sultan of Johor Ibrahim Iskandar, who ordered authorities to "quickly arrest and penalize the offenders" behind the dumping of toxic waste in the Sungai Kim River.

"As a result of the irresponsible act, hundreds of people, including students and pupils, had to be rushed to hospital," the ruler said in a statement on his official Facebook page. "Don't those responsible feel any remorse at the thought that children in the ICU are fighting for their lives?"
The schools should not be reopened, he said, as long as the situation was not safe for students and teachers. "Cut down on much movement outdoors," he said.
Shahruddin Jamal, chairman of the state's health, environment and agriculture committee, said the schools would be closed starting Wednesday.
He said authorities had made the decision during a meeting in which authorities also decided to appoint a licensed contractor that would carry out a cleanup of the river in Pasir Gudang, an industrial town about 330 km (206 miles) southeast of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
"The public are advised not to enter the area where the cleanup is taking place," Shadruddin said in a statement.

As many as 308 students, teachers and others have been hospitalized after complaining of breathing difficulties, dizziness and vomiting after inhaling toxic fumes, he said.
The closure order includes two schools that were ordered to be evacuated last week after dozens of students also complained of breathing difficulties when chemicals dumped in the river began emitting fumes as a result of hot weather, officials said.
Investigators had identified the illegally dumped chemicals as marine oil that emitted flammable methane and benzene fumes.

Investigation completed
Mohammad Ezzani Mat Salleh, director of the Johor Department of Environment, told BenarNews on Tuesday that his office had completed its probe after arresting three people, including a recycling plant owner.
Investigators also raided two factories on Monday and seized several items that would be used as evidence, he said.

The suspects were being investigated under Section 34b of the Environment Act, he said.
If found guilty, the suspects could face a prison term of no more than five years and fines, officials said.
The environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) on Tuesday urged authorities to disclose the findings of their probe.
"The results of the investigation and action taken should be publicly disclosed to ease the concerns of the residents living near the scene," SAM President S.M. Mohamed Idris told BenarNews.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A Vietnamese woman accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader, saw her bid for freedom dashed Thursday when Malaysia's attorney-general rejected her application for an immediate acquittal, her lawyers said.

Doan Thi Huong, 30, had filed for an acquittal Monday following the unexpected dropping of charges earlier that day against her co-defendant, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, who returned to her home country right after Malaysian authorities released her from custody.

"We are obviously disappointed with the decision of the AG (Attorney-General) not to withdraw the charge in Doan's case," defense attorney Hisyam Teh Poh Teik told the Shah Alam High Court near Kuala Lumpur.

In Vietnam, Doan's father, Doan Van Thanh, said the ruling had saddened the entire family, after the release of Siti Aisyah had raised their hopes.
"The whole extended family was expecting Huong to be freed and sent home, but that was not the decision, so we are very sad," he told the Vietnamese Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister news service of BenarNews, from northern Nam Dinh province.
"We expect the government's assistance so that Huong can soon be home. After the Indonesian suspect was freed, Nam Dinh Police came to us saying that we should rest assured over her case."
No reason was given for the decision by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas to reject Doan's application for immediate acquittal and release as a suspect in the February 2017 assassination by poisoning of Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, at a Kuala Lumpur airport.

As of late Thursday night (local time), the Attorney-General's Chamber had not issued a statement about the decision in Doan's case. Officials there did not respond promptly to requests from BenarNews to confirm the information as relayed by her defense team.

Describing the decision not to withdraw the charge as "perverse," Teh accused the attorney-general of favoring one party over the other.

"[The] AG has not acted fairly. Our rights under the Federal Constitution have been violated," Teh said, adding that both of the defendants had "been charged with the same offense." 

Doan, who looked pale and exhausted in the courtroom, broke down and cried following the ruling.

Doan and Siti Aisyah were charged with assassinating Kim Jong Nam by accosting him and smearing his face with VX nerve agent, a banned lethal chemical weapon, in the departures terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2.

Teh asked for an adjournment, saying that Doan was in no state to testify in her defense because she was depressed and felt ill.

"The accused has not been feeling well. Doan has not been sleeping well since March 11. She slept one hour per night," Teh said.

Judge Azmin Ariffin accepted Teh's request and adjourned the case to 9 a.m. on April 1.

"I am allowing this on humanitarian grounds," the judge said.
 
Vietnam reacts 

After the court hearing, Teh told reporters that the adjournment was also intended to allow time for the Vietnamese government to speak to the Malaysian government.

"We hope the Vietnamese government will put further and greater pressure on the Malaysian government to ensure there is equality," The told reporters.

Two days earlier, Vietnam Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh had called his Malaysian counterpart to ask that Doan be released as well, according to Vietnamese state media.

After Thursday's hearing, Le Quy Quynh, the Vietnamese ambassador to Malaysia, briefly told reporters at the courthouse that he was "disappointed" with the decision.

In Hanoi, Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs aired its displeasure with the Malaysian move.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung "expressed disappointment about Malaysian prosecutors' decision to reject #Vietnam's request to free #DoanThiHuong" during a meeting in the Vietnamese capital on Thursday with Malaysia's ambassador, Zamruni Khalid, the ministry said via Twitter.

Lawyers for both women had asserted both made scapegoats in the assassination, alleging that North Korean agents had lured them into the plot to kill Kim by making them believe they were taking part in a prank for a reality show.

Four North Koreans who fled Malaysia shortly after the murder were identified by police as suspects. An Interpol red notice alert has been placed on the four men.

In late March 2017, the body of Kim, who lived in Macau, was eventually returned to North Korea despite weeks of diplomatic feuding between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang over his killing. His body was repatriated in exchange for nine Malaysian embassy officials and their families who were stuck in the North Korean capital for six weeks amid the wrangling.

Two other North Korean nationals, whom Malaysian police had identified as persons of interest in the investigation, were on the same commercial flight that carried Kim's body out of Malaysia.

"In the case of Doan, she is completely innocent and she is a scapegoat, same as Siti Aisyah. We ran the same defense that they have no knowledge, no intention to kill, a scapegoat. If Siti Aisyah could be released, why not Doan?" The said.

Asked about traces of VX nerve agent that were found under her fingernails, Teh said Doan had no knowledge that the liquid substance on her palm was the internationally banned chemical.

Ruling coalition MP questions move

Meanwhile, lawmaker Ramkarpal Singh from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which is a member of Malaysia's ruling coalition, questioned the AG's move in the Doan case.

"No doubt, the AG has the power to discontinue proceedings against Siti Aisyah the way he did but why did he not do the same in the case of Doan?" Ramkarpal said in a statement Thursday.

"As the AG need not give reasons for his decision, Doan will never know why she was treated differently from Siti Aisyah. If she is convicted, she will always wonder if Siti Aisyah was equally culpable," Ramkarpal said.

He said the AG's discretion ought to be open to question, particularly when a person's life was at stake.

Doan would face the death penalty if convicted of murdering Kim Jong Nam.

"I am of the view that the charge against Doan ought to have been dropped the same way it was dropped against Siti Aisyah if the AG was of the view that North Korea had a hand in Jong Nam's murder," Ramkarpal said.

"Subjecting Doan to further prosecution and not her co-accused, particularly when a prima facie case has been found against both of them is, with respect, unprecedented and regrettable," Ramkarpal added.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday he would not declare an emergency, although the army announced that it had deployed a team in Johor state where authorities shut down dozens of schools after toxic waste sickened 2,775 people. 

State authorities ordered 111 schools to close Wednesday after hundreds of students and teachers were rushed to area hospitals following their exposure to toxic fumes from chemicals illegally dumped into a local river.
"We do not have to declare an emergency, do not have to evacuate people," Mahathir told reporters. "But we need to be careful and those who are in charge of maintaining this situation must be prepared to handle any problems that occur."
Mahathir spoke to journalists after receiving a briefing from local authorities about the dumping of toxic waste in the Kim Kim River in Pasir Gudang, an industrial town about 330 km (206 miles) southeast of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
The Malaysian Army said in a statement that a 25-member team of specialists and paramedics had been deployed to the crisis area to assist the state government in ongoing clean-up efforts.
During the past few days, a total of 2,775 people have complained of breathing difficulties, dizziness and vomiting after inhaling toxic fumes, state officials said.
State-run news service Bernama quoted Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin as saying that rain could have caused the contamination to spread despite efforts to contain it.
Local reports said the river waste could have contained chemicals that were used to dissolve metal at a scrapyard and a chemical factory.
Shahruddin Jamal, chairman of the state's health, environment and agriculture committee, said charges were being prepared against the owner of a recycled-tire factory who was arrested last week. Three suspects have also been arrested and detained, police said.
Meanwhile, Singapore's Civil Defense Force and the National Environment Agency said they had determined that no toxic elements had penetrated the island city-state's water system and no anomalies had been detected in air quality. Johor state, in southern Peninsular Malaysia is separated from the Lion City by the Strait of Johor.
​​​​​​​"We understand that the clean-up operation by the Malaysian authorities is in progress. The affected area is outside of the Johor River catchment, and there is no impact on Singapore's water supply," the agencies said in a joint statement.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS-Four Filipinos who fought alongside the Maute brothers in the southern Philippine city of Marawi in 2017 were among 13 suspected militants arrested in Malaysian Borneo last week, Malaysia's police chief said Monday.
The national police's counter terrorist unit also arrested suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and the Royal Sulu Force (RSF) in a two-day operation in Sabah state's Semporna and Tambunan districts that ended on March 12, Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement.
"We detained 12 Filipinos and a local in the operation. Those arrested were believed to be either part of ASG, RSF or the Maute terror group and there were also those who were arrested for providing shelter to foreign terrorists hiding in Sabah," Fuzi said.
Sabah has become a hiding place for suspected militants from the nearby southern Philippines, a police source who requested anonymity told BenarNews.
"At the moment there is no information that the group members are hiding in the peninsula, but there could be some. Sabah is their favorite location because it is close to the southern Philippines," the source said.
"They have relatives here who can help them. The influx of migrants from the southern Philippines in Sabah is also a plus point for them. They lead a low-profile life there," the source added.
The first arrests, on March 11, involved five Filipinos and a local man between the ages of 40 and 60 in Semporna, according to Fuzi.
"Four of the suspects are believed to have been involved in the Maute insurgency in the town of Marawi in the Philippines, in 2017. They were also involved in providing protection to Maute insurgents and other Middle-Eastern citizens hiding out in Sabah," Fuzi said.
"As for the two other suspects, they are suspected members of the RSF, the group involved in Sabah's Lahad Datu and Semporna incursions in 2013," he said.
In February 2013, a band of about 200 armed men arrived in a flotilla of rickety boats from the nearby Sulu islands in the southern Philippines and occupied part of Sabah's coastline for several weeks. Previous court documents showed that the band of 200 allegedly belonged to the RSF and had identified themselves as followers of the late Jamalul Kiram III, the self-proclaimed sultan of Sulu. 

Seventy-two people, including 56 Sulu gunmen, 10 members of the Malaysian security forces and six civilians were killed in gunfights that spread over several weeks. The fighting ended when the remaining militants fled and returned to the Philippines.
Fuzi said the two suspects arrested last week had allegedly recruited new RSF members by selling membership cards to Filipinos residing in Sabah.
"Both the suspects fled to southern Philippines after the RSF's defeat (following the Lahad Datu incursion). However, they slipped into Semporna again in November 2018 to reactivate the RSF's activities in the state," Fuzi said.
The RSF members said their goal was to gain control of East Sabah, according to the anonymous police source. In addition, the Malaysian suspect had allegedly provided shelter to the Maute insurgents, the source said.
Slipped into Sabah from Philippines
A second round-up on March 11 led to the arrest of five men and a woman – all Filipinos between the ages of 23 and 63, according to Fuzi, who said one of the suspects worked at a construction site and was an ASG member suspected of involvement in the Marawi battle.
The five-month Marawi battle ended in October 2017.
"The suspect slipped into Sabah in December last year, together with other members of the group, to escape from an operation by the Philippines military. The five others picked up had provided shelter to members of the ASG and the Maute group, who are still at large," Fuzi said.
A 39-year-old Filipino construction worker who gave shelter to ASG and Maute group members was arrested March 12, according to Fuzi.
Police said the arrests followed six months of surveillance.
Since the beginning of the year, Malaysian police said they had arrested 26 terror suspects – 13 Filipinos, six Egyptians, five Malaysians, one Pakistani and one Tunisian.
Fuzi said police were confident they could trace and track the remaining ASG and Maute group members hiding in Malaysia.
He said police had also arrested 10 Filipinos who had no valid travel documents, and turned them over to the Immigration Department.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- When Indonesian Siti Aisyah was brought to the Sepang court to be charged for the murder of North Korean Kim Jong Nam two years ago, she was flanked by four Malaysian lawyers appointed by the Indonesian embassy.
Senior Indonesian diplomats were at the courthouse and spoke openly with the press.
From the start, Aisyah had the Indonesian government looking out for her.
"I was appointed to represent Siti from day one," lawyer Gooi Soon Seng told BenarNews.
In contrast, co-accused Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong cut a lonely figure. A lone Malaysian lawyer volunteered to represent her.
It was almost two months before the Vietnamese Bar Federation, a non-government organization, paid for a team of lawyers to represent Doan. The Vietnamese government did not get involved in bringing in legal counsel and has largely remained silent as the case progressed.
Meanwhile, the publicity surrounding Aisyah made her a cause celebre in her own country, where segments of the public believed her defense that she was a pawn in the killing of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Aisyah and Doan were charged with assassinating Kim Jong Nam by accosting him and smearing his face with VX nerve agent, a banned lethal chemical weapon, in the departures terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13, 2017. Both defendants claimed they believed they were taking part in a prank for a reality TV show.
When the prosecution unexpectedly withdrew the murder charge against Aisyah and freed her on March 11, the Indonesian government described her release as a culmination of a long diplomatic effort directed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who even discussed the case with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad during his visit to Bogor in June 2018.
Malaysian Attorney General Tommy Thomas gave no reason for releasing Aisyah, but he told a senior Indonesian official that his decision in the matter took "into account the good relations between our respective countries."
Asked a day later if negotiations had helped secure Aisyah's release, Mahathir demurred, telling reporters, "I do not have such information."
Yacht, detained Malaysians returned
In August 2018, the Indonesian government returned to Malaysian authorities a yacht valued at U.S. $250 million linked to a corruption scandal involving the beleaguered state fund 1Malay­­sia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The Equanimity was impounded by Indonesia in Bali in early 2018 at the request of U.S. authorities as part of a multi-billion-dollar corruption investigation related to 1MDB. The Malaysian government is trying to sell it to recoup some of the losses tied to 1MDB.
A day before Aisyah was freed, 16 Malaysians who had been detained in Indonesia for two months for violating tourist visas by conducting commercial activities in Sumatra were reportedly released.
Her lawyer spelled out the reasons for dismissing the case against her.
"There was no direct evidence that she applied anything on Kim Jong Nam. No evidence. The CCTV did not show that she did the act to the effect that she applied anything on the face of Kim Jong Nam. What was purely found was traces of the degrading product of VX," said Gooi, the lawyer, referring to traces of the banned nerve agent found on her clothes.
Election ties
In Indonesia, analysts said Aisyah's release could have a positive impact on Jokowi's bid to win a second term on April 17. With less than a month to go before general and presidential elections, Jokowi needs success stories to boost his chances.
"Siti's release has a very positive impact for Jokowi in his election campaign as the issue of workers, both domestic and foreign, is a very sensitive issue," Denny JA, head of the Indonesia Survey Circle, told BenarNews in a phone interview.
"Her release gives the impression that he is able to protect the welfare of Indonesian workers in Malaysia. It also shows he has strong leadership, that he will ceaselessly fight for the rights of workers overseas until he could free Siti from a very heavy sentence," Denny said.
Airlangga Pribadi Kusman, a political science lecturer at Surabaya's Airlangga University, said Indonesian migrant workers were an important bloc.
"The number of overseas workers as of 2017 numbered 9 million, out of which 55 percent are in Malaysia, 13 percent in Saudi Arabia and 10 percent in Hong Kong/China, China, Taipei and others," he said. "One needs to consider, not only the possibility of the workers giving their support to Jokowi, but also their immediate families who will have a positive perception toward him because of this action."
'Little or nothing'
The man described as Malaysia's foremost constitutional law expert, Shad Saleem Faruqi of the University of Malaya, said the withdrawal of Aisyah's murder charge was not without precedent – even as Doan's lawyers decried it as unfair.
"I do not think it is unprecedented because in so many prosecutions there are a number of people that are accused and against some the charges are dropped, against others they are pursued," Shad told BenarNews. "But certainly in a criminal case, we should not be playing to the gallery, whatever the international expectation may be."
"He (Thomas) does not need to give a reason on the present state of the law, but as a matter of good practice and because this is an international case, perhaps he should give some reason why this case has taken a very interesting turn."
Doan was in court March 11 to expecting begin her defense when the trial ground to a halt after prosecutors announced they were dropping charges against her co-defendant.
Doan's legal team asked that charges against her be withdrawn as well – a request denied three days later. Disappointed, Doan broke down and cried. Her lawyers asked for an adjournment as she was in no condition to testify. The trial is now scheduled to resume April 1.
Doan underwent a medical and physical examination on March 15 and remains in custody.
Vietnamese expatriates living in Kuala Lumpur were downcast.
"Many of us are upset. We feel that the government has done little or nothing to help Doan. We feel very sorry for her," a Vietnamese professional working in Kuala Lumpur told Benar News.
The release of Doan's co-defendant drew cries of unfairness from her lawyers.
"The AG [attorney general] has not acted fairly. We ran the same defense, that they have no knowledge, no intention to kill, they are a scapegoat. If Siti Aisyah could be released, why not Doan?" lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A 17-year-old Malaysian boy was among the 50 people killed in last Friday's gun attacks at two mosques in New Zealand's second largest city, the Malaysian foreign ministry said Thursday.
The confirmation came days after Bangladeshi and Indonesian authorities had identified the victims of New Zealand's worst mass shooting. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had labeled the attack in Christchurch as terrorism carried out by a suspected Australian white supremacist.
"With deep sorrow and with consent from the family, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to confirm that Muhammad Haziq bin Mohd Tarmizi, 17, was among the 50 victims who lost their lives in the tragic shooting incident in Christchurch," the ministry said in a statement.
Muhammad Haziq's father, Mohd Tarmizi Shuib, as well as two other Malaysians – Muhammad Nazril Hisham Omar and Rahimi Ahmad – were wounded in the shootings, the statement added.
The confirmation on Muhammad Haziq's death came three days after Bangladesh identified its five citizens who were killed in the shootings: Mojammel Hoq, 30, Mohammed Omar Faruk, 35, Muhammed Abdusi Samad, 66, Zakaria Bhuiya, 36 and Hosne Ara, 42. Three Bangladeshis were wounded and one was still missing, authorities said.
On Saturday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi confirmed that Lilik Abdul Hamid, a 50-year-old aircraft engineer for Air New Zealand who was previously thought to be missing, was among the fatalities. She said two other Indonesians remain hospitalized but in stable condition.
New Zealand police said most of victims were immigrants or refugees from countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
All of the dead have been identified, New Zealand police said Thursday. Twenty-eight of the 50 people who were wounded remain in hospital, including six in intensive care, authorities said.
In the aftermath of the shootings, Adern announced that New Zealand would ban military-style semi-automatic and assault rifles under new gun laws.
"We are announcing action today on behalf of all New Zealanders to strengthen our gun laws and make our country a safer place," Ardern told a news conference. "All semi-automatic weapons used during the terrorist attack on Friday 15 March will be banned."
Australian Brenton Tarrant, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, has been initially charged with one murder and was expected to face further charges. But police acknowledged on Thursday that the person named on the charged sheet as the murdered victim is actually alive.
The error would not affect the case, authorities said.
The gunman, armed with a shotgun and semi-automatic rifles, including an AR-15, allegedly livestreamed his attack on social media.
New Zealand police estimated in 2016 that there were 1.2 million legal firearms owned by civilians – around one for every four people in the country where police officers rarely carried guns. As of June 2018, there were 246,952 active firearms licenses, officials said.
Before Friday's attack, New Zealand's worst mass shooting was in 1990 in the small seaside town of Aramoana on the South Island, in which 13 people were killed following a dispute with a neighbor, authorities said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A decision to destroy a human trafficking camp soon after its discovery in the jungle near Malaysia's border with Thailand and to delay for months the removal of corpses of Rohingya and Bangladeshis from mass graves hindered proper investigations, an independent inquiry alleged Wednesday.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and legal activist group Fortify Rights questioned why authorities let four months pass after finding the camp in Wang Kelian on Jan. 19, 2015, before allowing forensics teams to remove scores of corpses. The groups released a joint 121-page report, "Sold Like Fish," based on a multi-year investigation and more than 270 interviews.
"Malaysian authorities destroyed the human-trafficking campsite in Wang Kelian the day after it was discovered, potentially diminishing evidence that could have aided a police investigation. Malaysian authorities ordered a forensic team to exhume bodies in May 2015, more than four months after the gravesite was first discovered, without accounting for the delay," the groups said in releasing their report at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Many of the trafficking victims linked to the camp near the Thai border were Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals. They had been smuggled in overland across the Thai border after travelling by boat from Bangladesh and Myanmar.
"The four-month delay in exhuming bodies delayed post-mortem examinations and, in turn, hampered forensic specialists from identifying the cause of death of exhumed remains," the groups said.
A forensic pathologist stated that investigators could determine the cause of death for only three of 150 bodies examined, according to the report.
These factors were among those that could "constitute obstruction of justice," the groups alleged in their report without elaborating.
Malaysia's Home Ministry office, former Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar and the Royal Malaysian Police did not respond Wednesday to requests for comment.
The official Malaysian announcement of the discovery of the graves came days after authorities in Thailand said they had found dozens of graves of Rohingya and Bangladeshi human trafficking victims at an abandoned camp along the frontier with Malaysia.
The discovery of the graves and camps on both sides of the border in May 2015 led to a humanitarian crisis in Southeast Asia. Thailand launched a crackdown on human-smuggling syndicates and prevented boatloads of illegal migrants from landing on its southwestern shores.
As a result, as many as 3,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi nationals, who were abandoned by their handlers in smuggling boats at sea, landed or were rescued in neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia.
Police justification for destruction
Malaysian government information about the number of corpses discovered in Wang Kelian was different. Based on information released from the Malaysian Home Ministry, 147 gravesites containing 130 human remains were found in Wang Kelian.
A senior police official assigned to the region in January 2015 told investigators he was contacted by two others who had discovered the camp on Jan. 19, 2015, the report claimed, adding that many people tried to escape when officers raided the camp hours later.
Authorities detained 38 men whom they suspected of being "undocumented foreign migrants" but were not linked to human traffickers.
Police ordered the camp destroyed the next day and the first forensic examination of the site occurred in March 2015, according to the report.
"The Royal Malaysian Police justified the destruction of the camp on Wang Burma hill in January 2015 as reasonable on the grounds that if it were not destroyed, foreigners or subversive agents may have misused it. The Royal Malaysian Police says it recorded photos of the camp and its tents," the report stated.

[https://www]

Fortify Rights and Suhakam members display their report, "Sold Like Fish," based on a multi-year investigation of human trafficking camps and mass graves along the Malaysia-Thai border, on the sidelines of a press conference in Kuala Lumpur, March 27, 2019. [S. Mahfuz/BenarNews]

'The trafficking continues'
The discovery of similar camps and mass graves in Thailand led to a crackdown on human trafficking by the military government, as well as the arrests, prosecution of 102 suspected members of a transnational human smuggling ring. A three-star Thai general was among 62 who were convicted on trafficking-related crimes.
"Despite some measure of justice served through Thailand's mass human-trafficking trial, many who were reportedly involved in the trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshis remain free or at large in the region and protections for survivors of human trafficking remain limited," the report said.
Fortify Rights Chief Executive Officer Matthew Smith said human trafficking was allowed to continue because traffickers in many cases did not face meaningful legal consequences.
"As long as impunity continues, the trafficking continues. It is the same as the impunity in Myanmar for genocide, so that's why the refugee crisis continues," Smith said.
In Malaysia, 12 police officers and several foreign nationals were arrested shortly after the news of the camps went public.
In 2017, then-Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters that the police were released from custody because of a lack of evidence. Four foreigners – two Myanmar nationals, a Bangladeshi and a Thai – were convicted on human trafficking charges and sentenced to prison.
Government inquiry
The report by Suhakam and Fortify Rights came just weeks after the Malaysian government appointed a commission to examine the Wang Kelian camps. The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), launched on March 5, has a six-month deadline to investigate the camps through inquires of relevant investigators, witnesses and individuals.
"The government has set the task and responsibility of the RCI which among other things will cover the aspect of previous investigations into the incident through a reexamination of documents and evidence pertaining to the discovery of the makeshift migrant camp and gravesite in Wang Kelian, Perlis," Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said at the time of the launch.
Through interviews with survivors of the camp in Wang Kelian, Fortify Rights officials could determine that traffickers knew that some of their victims would die because of torture, attorney Roger Polack said.
"Survivors reported to us that if they were not able to pay they would be beaten," he said. "They poured boiling water on the survivors who could not pay and would call their relatives and ask for more money."
Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph said his group aligned with Fortify Rights because of concerns regarding previous investigations.
"Regulatory bodies like us only come in when there is a gap," Joseph said during the press conference launching the report. "The fact that we had to do our own investigation and interview all these people means that the gap is very wide."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will stand trial next week, Kuala Lumpur's High Court ruled Thursday, giving him a chance to formally defend himself against charges of massive corruption in the 1MDB financial scandal after a nearly two-month delay.
Najib's long-awaited trial was originally scheduled to begin last month. But appeals filed by his attorneys during pre-trail hearings over procedural issues led to two postponements, as they tried to shield him from a raft of allegations that he was involved in a multibillion-dollar theft of money from the state fund.
The High Court issued its decision a day after a seven-judge Federal Court panel ruled that the trial may proceed.
"We will take it from there," High Court judge Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali said, as he set the trial to start at 2 p.m. April 3.
Najib, 65, was once considered Malaysia's most politically powerful man, but allegations of corruption linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) contributed to the defeat of his United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party in the general elections last year, analysts say. Najib, in his dual role as prime minister and finance minister, purportedly founded 1MDB in 2009 as a vehicle to spur economic growth.
The hearing scheduled for next Wednesday is related to 42 million ringgit (about U.S. $10.3 million) that was allegedly deposited into Najib's personal bank account by SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary. 

The amount is minuscule compared to the U.S. $4.5 billion that American prosecutors contend was diverted from the sovereign wealth fund into the bank accounts of Najib, his friends and his family, in what U.S. prosecutors had described as "kleptocracy at its worst."
Najib faces charges of money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust in the SRC case. He has pleaded not guilty to the accusations.
U.S. prosecutors alleged in a civil lawsuit that a "breathtaking level of fraud" occurred when 1MDB officials and their associates ultimately routed more than $730 million to the personal bank account of "Malaysian Official 1," which BenarNews sources said was a veiled reference to Najib.
Jho Low
In November last year, in connection with the 1MDB affair, U.S. authorities unveiled criminal charges against Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (also known as Jho Low) and former Goldman Sachs bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng.
Leissner has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to violating anti-corruption laws and conspiracy to launder money, and has also agreed to forfeit U.S. $43.7 million, officials said.
Ng was arrested in Malaysia, but Low remains at large.
The U.S. Department of Justice had alleged in its lawsuit that Low used some of the stolen money to buy a $1.29 million heart-shaped diamond and a $3.8 million diamond pendant he gave in 2014 to actress Miranda Kerr.
DOJ also claimed in a lawsuit that Low gave a $3.2 million Picasso painting to actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who played the lead role in "The Wolf of Wall Street," a movie that was allegedly financed using 1MDB funds.
On Thursday, Malaysian authorities announced that the government had spent a total of 14.2 million ringgit (about U.S. $3.5 million) on a superyacht that Low also allegedly acquired using stolen 1MDB funds.
The vessel Equanimity, which was originally valued at U.S. $250 million, failed to sell at auction last year after it was seized by the government. The yacht, which features a helicopter pad, a spa and room for 22 guests, is now docked at the northern island of Langkawi, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told the parliament.
"The total cost spent is for the maintenance, repairs, fuel, legal fees, insurance costs and costs towards the sale process of the yacht," Lim said in his letter.
Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, has repeatedly maintained his innocence through statements released to the media by his lawyers. Prosecutors portray him as a central figure in the 1MDB theft, which has been widely seen as among the world's biggest financial scandals.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A Vietnamese woman accused of assassinating the half-brother of the leader of North Korea by using a lethal chemical weapon escaped the death penalty on Monday after a court reduced her murder charge to a lesser offense of causing injury through dangerous means.
Doan Thi Huong, 30, was sentenced to three years and four months after pleading guilty to the lesser charge. She was expected to be freed from jail in early May, according to her lawyers.
Doan had been charged with murder, which carries the death sentence if the defendant is found guilty.
"First of all, Ms. Doan, I must say that you are a very lucky person today. I say lucky because from a murder charge under Section 302 that comes with mandatory death penalty, the prosecution offered a charge under Section 324 with maximum sentence of only 10 years," Judge Azmi Ariffin told the defendant.
He said she should be grateful to the attorney general and prosecutor for offering the alternative charge.
"In my view, in assessing the length of the sentence, we must take a look at the overall picture: gravity of the offense, facts of the case, presence or absence of mitigating factors, and sentences on past cases that are similar," he said. "To strike a balance, the court hereby sentences you to three years and four months to run from the date of your arrest."
Doan lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik told reporters the defense team was pleased with the outcome.
"As far as Doan is concerned, we are happy ... our calculation shows that she could be out around May 4," he told reporters after her sentencing.
Teh expects Doan to be freed in May as all prisoners are entitled to a one-third remission.
Doan was charged together with Indonesian Siti Aisyah and four North Koreans who are still at large with killing North Korean Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with the deadly VX nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb. 13, 2017.
The prosecution abruptly withdrew the murder charge against Aisyah on March 11 and she was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal. Aisyah was freed and flew back to Indonesia that same evening.
Doan's lawyer subsequently requested a similar discharge but was rejected. On Monday, the court granted Doan's request for a lesser charge.
"And (the) attorney general has reconsidered our representation to offer an alternative charge, and we are happy with that. With reference to the new charge, she is alleged to have caused injury to Kim Chol using a weapon, and she admitted to that," Hisyam added, referring Kim Jong Nam by the name on his passport.
Her father, Doan Van Thanh, attended the hearing and said he was pleased by the outcome.
"I hope that my daughter will be released in one month and I am very happy and I want to express my sincere thanks to the ambassador and lawyers here," he told reporters through an interpreter.
Le Quy Quynh, the Vietnamese ambassador to Malaysia, expressed his appreciation for the lesser charge.
"I am highly appreciative that she will be released very soon, but I want to emphasize she is a victim like Siti," Le said.
 
'She is a victim'
There was no immediate explanation for why Malaysian prosecutors accepted a lesser charge for an assault with a banned chemical weapon that resulted in death, although her lawyers continued to maintain she did not know what the substance was.
The alternative charge sheet states that "you with four other people still at large, on 13 February 2017 around 9 in the morning ... intentionally caused injury to Kim Chol using a substance dangerous to the body when inserted in the bloodstream ie liquid poison VX."
Wearing a pink baju kurung, the Malay traditional dress for women, Doan looked happy and lively, in sharp contrast to her last court appearance where she was pale and distraught.
Asked what she wanted to do after she is freed, Doan told reporters as she was led out of the courtroom: "I want to sing and act."
Her lawyers maintained that she had been used as a pawn by North Koreans who told her to smear the face of her victim as part of a reality TV prank show.
They said the North Koreans who fled Malaysia shortly after the killing and remain at large, must be brought to trial.
"Our opinion is that the four North Koreans must be brought to justice. And I think the law allows for them to be tried in absence," The said. "Until and unless the four North Koreans are brought to justice, we cannot say justice is served."
Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said the decision not to charge the two women with murder likely marked the end of the case, the Associated Press reported.
"This is pretty much the end as the real culprits are apparently hiding behind the veil of diplomatic immunity and state-sponsored sanctuary," Oh said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Najib Razak used his office to line his pockets with millions of dollars, the Malaysian government's top prosecutor said Wednesday at the start of a landmark corruption trial against the ex-prime minister over charges linked to the 1MDB financial scandal.
Najib became the first ex-PM in Malaysia's history to stand in the dock over criminal charges, as the first of a series of trials against him opened at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. He faces a raft of corruption charges associated with beleaguered 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state investment fund he founded in 2009.
"[E]vidence will establish that the accused (Najib) at all material times, as an officer of a public body, to wit, as prime minister and minister of finance, used his office and/or position to obtain for himself a gratification of 42 million ringgit," Attorney General Tommy Thomas said in his opening statement.
Najib went on trial in the first case after pleading not guilty to seven charges related to the transfer of 42 million ringgit (U.S. $10.3 million) from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
The attorney general began by stating that Najib had wielded "near absolute power" and control of the nation's finances during nearly a decade as PM.
"The accused (Najib) during his entire period as prime minister, at which time these offenses were committed, simultaneously held the office of minister of finance, thereby combining maximum political power and control of the nation's purse," Thomas said.
Najib's trial opened nearly 11 months after his ruling Barisan Nasional coalition was swept from power by the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance in the May 2018 general election, and 10 years to the day when he first became prime minister.
Najib wore a dark blue suit and purple tie during Wednesday's courtroom session. His son, Norashman Najib, accompanied him to the courthouse.
The 1MDB affair, in which billions of dollars were allegedly looted from the state fund, was the scandal that brought about Najib's fall and the rise of PH, which campaigned last year on a platform of cleaning up corruption in government. His former mentor-turned-nemesis, Mahathir Mohamad, led PH to victory and took over as prime minister.
"Not being satisfied with the hold of the twin positions of prime minister and minister of finance, the accused was also appointed chairman of the board of advisers of 1Malaysia Development Berhad ('1MDB') and adviser emeritus in its fully owned subsidiary," Thomas said, referring to SRC International.
The attorney general accused Najib of usurping the boards of 1MDB and SRC International by controlling the financial affairs of both organizations.
 
'Nothing more than a political speech'
Thomas, who is prosecuting the case, made his opening statement following a last-ditch effort by Najib's defense team of 10 lawyers to postpone the trial that had been delayed for two months.
Earlier on Wednesday, the defense team, led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, filed a petition to delay the trial again. After a hearing that lasted more than three hours, High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali dismissed the petition and ordered the trial to begin at once.
Speaking to reporters after court adjourned for the day, Shafee lambasted Thomas's opening statement.
"Today we are just wasting our time," he said. "It (the opening statement) is not enlightening to the court or to us. It is nothing more than a political speech."
During the remainder of Wednesday's courtroom deliberations, Thomas called only one witness, a government official who confirmed that SRC International was an established company in Malaysia. The defense was quiet during questioning.
The former prime minister is standing trial on three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of power tied to the transfer of SRC International funds. He could face decades in prison and fines totaling millions of dollars if convicted of all charges.
The judge ordered the trial to resume on April 15 and scheduled court dates through May 10.
Thomas said prosecutors would prove that Najib engaged in money laundering by receiving the 42 million ringgit between Dec. 24, 2014, and March 2, 2015, and transferring the funds to accounts held by or partners with SRC International.
In addition, prosecutors were going to present evidence of a credit card payment of $130,625 (533,196 ringgit) that was made at a Chanel luxury fashion store in Honolulu, Hawaii, in December 2014. On Christmas Eve that year, Najib golfed with then-U.S. President Barack Obama who vacationed in the Hawaiian Islands with his family during that holiday season.
Prosecutors said they also planned to present personal checks for renovation work at two of Najib's homes, along with payments made to political parties aligned with Barisan Nasional that used some of the transferred funds.
Najib is scheduled to be in another court on Thursday for a hearing on appeals linked to other 1MDB charges. He faces a total of 42 charges tied to 1MDB's loss of billions of dollars.
U.S. prosecutors contend that $4.5 billion (18.3 billion ringgit) was diverted from 1MDB into the bank accounts of Najib, his friends and family, in what they described as "kleptocracy at its worst."
[https://www]
 
Jho Low yacht sold
In other news related to the 1MDB affair, Thomas announced that the government had auctioned off a yacht that authorities had confiscated last year from fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (better known as Jho Low).
The Equanimity was sold to Genting Malaysia Bhd, a developer and casino resort operator for $126 million (514 million rinngit) – slightly more than half of the $250 million (1 billion ringgit) officials believe Low had paid for the yacht using 1MDB funds.
The sale was announced on Wednesday, the same day that Genting had completed a $1 billion bond sale to fund a gaming resort under construction along the Las Vegas strip, Reuters news agency reported.
The yacht was confiscated from Low as part of an international probe into allegations that he, along with Najib and others, had embezzled billions from 1MDB. Government officials in December charged Low and four others who have all fled the country with a total of 13 charges involving losses totaling $1.17 billion (4.85 ringgit).
In a statement issued by his lawyers, Low claimed the government had not followed the rule of law in selling the yacht and did not get the best possible sale price.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian police agents were probably behind the abductions of a Christian pastor and an activist more than two years ago, the parliamentary-backed national human rights commission concluded Wednesday, urging state authorities to create a task force and probe what it declared as "enforced disappearances."
Pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo and social activist Amri Che Mat have been missing since 2016 and 2017, respectively, and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia – also known as Suhakam – released a 95-page report detailing findings of its investigation that focused on whether their disappearances were voluntary or involved state agents.
"The direct and circumstantial evidence in Pastor Raymond Koh's case proves, on a balance of probabilities, that he was abducted by State agents," the commission said.
The report used the same language when it laid out legal arguments that Amri could have been abducted by state agents, particularly those under the police's Special Branch, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur.
"There was no evidence he was arrested or detained, but he was taken away and disappeared,"  Commissioner Mah Weng Kwai told reporters, referring to Amri.
Pastor Koh was snatched in broad daylight from a road in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13, 2017, when SUVs and motorcycles forced his car to stop, and men in black face masks whisked him away. The abduction took less than a minute and was captured on surveillance cameras.
Amri, a resident of Perlis state, was last seen on Nov. 24, 2016. His disappearance may have been religiously motivated based on allegations that he was spreading Shia Muslim teachings, according to local media reports.
The commission said it found no evidence to support the contention of Koh's attorney that his abduction was carried out "with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State." Rights groups had earlier said the pastor was likely targeted over the belief that he preached Christianity to Muslims.
The report culminated months of public inquiry in which the panel heard testimonies from 16 witnesses, from October 2017 to December 2018.
But the inquiry could not determine what happened to Koh and Azmi after their abductions.
Uncanny similarities
The report underscored that the disappearances of Koh and Amri "bore uncanny similarities," with the two victims getting dragged out of their vehicles by men who wore black clothing and moved in precision style.
It also chipped away at police statements that Koh's disappearance did not involve state agents.
The two abductions were among the many cases that rights groups had asked the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to re-examine. Mahathir, who took power in a stunning electoral triumph that led to Najib Razak's political downfall following the May general elections last year, had earlier vowed that his government would restore the rule of law.
But hours after the commission released its findings, Mahathir described the report as "hearsay," according to state-run news agency Bernama.
"I think they must produce some evidence. This is merely hearsay, I don't know whether they have evidence to prove that this was what happened," Mahathir told reporters.
Asked whether a special task force on the disappearances would be created, Mahathir emphasized that the human rights panel needed to show clear evidence.
"If they have clear evidence (then) we will have special task force to investigate," he said.
Abduction linked by police to drug suspect
Suhakam, which was established by the Malaysian parliament in April 2000, is a government institution that conducts fact-finding investigations on complaints of rights abuses. It said it launched its public inquiry on the two abductions after receiving statements from individuals.
In its report, the commission said officers had earlier presented evidence linking a suspected drug trafficker to Koh's abduction. That suspect was shot dead in an alleged police shootout in June 2017, four months after Koh's disappearance.
"There was direct surveillance on the activities carried out by both Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat in their respective organizations before their disappearances," the commission said.
According to statements from police officers, Koh "is missing and that his whereabouts are to date unknown," the report said.
"Following the Panel's findings, it is up to the police to properly investigate and bring to book the culprit or culprits responsible," the report said. "For starters, an experienced investigating officer should be appointed to reinvestigate the case."
The families of the victims need some closure and answers that can only be provided by the State, it said, adding that the commission believed "that those who have been put in charge so far are withholding the answers to these questions, or are refusing to undertake a diligent exercise to discover them."
Islamic authorities generally consider apostasy a crime in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where proselytizing Muslims is outlawed in most states and Shia Muslims are also persecuted by religious officials, human rights groups say.
Besides Koh and Amri, Pastor Joshua Hilmi and his Indonesian wife, Ruth Sitepu, have also been reported missing since 2016. But the public inquiry into the couple's disappearance has not commenced to date, the report said.
'Will they return them to us?'
After the report was released, Koh's his wife, Susanna Liew, and Amri's wife, Norhayati Mohd Ariffin, told reporters they would like to get an answer to their main question.
"Will they return them to us?" said Norhayati, a mother of three. "What is the status of my children? ... Are they orphans?"
Liew, calling her husband's disappearance an "ambiguous loss," wanted closure.
"Of course, we hope our husbands will be returned to us. If not, we want to know what happened to them. We need closure," she said. "We don't know (if) we are widows."
'There is no such directive given by me'
Responding to the commission's findings, former Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters that he did not instruct members of the Special Branch to abduct Koh and Amri.
"There is no such directive given by me or the chief secretary of the ministry," he said. "I hope the investigation will be carried out professionally."
Meanwhile, Sevan Doraisamy, a member of Citizens Action Group on Enforced Disappearance (Caged), an NGO, called on current Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to speak up on the commission's report.
"The minister should step in and initiate moves to actively find out the whereabouts of the two men," he told BenarNews. "This is a serious crime."
Former national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told the commission's fact-finding panel in October 2017 that officers were not involved in the abductions. BenarNews could not immediately reach Khalid on Wednesday for comment.
Police Inspector-General Mohamad Fuzi Harun, who was chief of the Special Branch at the time of the two men's abductions, told reporters in Johor state, where he was on a two-day official visit, that he would only issue a reaction after reading the commission's findings.
"Let me read the report first before I can officially issue a statement on the matter," he told the Malay Mail newspaper.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- The Malaysian government will open a new probe into the disappearances of a Christian pastor and a Muslim activist, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Friday, two days after a public inquiry concluded that the duo was probably abducted by state agents, including those linked to the national police's special branch.
The parliamentary-backed National Human Rights Commission, in announcing the conclusion of its fact-finding mission, urged the government on Wednesday to create a task force that would launch an investigation into the "enforced disappearance" of Pastor Raymond Koh Keng Joo and social activist Amri Che Mat.
But Mahathir said investigations would only begin after the appointment of a new inspector general of police or IGP.
"We agreed that a new investigation will be conducted after the new IGP is appointed because now many allegations are thrown at the current one," Mahathir said, referring to Inspector General Mohamad Fuzi Harun. "So, it is better for the new IGP to investigate this matter."
Hours after the commission released its findings, Mahathir described the report as "hearsay," according to state-run news agency Bernama.
On Friday, Mahathir used the same word again when he talked about the commission, which is also known as Suhakam,
"We will wait until we will have a change in IGP and will set up a group to study whether there is substance in the hearsay evidence used by Suhakam," he told reporters in the administrative capital Putrajaya.
Fuzi, who was appointed as inspector-general on Sept. 4, 2017, will be on mandatory retirement when he turns 60 on May 4. Fuzi was the Special Branch director when the two were reported missing while they were being investigated for allegedly proselytizing Muslims.
Khalid Abu Bakar, who was the IGP at the time of the duo's disappearances, told reporters on Thursday that his statement given to Suhakam in October 2017 remained the same.
When he appeared before the human rights commission, Khalid admitted that there was a possibility of a mistake in police procedures, as they had delayed the process of taking testimony from witnesses in Koh's case.
Suhakam, which was established by the Malaysian parliament in April 2000, is a government institution that conducts fact-finding investigations on complaints of rights abuses. It said it launched its public inquiry on the two abductions after receiving statements from individuals.
"We received complaints from family members [in] both cases. That's why we decided to start the inquiry," Suhakam officials told BenarNews in an email Friday.
The 95-page Suhakam report said Koh and Amri were abducted in similar ways by men wearing black face masks. Their abductions were swift and, in Koh's abduction, was captured on surveillance cameras. The inquiry could not determine what happened to the two men after they were last seen.
Koh was snatched in broad daylight from a road in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 13, 2017, when men on SUVs and motorcycles forced his car to stop.
Amri, who is from Perlis, was last seen on Nov 24, 2016. His disappearance may have been religiously motivated based on allegations that he was spreading Shia Muslim teachings, according to local media reports.
Several rights groups earlier said Koh might have been targeted because religious authorities believed that he was spreading Christianity to Muslims.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- Malaysian authorities rounded up at least 41 undocumented Rohingya from Myanmar after they landed in northwestern Perlis state on Monday off a boat believed to be operated by human smugglers, police said.
The Rohingya, all males ranging from boys to young men, were found in different spots around Kuala Sungai Baru, on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia, and authorities were looking for another six who were said to have arrived aboard the same boat, the chief of Perlis police said.
The group landed in the same vicinity where nearly three dozen Rohingya women and children were found on a beach after arriving by boat in early March.
On Monday, another 200 Rohingya were believed to be at sea in waters off neighboring Thailand, Malaysian police said, citing an eyewitness account from one of the new Rohingya arrivals.
"We were told that they landed at about 4 a.m. The first report was lodged at 7 a.m. and the police were dispatched to the scene," Perlis police chief Noor Mushar Mohd said, noting that a local villager spotted the Rohingya as he prepared to go out to sea in the early-morning hours.
"We found 10 Rohingyas at the beach, 10 by the road side in Kampung Belati, 10 at a nearby school and several others close to the area."
All of the Rohingya had no papers on them after they were dropped off in the area, and they were believed to be victims of human trafficking, he said.
"The ones we rescued were between 14 and 30 years old," Noor Mushar said, adding that the 41 were transferred to the custody of the Immigration Department.
 
According to witness testimony given by Abd Hussin Nor Hussin, one of the Rohingya, he and his fellow passengers had each paid the traffickers 4,000 ringgit (U.S. $976) to transport them by sea to Malaysia, the police chief said.
By official police accounts, it remained unclear whether the men had departed by boat from Myanmar or southeastern Bangladesh, where some 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar were sheltering at camps after fleeing from violence in Rakhine, a neighboring state on the Myanmar side of the border.
"He told the police that they had to walk through the mud for about one hour to get to the beach. The distance between the boat and the beach is about one kilometer (0.62 miles)," Noor Mushar said, adding that the Rohingya were covered in mud by the time they reached the compound of a local village in Perlis.
"They also told the authorities that there are about 200 more undocumented people in the middle of the sea in Thai waters," he added.
According to a source close to the investigation who requested anonymity, the Rohingya were first brought from Myanmar to Thai waters prior to their landing in Malaysia on Monday morning, when they were forced to jump off the boat.
"From what we have gathered, they were at the sea for eight days with limited access to food. They told us they were only given several bottles of mineral water, cakes and a bag of rice," the source told BenarNews.
"Luckily all of them survived and they have been checked by the authorities for any injuries. There was nothing serious and they have been given food," the source added.
The trafficking syndicate that brought these Rohingya males to Perlis might be the same one that dropped off at least 34 Rohingya in the same coastal area last month, according to the source.
"The modus operandi is similar," the source said.
'Nothing much that we can do'
Mohamad Sadek, a Rohingya who has been living in Malaysia for the past 11 years, said his people, a stateless and persecuted minority in Myanmar, had no choice but to flee the country and face the high probability of being duped by human smugglers in the process.
"There is nothing much that we can do. Many of them want to leave Myanmar and find a peaceful place to live. Many think of Malaysia as the best place as it is a Muslim country," he told BenarNews.
"But because of that, they are open to abuse. Many traffickers are using it as a bait to lure them into Malaysia. The victims have no choice but to accept not knowing that they are being cheated," said Sadek, who runs an NGO in Kuala Lumpur.
According to the latest data from U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, close to 89,000 Rohingya are currently registered with it as living in Malaysia.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A petition calling for Malaysia to accede to a treaty that established the International Criminal Court has garnered thousands of signatures since April 6, despite Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad saying that the nation would pull out of the Rome Statute.
Malaysia, which initially agreed to join the ICC, made a U-turn last week after strong opposition from a powerful sultan and opposition members.
A few days later, a group of student and youth activists leaked to the public the contents of a 10-page report prepared by four academics who argued against supporting the Rome Statute. The report has been presented to the Council of Rulers, which is composed of nine sultans of the 13 Malay states.
"We have more than 10,000 signatures since we launched this petition last Saturday," Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi, one of the youth activists, told BenarNews.
The activists believe the academic report was a factor in swaying the rulers to oppose the Rome Statute, which in turn led to the government's decision not to proceed with its ratification.
That same group of students and activists is now behind this petition urging the Conference of Rulers and the government to give way so that Malaysia can ratify the Rome Statute.
By not acceding to the Rome Statute, Malaysia has not been able to seek justice for the victims of MH17, Asheeq said, referring to the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down over territory in Ukraine held by Russia-backed rebels almost five years ago.
"Malaysia should step in and force and push investigations into MH17. That is the whole purpose of acceding to the Rome Statute," he said. "But we are not acceding to it, do you think they [ICC] will ever entertain us?"
Flight MH17, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 wide-bodied jet, was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when a missile brought it down over the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.
Mahathir's statement
Last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told a news conference that the country would not accede to the Rome Statute because opposition politicians had been able "to create confusion in the minds of the people, that this law negates the rights of the Malays and the rights of the rulers."
"This is not because we are against it, but because of the political confusion about what it entails, caused by people with vested interests," Mahathir said.
On Monday, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said the government should tread carefully on Malay issues because a potential coup d'etat could take place, given that Malays represented the nation's majority, according to the Star newspaper.
"As you know, the police and military are also fundamentally Malay-based institutions. That is why it is very important for us to handle this issue with care," the daily quoted him as saying.
Khalid drew the example of Egypt's 2013 coup d'etat in which the military toppled Mohamed Morsi as president, the Star report said.
Malaysia, which became independent in August 1957, has never experienced a coup, but the government declared a state of national emergency in May 1969 after race-related rioting killed almost 200 people. Western diplomats at that time suggested a death toll of close to 600.
Liable to prosecution
In the leaked academic summary, the four authors claimed that becoming a signatory to the Rome Statute would make Malaysia's King liable to prosecution at the Hague-based court in his role as supreme commander of the Armed Forces.
However, constitutional law expert Shad Saleem Faruqi, a University of Malaya professor, debunked that theory, saying the king, as a constitutional monarch, would not be held liable for any war crimes because he only acts upon the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet.
"The person who would be liable would be the prime minister and the armed forces chief," Faruqi told BenarNews.
Asked whether the Council of Rulers had sought his advice, he said, "No, but the King did invite me to speak. I appeared before him with written answers."
Malaysia would be in a much-better position in arguing for issues such as the Rohingya and Palestinian causes once it had acceded to the ICC's founding treaty, according to Faruqi.
"Our hands are weak because we cannot negotiate with the Myanmar government because like them, we are not a member of the ICC," he said.
"We pay lip service about genocide in Palestine, crimes against humanity in Myanmar, but we are not prepared to endorse those laws now," Faruqi said, referring to the statute. The treaty established the ICC's functions and jurisdiction in prosecuting perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression.
The ICC, which was established in 2002, is dubbed the "court of last resort" because it only takes legal action when a government is unwilling or unable to prosecute individuals accused of any of those four crimes. As of March 2019, 122 countries had signed the Rome Statute.
Since he took power after a stunning electoral triumph in May last year, the 93-year-old Mahathir has also opted to dump a campaign promise to ratify a U.N. treaty against racial discrimination, amid a backlash from critics who expressed fears that it could undermine privileges for Malays enshrined in Malaysia's constitution.
Observer: Treaty 'deliberately weaponized'
Former diplomat Dennis Ignatius said it was not confusion, ignorance or misunderstanding that derailed Malaysia's support for the treaty but an orchestrated campaign of misinformation and disinformation.
"The Rome Statute was deliberately weaponized by powerful groups as part of a dangerous scheme to challenge and destabilize the government" Ignatius wrote in the Free Malaysia Today news portal on April 10.
"Clearly, powerful people ... [who] feel threatened by the new government and its reform agenda are determined to undermine it in any way they can," Ignatius said.
"It is not Mahathir who is betraying the trust of the people," he said, "but those who are seeking to turn the rulers against the elected government."


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com

BENARNEWS- A Malaysian appellate court sentenced an Indonesian citizen and two other suspects to prison Monday after convicting them on charges of conspiring to promote terrorism, including being part of an Islamic State-linked plot to kidnap top government officials in 2015.
The Court of Appeal handed down retroactive jail terms ranging from eight to 12 years after the three-member panel last week overturned a June 2017 ruling by the High Court to acquit the defendants.
The appellate panel sided unanimously with the prosecution, which had appealed the acquittal by the lower court.
"After reviewing the evidence given by the respondents, we found that it did not cause any doubt over the prosecution's case," Court of Appeal Judge Vernon Ong Lam Kiat said during Monday's courtroom proceedings.
"The prosecutors have proven the case without reasonable doubt," Ong said.
The court sentenced Indonesian Ali Abdullah Saifuddin, 32, to a dozen years in prison, while his two Malaysian co-defendants, ex-servicemen Nor Azmi Jailani, 32, and Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof, 33, each were sentenced to eight-year terms. Judge Ong ordered the sentences be enforced starting from April 5, 2015, the day the three were arrested.
Lawyers for the defendants said they would appeal the ruling to the Federal Court.
The appellate court last week convicted the trio for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to promote terrorism-related activities in Malaysia between Jan. 30 and April 6, 2015.
The three were charged with a terrorism-related offense under Malaysia's criminal code that could have led to up to 30 years in prison for each defendant. Shortly after the sentences were read out, the defendants prostrated themselves in gratitude in front of the dock, while relatives cried and embraced one another in the courtroom.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Zain Ibrahim, who prosecuted the case, had pressed for Ali, Nor Azmi, and Mohd Yusri to each be sentenced to 25 years in prison, saying the offense they committed was serious because their actions could have affected the lives of innocents.
The three were accused of having participated in a series of discussions with a son of a former Islamic State (IS) militant about plans to kidnap four senior government officials at the time, including then-Prime Minister Najib Razak, and force his administration to release detainees held under the 2012 Security Offences (Special Measures) Act.
Other officials allegedly targeted in the militant plot included then-Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, then-Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and then-Minister of Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin.
The son in question, Abu Daud, and his father, Murad Halimmuddin Hassan, both pleaded guilty in 2015 and were sentenced by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to 12 and 18 years, respectively, on charges of abetting and supporting terrorist acts.
The three lawyers representing Ali Saifuddin, Nor Azmi Jailani, and Mohd Yusri Mohamed Yusof had pleaded for the appellate court to consider lighter sentences for their clients, arguing the defendants did not play a main role in the alleged plot.
Meanwhile, the Royal Malaysia Police said they had arrested 26 people suspected of involvement in terrorist or IS-related activities in the country to date. Of those taken into custody, five were Malaysians, 13 were from the Philippines, six were from Egypt, one from Pakistani and one from Tunisia.
They are among nearly 500 terror suspects arrested by Malaysian police since 2013, according to figures provided by the Special Branch's counter-terrorist wing. Out of 200 people who were charged in court between 2013 and February 2019, 175 were convicted and incarcerated while another 123 were released, police said.


* Work from Home and START YOUR OWN blog site, business or personal website, or e-commerce store at www.mochahost.com