In a statement, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) and human rights watchdog Suaram said Bourdon was making arrangements to come and meet Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu to discuss how the new government could extend its cooperation in moving the French court inquiry on the matter forward.
“Given the new government’s commitment to upholding accountability, now is the time that all necessary steps are taken to unveil the whole truth behind the corruption scandal,” said the statement jointly issued by C4 executive director Cynthia Gabriel and Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy.
“This move would facilitate the quest to bring those responsible to account,” they said following a meeting with Mohamad today where they handed over a report on the scandal to the minister.
“At the meeting, C4 and Suaram briefed the defence minister about the ongoing judicial inquiry into the Scorpene corruption scandal in the French court,” they said.
They added that it was a matter of time before the proceedings would be moved to a higher court in France where those involved would be prosecuted.
They said Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, was keen to meet Bourdon to facilitate the judicial inquiry.
They said this was in line with Malaysia’s international obligation under articles 43 and 44 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to cooperate with other state parties against corruption.
Bourdon was deported from Malaysia by the former Barisan Nasional (BN) government in July 2011 for giving a briefing on the development of the case in the French court at a fundraising event.
The statement claimed that the controversial purchase of two French-designed Scorpene submarines by the former Barisan Nasional (BN) government in 2002, when former prime minister Najib Razak was defence minister, was made in the name of national secret and security, but there was evidence of collusion and complicity with the “top leadership of this country”.
“We truly hope that this undertaking will be pursued with the highest level of commitment,” they said.
Guan Eng: French judiciary pursuing Scorpene corruption scandal