SOCIAL activist group Suaram wants Prime Minister Najib Razak to explain at the next parliament sitting the transactions and alleged kickbacks of the Scorpene submarines deal to clear his name.

Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said Najib, who was defence minister in 2002, has to be courageous enough to explain the various transactions.

“This includes the alleged kickbacks amounting to €114 million (RM570 million) and the use of shell companies, to clear his name of various corruption allegations.

“Parliament should also set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the alleged corruption on the purchase of arms,” he said in a statement.

Yesterday, social activists and opposition politicians urged the MACC to reopen the case of Malaysia’s purchase of Scorpene submarines after French authorities indicted two executives for allegedly receiving kickbacks over the sale.

French investigators charged Philippe Japiot, former chairman of the French naval dockyards unit DCNI, and Jean-Paul Perrier, former chief executive of French defence and electronics giant Thales, sources close to the inquiry told AFP.

Sevan also joined the chorus in calling for the attorney-general to reopen the case initiated by the MACC back in 2012, and allow the Mutual Legal Assistance as requested by France.

“This commitment towards international cooperation as enshrined in the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and ratified by Malaysia in 2008, must be respected and its obligations met,” he said.

Sevan also said that Abdul Razak Baginda, the chief negotiator of the arms deal, now at the centre of the French probe, must offer his full cooperation to clarify his role and clear his name.

“It is no longer an option to remain silent and hope the case will go away,” he said.

Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director Cynthia Gabriel and Deputy PKR Youth chief Afif Bahardin had also urged the MACC and the police to reopen the case, citing elements of corruption in the submarines sale.

DAP national adviser and Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang had also asked why the government was not setting up an RCI to investigate the corruption allegations surrounding the deal.

The French investigation was launched in 2010 in response to a complaint from Malaysian rights group Suaram.

The case centres on allegations that the French submarine maker paid commission of more than €114 million to a purported shell company linked to Razak.

Najib was defence minister when the US$1.1 billion (RM4.5 billion) deal for two Scorpene-class submarines was sealed.

The Malaysian government has said that the contract was free of corruption. – July 20, 2017.