Navy mum on alleged sale of defence secrets

The Royal Malaysian Navy has declined to comment over allegations that a classified document linked to the purchase order for two Scorpene-class submarines had been sold to a foreign company.

"We have no comment for now," Royal Malaysian Navy media and web director, Commander Ismail Othman, when contacted by Malaysiakini.

Asked for the reason behind the Navy's refusal to comment, Ismail declined to elaborate.

Human rights NGO Suaram had on May 31 claimed that a classified document was purchased by Paris-based shipbuilder DCNS which subsequently sold the submarines to Malaysia.

An ongoing corruption inquiry filed in France against DCNS has revealed that the payment was made to an obscure Hong Kong-based company, Terasasi.

Its director is Abdul Razak Baginda (right), a close associate of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who has since come under increasing pressure to explain his involvement in the scandal.

Alleged kickbacks

The money was part of several transactions between the companies which saw Terasasi allegedly receiving some 36 million euro (RM142 million) from DCNS.

Suaram had previously claimed that, based on the French inquiry, Najib (then the defence minister) had requested RM1 billion in kickbacks through Perimekar Sdn Bhd, which was responsible for "support services" in the deal.

Current Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi, who had initially expressed willingness to assist the French investigation, has since refused to attend the proceedings or send a ministry representative.