CCM raids office of Suaram's auditor, company secretary

Officers from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) had gone to Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd’s company secretary and auditor’s office and conducted a search and seized documents related to the company.

The notices to search and seize were issued under Section 7C and 7D(1) of the Companies Act 1965.

"We believe that the government and its agencies are on high gear in the campaign to intimidate and harass Suaram in retaliation to our whistle-blowing on the submarine scandal.

"We are being targeted solely as a result of our legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights in Malaysia," Suaram said in a statement condemning the CCM action.

"This on-going political intimidation and harassment of Suaram is proof that the government is determined to silence critical voices.

"The world must view these worrying trends as a signal of a potentially broader crackdown against critical activists and human rights defenders in the country."

Suaram executive director E Nalini (right) confirmed with Malaysiakini that CCM officers raided the office of its auditor and company secretary in the morning, but she declined to elaborate, saying more would be revealed tomorrow, on the notice issued to Suaram as well.

CCM pressured by Malay groups

CCM has in the past few days been pressured by Malay groups such as Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) and Perkasa, which have called on its chief executive officer Mohd Naim Daruwish to resign for not investigating Suaram.

Mohd Naim hit back, asking why he should resign when he was doing his job and that CCM could only investigate the financial situation of Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd, a company said to be "linked" to Suaram.

Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Suara Inisiatif's accounts were suspicious,as it was found that only 0.06 percent of the company's activities were considered to be "trading", while the rest was "money collecting".

Ismail also said the sources of the donations included NGOs from Washington and New York, as well as the German Embassy in Malaysia.

Suaram has filed legal action in the Paris court over the Scorpene submarine purchase scandal.

The Suaram statement issued this afternoon also urged the government and its agencies to stop accusing human rights defenders of being extremists or agents of foreign powers.

"Malaysia, as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, should instead embrace and uphold universal UN standards, such as the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders," it said.

It was reported in July that CCM had issued a notice of inspection to the human rights group.