98. Project IC had Dr M’s approval, says former DO

Project IC had Dr M’s approval, says former DO

Former Sandakan district officer Hassnar Ebrahim has admitted to being involved in ‘Project IC’ in Sabah in the 1980s – and he also claims he heard the scheme had been approved by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Hassnar (left) said he was at a “secret meeting” in the 1980s, at which then Deputy Home Minister Megat Junid Megat Ayub had “openly admitted Mahathir’s involvement”.
A total of 15 officers were at the meeting, he said, including “three members from the police force, as well as representatives from the Immigration Department and National Registration Department (NRD)”.
Hassnar, 62, said this last night at a forum on the Sulu incursion into Lahad Datu, Sabah. The event was organised by Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
Now the PKR Batu Sapi chief, he told those present that the scheme to accord citizenship to Muslim immigrants was started in the early 1980s.
“Back then, Chinese voters represented the pendulum swing and would decide which party wins the state election,” Hassnar explained.
“So, there was this feeling that the presence of Muslims in the state must be solidified to ensure that the state remained in the hands of Muslims.”
Hassnar recounted that, on his first full day as the Sandakan district officer in 1982 – a post that he took upon the insistence of then Sabah chief Minister Harris Salleh(right) - he was instructed to sign 500 citizenship registration forms that did not have the particulars of the applicants.
“Between 1976 and 1984, I can say that no less than 125,000 immigrants were given citizenship in Sabah,” he claimed.
When approached by Megat Junid to help make Project IC a success, Hassnar said, he tried to coax then Sabah NRD chief Sani Adnan to help, but that the latter expressed disgust at the idea.
“These are the people who will ruin this state later, Sani told me,” Hassnar said.
Despite years of helping the federal government in the project, Hassnar was detained under the Internal Security Act in 1988 for 59 days.
“Megat Junid called me to Kuala Lumpur one day and he told me that Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and BN were negotiating the possibility of PBS rejoining BN. One of the conditions then PBS leader Joseph Pairin Kitingan had laid down to BN was to get me arrested,” he said.
He was subsequently arrested at the airport while trying to take a flight back to Sabah.
‘Umno orchestrated Silent Riot’
According to Hassnar, the rarely talked-about Silent Riot that took place in Kota Kinabalu on March 18,1986, after the BN-backed Parti Berjaya unexpectedly lost the 1985 state election to PBS, had been orchestrated by Umno top guns.
“We were told to take to the streets and demonstrate. Mahathir had apparently said that it was okay even if one or two casualties occurred,” Hassnar claimed.
However, the riot did not go the way Hassnar and his comrades had expected.
Five people died and some 1,200 people were arrested, including Harris.
“We were fined RM100 each, but Harris challenged the fine. He was willing to take the matter to court and threatened to expose the truth if the authorities pressed further. He was the only one to be released without any charge,” he added.
Hassnar lamented the fact that he had been imprisoned even though he had aided the federal government in the covert Project IC.
“All I would say is, don’t be friends with people from Umno,” he said.
Short URL: http://www.freemalaysiakini2.com/?p=71224

97. Sabah RCI to rule on bid for witness statements at next hearing

Sabah RCI to rule on bid for witness statements at next hearing

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/sabah-rci-to-rule-on-bid-for-witness-statements-at-next-hearing/

March 18, 2013

KOTA KINABALU, March 18 — The five-man panel of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants in Sabah will deliver its decision at its next sitting, on whether to grant the Sabah Law Association (SLA)’s application for access to the written witness statements from the police, related to the ongoing RCI hearing.
RCA chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong said this after hearing submissions from both SLA counsel led by Alex Decena, and conducting officer Manoj Kurup.
It is understood the date of the sitting has been fixed on April 15.
The other members of the panel are former Universiti Malaysia Sabah vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Seri Dr Kamaruzaman Ampon, former Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Henry Chin Poy Wu, former Sabah state secretary Datuk Kee Mustafa, and former Sabah deputy chief minister and state attorney-general Tan Sri Herman J. Luping.
“We (members of the RCI) are guided by case law and authorities...we need sometimes, to make a decision and we will deliver our decision in our next sitting,” said Shim, a former chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, before winding up a short proceeding of the RCI hearing at the high court here today.
Earlier, Decena cited authorities and case law to back up SLA’s argument, stressing that the witness statements were vital for the association to lend a hand to the commission to establish the facts on the matter in question — the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah.
“That’s why, SLA applies for access to the witness statements to the police under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he said, adding, “the SLA is offering at least four witnesess to be called for the RCI hearing. In rebuttal, Kurup asserted that based on case law and recent decisions of the courts (related to witness statements), SLA was not entitled to have access to the witness statements.”
 However, he said his team was willing to cooperate with the SLA on matters of mutual interest concerning witnesses in the next hearing. — Bernama

96. Subjudice?

Subjudice to comment on RCI early findings, says AG

Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail said that it is subjudice to comment or draw conclusions from the issues raised during the preliminary proceeding of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on Sabah’s illegal immigrants.
Berita Harian today quoted him as saying that all quarters should refrain from involving themselves in “trial by media” whether through printed or electronic media.
“Such actions are subjudice,” Gani (right) told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The tenure of the RCI, which is supposed to expire on March 21, has been extended by six months.
Yesterday, RCI secretary Saripuddin Kasim said the extension had been granted by the Agong to allow the RCI to complete its investigations and prepare the report.
The panel for the RCI was appointed on Sept 21 last year, and was given six months to complete its investigations.
The next hearing is scheduled for March 18.
Public hearings began on Jan 21 and thus far, 62 witnesses have testified, with many more scheduled to testify.
The RCI comprises a five-member panel led by former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Steve Shim (left).
It has eight terms of reference, including investigating the number of foreigners in Sabah given blue identity cards (ICs); whether such awards had been given according to the law; and if those concerned are on the Sabah electoral roll.
It is also to investigate the sudden rise in Sabah’s population, the social implications for the state, and identify the number of stateless foreigners there.
Short URL: http://www.freemalaysiakini2.com/?p=70527

95. Harris at it again

"I once again appeal to the police to stop their present action against the Suluk people who happened to be the original inhabitant of Sabah," he said. 

 

original inhabitant of Sabah???????

 

'Stop seizing documents of Suluks'

 

Published on: Thursday, March 14, 2013

Kota Kinabalu: Yayasan Islam Sabah President Tan Sri Harris Salleh has sent an appeal letter to Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein to ask the police to stop their actions against the Suluk population in Semporna and Lahad Datu areas immediately.
Harris who is a former Chief Minister claimed he had been asked by several Suluk leaders to make the appeal to stop the police from carrying out action against Suluk people.
"These Suluk leaders reported that police are taking Identity Cards, Red Identity Cards and the IMM13 documents (of the Suluk people) and destroy them.
"This is unbecoming of a Malaysian police force. This behaviour is against any known civilisation, be it religions, laws and policies of the Malaysian government," he said in a statement, Wednesday.
Harris said that in fact, police have no power to destroy any Federal Government documents.
"They can only do so after getting confirmation from the National Registration Department," he said, adding that the action by the police would only create hostility between Sabah and the Suluk people.
Fortunately, West Malaysia is far away from the Suluk areas, he said without elaborating.
"I once again appeal to the police to stop their present action against the Suluk people who happened to be the original inhabitant of Sabah," he said.
Harris said that Suluk, just as any other human being on, not every Suluks are bad people.
Those who came here illegally with arms were apparently at the bequest of the Sultan of Sulu who is reportedly in Manila.
"These armed men appears to be carried away by witch, full of emotion and stress. Therefore, there are not in their civil minds," he said.
"And as such dealing with such people the best approach is to negotiate and avoid making threats against them.
Just like when a person is on the verge of jumping from the 10th Floor," he said.
On the Sabah Claim, the Philippines Government had been acting on the Power of Attorney given by the Sultan of Sulu to pursue the matter.
But since, the PA is understood to have expired, therefore the claim is now in the hands of the descendants.
Harris said the spokesman of the descendants claimed that they had been talking to the two previous Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi but there was no response from them.
"They also claimed that they were unable to meet Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the present Prime Minister.
Their intentions were just to settle the outstanding claim once and for all," he said.

94 - extended 6 months

Sabah RCI term extended for six months

The tenure of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into Sabah’s illegal immigrants has been extended by six months.
Initially, the tenure of the RCI was to expire on March 21.
According to RCI secretary Saripuddin Kasim, the extension was granted by the Agong to allow the RCI to complete its investigations and prepare the report.
The panel for the RCI was appointed on Sept 21 last year and was given six months to complete investigations.
The next hearing is scheduled to be held on March 18.
Public hearings began on Jan 21 and thus far, 62 witnesses have testified, with many more scheduled to testify.
The RCI comprises a five-member panel led by former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Steve Shim.
It has eight terms of reference, including investigating the number of foreigners in Sabah given blue ICs; whether such awards were according to the law; and if those concerned are on the Sabah electoral roll.
It is also to investigate the sudden rise in Sabah’s population, the social implications on the state and to identify the number of stateless foreigners.
Short URL: http://www.freemalaysiakini2.com/?p=70428

93. Check Osman Jamal's IC

Bugis NGO lodges report over article

Published on: Saturday, March 09, 2

Tawau: The Sabah Bugis Community Association (PKBS) has lodged a police report against news portal 'Sabahkini' over an article carrying the heading, "Bugis Layak Jadi Ketua Menteri Sabah" (A Bugis is qualified to be Sabah Chief Minister). 

In the report lodged by PKBS president Datuk Osman Jamal at the district police headquarters here today, the association claimed that the article was defamatory and malicious. 

"I regret that I (my name) had also been mentioned in the article as harbouring ambitions to become the Chief Minister or Yang Dipertua Negeri," he said.
Osman claimed the article, allegedly written by Haji Nungka Andi Maspi Madder, could undermine public order and create disharmony between the Bugis community and other races.
He further claimed the article had been printed and distributed to the public in some districts causing other communities in the state to feel suspicious about the Bugis community.
PKBS has also lodged a similar report with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

92. RCI IIS 4th Proceeding session today postponed

RCI IIS fourth session supposed to start today 5th March, has been postponed according to the official press/media statement/ release.

some newspapers speculate the next hearing start on 18 March???