Another thought-provoking piece for Raja Petra Kamarudin.
This certainly adds a new dimension to the entire Justogate affair. The Special Task Force cannot continue its job until and unless it is given permission to interview Justo and establish whether the evidence it is using as the basis of the investigation is kosher.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Those who serve in the police force or the intelligence services know that the authorities in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines work very closely together (and Brunei to a certain extent). They share information and help arrest those who are wanted in the neighbouring countries. They do not need to apply for extradition or go to court to get a court order to arrest those wanted in the other countries.
In other words, Malaysia will not need the Thai, Singaporean, Indonesian or Filipino authorities to go through any legal process. Malaysia will arrest those people wanted in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia or the Philippines on their behalf and hand them over.
And this is reciprocated in all the five countries.
This was proven in the days when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was Prime Minister. He ordered the Royal Malaysian Police (PRDM) to round up all those Thai Muslim separatists who were living in exile all over Malaysia to hand them back to Thailand.
The Malaysian newspapers reported that these separatists were arrested as they attempted to enter Malaysia illegally and were deported back to Thailand. The Thai newspapers, however, reported that they were arrested in Malaysia and were handed to the Thai authorities at the Malaysian-Thai border.
In return, the Thais arranged for peace talks and for a peace accord to be signed in Hat Yai in December 1989 between the Malaysian government and the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). If the CPM did not cooperate then they would be deported from Thai soil. If they did they could continue living in Thailand.
Another case in point was Tan Koon Swan. He was the MCA leader at that time and was wanted in Singapore regarding the Pan-El collapse. Malaysia arrested him and sent him to Singapore where in 1986 he was charged for abetting criminal breach of trust relating to the collapse of Pan-El.
After serving his prison sentence in Singapore, Koon Swan was deported back to Malaysia where he was charged and convicted and served yet another prison term in Malaysia.
The Mas Selamat Kastari case is yet another example of cross-border cooperation. He was the head of the Singapore cell of the Jemaah Islamiah who was suspected of masterminding a plot to hijack a plane and to crash it into Singapore airport.
Indonesia arrested him in 2006 and handed him to Singapore. He then escaped from jail in 2008 and hid in Malaysia. Malaysia then arrested him and detained him without trial on behalf of Singapore.
The fact that his crime was plotted (but not yet committed) in Indonesia and was supposed to have been committed in Singapore did not matter. Malaysia still kept him in jail on behalf of Singapore.
Such is how the police forces of these five countries operate and cooperate. They not only share information. They can also take action on behalf of each other and arrest people wanted in the neighbouring countries and detain these people without trial on behalf of each other.
And that brings us to the Justogate affair.
The crime of criminal conspiracy was committed in three countries: Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. The Thai police arrested and interrogated Xavier Andre Justo and shared whatever information they obtained with Malaysia and Singapore.
According to the Thai police, ten people have so far been implicated in this criminal conspiracy — amongst them Umno people, opposition leaders, Malaysian journalists or media bosses, and British nationals.
The Thai police have all the records and evidence, which they are sharing with Malaysia and Singapore in the event these two countries also want to take action against these conspirators.
Some say if the crime was committed in another country, say Thailand, then Malaysia cannot do anything about it. That is not quite true and history has proven this to be so in so many incidences over the last 40 years.
The Special Task Force that was set up to investigate the allegations regarding 1MDB now has to suspend its investigation due to this current development. The Special Task Force conducted its investigation based on the earlier evidence. However, since this evidence is now suspect the investigation can no longer proceed.
The Special Task Force now has to request, through the Malaysian police, for permission to interview Justo to find out whether the evidence was fabricated or doctored. Only once that has been established can the Special Task Force continue its investigation.
This certainly adds a new dimension to the entire Justogate affair. The Special Task Force cannot continue its job until and unless it is given permission to interview Justo and establish whether the evidence it is using as the basis of the investigation is kosher.
By Raja Petra Kamarudin
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