KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry and five government agencies, including the Registrar of Societies (ROS), will probe allegations that Suaram had received funds from an American organisation linked to currency speculator George Soros.
“We will look into the status of Suaram which is not registered under the ROS as well as allegations that it had been receiving foreign funds.
“The agencies will look at our investigation papers and check whether Suaram had breached any law. We will take action if there is enough evidence against it,” said Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM)chief executive officer Mohd Naim Daruwish after chairing the first meeting on the matter yesterday.
The other parties are the CCM, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, Bank Negara and the police.
It was reported that investigations by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry showed that there were three letters addressed to Suaram dated Oct 17, 2007, Dec 18, 2008 and Feb 12, 2010 stating the awarding of grants amounting to RM585,770 (US$188,775.65) from an organisation called the Open Society Foundation chaired by Soros.
Mohd Naim also denied that the investigation against Suaram was politically motivated and that CCM only began investigating it after they received a tip-off from an NGO.
“We are not selective in our investigations and we take action on all the reports lodged with us,” he said.
He also noted that the CCM was not investigating Suaram as it was an NGO and did not fall under its purview.
“We will be calling the board of directors of Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd (a company linked to Suaram) to explain the finances in their annual report from 2008 until 2011.
“In our second meeting, we will determine whether it is appropriate to set up a special task force to look into the matter,” he added.
Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, meanwhile, had questioned the motive of groups that had queried the investigations against Suaram.
“When Suaram is criticised, they claimed it is unfair but when Suaram criticised others, they called it free speech,” he said in his Twitter account.
Key persons in Suaram are mostly made up of PKR leaders. They include MPs R. Sivarasa and Tian Chua, state assemblymen Elizabeth Wong and Dr Nasir Hashim and PKR senator Dr Syed Husin Ali. The others are activists linked to the party like lawyer Charles Hector, Cynthia Gabriel, Irene Fernandez, Irene Xavier and Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran.
LA: Just wait and see what happened after this.
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