Lawyer deported for violating social visit pass

The Immigration Department said that French lawyer William Bourdon was deported for violating the conditions of his visit to Malaysia.

"Investigations by the Immigration Department revealed that Bourdon had violated the terms of his Social Visit Pass," said a statement released late yesterday.

Bourdon was arrested after Immigration officials boarded his plane which landed in Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday morning from Penang.

The French lawyer is representing human rights group Suaram alleging corruption in the government's RM7.3 billion purchase of submarines from French shipbuilder DCNS.

The case could embarrass Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was defence minister at the time the submarines were bought, and who is widely expected to call for general elections next year.

Bourdon later left the country on a flight to France late last night.
     
Malaysia signed a deal in 2002 to purchase two submarines from DCNS, which is part-owned by defence electronics group Thales.

Case completed first stage

Bourdon last year filed a complaint on behalf of Suaram with a French prosecutor alleging that DCNS paid a 114 million euro (RM540 million) fee to a Malaysian company linked to former associate of Najib's in relation to the submarine purchase.

Najib and the Malaysian government have strongly denied the allegations. Officials from Najib's office could not be immediately reached for comment.

"The case has completed the first stage which is at the public prosecutor level and is expected to be heard in an open court in France in September or October," said Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel.

Bourdon arrived in Malaysia on Thursday and gave a talk at a fundraising dinner in Penang state to help Suaram raise funds for the legal case, she said.

- Reuters