Former ACA director of investigations Abdul Razak Idris told the High Court today he had cleared Anwar Ibrahim of allegations of stashing RM3 billion in foreign accounts and having foreign links to Western interests.


 Abdul Razak, 60, who is now retired but a director of several companies, said ACA had investigated the matter following allegations made in a statutory declaration by former assistant governor of Bank Negara Abdul Murad Khalid.


 <img align="left" alt="anwar sodomy 2 duta court hearing pkr leaders 080709 13" height="264" src="http://mk-cdn.mkini.net/194/caa458b3b413fab9608aeec785279707.jpg" title="anwar sodomy 2 duta court hearing pkr leaders 080709 13" width="200"/>
 He said a team of ACA officers went to Singapore and United Kingdom to probe the allegations.


 "We went to meet Murad and several British witnesses. But the investigations resulted in 'No case' against Anwar pertaining to allegations made in Murad's statutory declaration."


 "Further, I concluded that the allegations contained in the SD (statutory declaration) were baseless and unsustainable, and I consequently ordered that the investigations be closed."


 Murad signed the statutory declaration on Oct 29, 1999 - about one month after Anwar was arrested following his sacking as deputy prime minister in early September that year.


 
 
 In the declaration, Murad claimed there were 20 master accounts established for Anwar by his cronies and believed the amount to be more than RM3 billion.


 Abdul Razak,
 
 
 who was the second witness called after Anwar, then submitted his own statutory declaration on the matter and tendered it in court.


 The former top ACA investigator was testifying in a RM100 million defamation suit by Anwar against
 
 New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
 
 and its former group editor-in-chief, Abdullah Ahmad.


 The alleged defamatory article,
 
 'Anwar's link to US lobbyist&rsquo;
 
 , was published on March 2, 2002.


 
 
 The opposition leader
 <a href="http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/16197" target="_blank">
 
 filed
 
 </a>
 the suit on July 4, 2003, where the
 
 NSTP
 
 article was based on another article -
 
 'The Bush Administration's dubious envoy to Taiwan'
 
 - that was published in the political weekly magazine
 
 New Republic's
 
 March 2002 issue.


 
 


 Abdul Razak told the court on being cross-examined by
 
 NSTP
 
 's lead counsel Nad Segaram that he had directed the investigations following the allegations made by Murad. He admitted he did not carry out the probe himself.


 Abdul Razak said he went to Singapore to interview Murad, as well as to the United Kingdom to interview two European witnesses. However, he admitted he did not go to the United States or direct investigations to be conducted there.


 He said he also directed investigations on one Douglas H Paal, who headed the Asia Pacific Policy Centre (APPC), a United States lobbyist group, following Murad's allegations.


 However, Abdul Razak said he did not meet or interview Paal, or directed the ACA to go to the US as he found it unnecessary.


 The witness said after the ACA completed investigations, a copy of its findings was handed to the senior federal counsel in the attorney-general's chambers.


 Responding to a question from Karpal during re-examination, Abdul Razak said after handing over the papers, and holding discussions, he and AG's chambers found there was no case against the former deputy premier.


 
 
 Anwar: Article affected his dignity and standing
 
 


 
 


 Anwar said the defamatory article made him out to be a person with no integrity, morals and dignity, bereft of principles; disloyal to Malaysia, dishonest; a corrupt and untrustworthy leader and politician.


 "It also suggested that I am an American agent and a person who has abused my position for my personal gains. I felt defamed by these paragraphs and in the full context of the entire article.


 "It had exposed me to hatred, ridicule or contempt in the minds of reasonable men," he said, adding that he could not defend himself then as he was imprisoned in Sungai Buloh in 2002.


 Asked by Karpal (
 
 below
 
 ) whether he challenged the veracity of the article, Anwar said he had challenged the Malaysian government, the prime minister and cabinet to conduct an independent inquiry into the said allegations made by Murad, and into the wealth of the present and former leaders.


 "I also made a clarion call to the authorities to investigate the same and also demanded the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry into all allegations contained in Murad's statutory declaration. In fact, Murad had also publicly denied free consent to the statutory declaration," the opposition leader said.


 <img align="right" alt="kampung buah pala penang karpal singh meet 120609 03" height="246" src="http://mk-cdn.mkini.net/188/43f3db28711bb8d7f56edc86316110ba.jpg" title="kampung buah pala penang karpal singh meet 120609 03" width="200"/>
 Anwar, who is also Permatang Pauh MP said he filed the action as the article contained false and baseless allegations against him, and he complained about the 10 paragraphs containing the defamatory words.


 "The article is a scurrilous attack on my character. I was in prison. Newspapers owned by Umno and the ruling alliance were used to attack me and my character."


 "I am defenceless because the newspapers would not even carry a word of my denial. This said article is just one in a series of character assassination against me," he said.


 
 


 Cross-examined by Nad, Anwar said the Prime Minister's office then, along with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), had established ties with APPC to establish better rapport with Asia Pacific leaders and in particular from the US.


 "APPC along with ISIS (was) tasked is to invite US congress leaders to come to a series of dialogues here," he said.


 These events, the opposition leader said, would be officiated by the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and not by him. "I knew my place," he quipped in responding to a question by Nad.


 Anwar admitted he knew Paal and agreed that the APPC head had ran an article favouring him (Anwar) following his arrest in 1998 by the government.


 "It was not only him who had written such articles on me but there are hundreds of articles in Arabic and Chinese. This is just one of them," he said.


 
 
 Article was based on New Republic
 
 


 Rose Ismail, formerly the
 
 New Straits Times
 
 managing editor, who wrote the article said she had based it on an article that was published on the
 
 New Republic
 
 article.


 "I found the magazine to be a reputable publication when I was doing a Masters in Journalism at Boston University in 1984. I have continued to subscribe to it as it contained stories of substance.


 She agreed she did not contact Anwar to verify the facts as her intention was merely to highlight the
 
 New Republic
 
 article, and that the
 
 NST
 
 article did not carry her name as the article was based on another report.


 "It was not an article that carried my own views or comments on the subject matter of the same. In circumstances where an article is based on another article that has already been published, it was not always the practise of the
 
 NSTP
 
 to set out the name of the author of the article.


 Cross-examined by Karpal, Rose agreed the article contains serious allegations made against Anwar and she agreed she did check and speak to people before writing it.


 Rose however admitted she did not speak with Anwar as he was in prison and that she did not attempt to contact him through Anwar's lawyers.


 
 Karpal:
 
 It could possibly have been done


 
 Rose:
 
 Possibly


 
 Karpal:
 
 Did you verify its contents with Murad or with Paal?


 
 Rose:
 
 I could not locate Murad or Paal, I tried to look at the APPC website for contact details but it was not possible.


 
 Karpal:
 
 So you ran the report without verifying the truth of the article


 
 Rose:
 
 I would say I did, I (verified) through earlier reports including from the US congressional website based on its hearing and reports.


 
 Karpal:
 
 You make allegations recklessly without taking steps to verify the truth?


 
 Rose:
 
 I disagree as all (matters) is within the public sphere.


 The hearing continues before Judicial Commissioner Harmindar Singh Dhaliwall for submissions.

UPDATED 5.20PM
 

Former ACA director of investigations Abdul Razak Idris said he had cleared Anwar of allegations of stashing RM3 billion in foreign accounts.

 
 [VIDEO INSIDE]

ACA had cleared Anwar of 'RM3 bil bank account'

~RM12

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