SABAH RCI The police officers assigned to investigate the illegal issuance of identity cards to foreigners in Sabah did not investigate if there were non-financial motives involved, said the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on immigrants in Sabah.

 

It said that police officers Ibrahim Zakaria, Badaruddin Ismail and Ahmad Fauzan Mohd were apparently satisfied after uncovering a financial motive for the operation.

 

"They took the view it was sufficient to constitute as threats to national security and therefore could be subjected to detention under the ISA (Internal Security Act).

 

“They did not seem to find it necessary to go beyond the financial motive to determine whether there were other motives involved,” the RCI said in its 368-page report released yesterday.

 

The commission ultimately found that Project IC - an alleged plot to alter the voter demographics in Sabah by issuing identity cards (IC) to illegal immigrants –  "probably" exists.

 

Ibrahim was assigned to interrogate the then Sabah National Registration Department (NRD) director Abdul Rauf Sani, while Badaruddin had interrogated Rauf’s successor Ramli Kamarudin. Ahmad Fauzan assessed the intelligence reports from such interrogations.

Financial benefit

 

The RCI said the trio had testified to the commission that the illegal activities were purely for financial benefit.

 

“In our view, when the testimonies of (the witnesses) were analysed carefully, it seems obvious that their interrogations and/or assessments of the suspects did not go beyond determining the financial motive involved,” the commission said.

 

It said the five witnesses involved in the issuance of the ICs - Sandakan district officer Hassnar Ebrahim, and NRD officers Ramli, Rauf, Asli Sidup and Yakob Damsah - corroborated each other’s account detailing their operation, apparently under orders from political superiors.

 

On the other hand, the political figures implicated had all denied involvement, apart from then Deputy Home Minister Megat Junid, who had since passed away.

These include former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh, and then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed ( left ).

 

The commission said that since the five witnesses corroborated each other, and as there was a high population growth in Sabah due to an influx of illegal immigrants at the time when Project IC took place, there is some credibility in their testimony.

 

“However, none of the witnesses were subjected to cross-examination, as would have been the case in a trial.

 

“That being the case and given the denials against the allegations, we can only conclude that it was more likely than not, that Project IC did exist as reflected in the evidence of the five witnesses, the report said.

 

A 13-page excerpt of the report that deals with the commission’s findings on Project IC can be found in full here .

Related stories

Victory or insult? Sabah leaders split on RCI

AG: You backed ISA so don't ask for trial now

Minister: Sabah intrusion continues as we trade fire

'BN would win K'tan if it gave citizenships away'

Perhaps it was just an 'enquiry' after all

Bersih fumes no politics found in 'Project IC'

Pro-gov't RCI 'Twitter bombs' flood cyberspace

Minister: What else does Jeffrey want?

'Jeffrey harbours vengeance against Dr M'

'RCI report a starting point to resolving migrants issue'

A whitewash to cover dark side of 'Project IC'