KUALA LUMPUR – With Aman Palestin Bhd’s three-day deadline coming up, the indignant non-governmental organisation is mulling a judicial review in a desperate bid to unfreeze millions of assets and funds.
Lawyer representing Aman Palestin, Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, said the organisation and its board have given their mandate to exhaust all necessary measures, within legal limits, to take the matter to court.
“For the time being, we will be focusing solely on the MACC order, and also, maybe, a judicial review,” he told Scoop, adding that they are looking into the necessary documents to be filed in court.
Rafique said the organisation would have appreciated a direct response from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), as they have yet to receive a reply as of yesterday.
“At the very least, there must be some sort of courtesy when someone sends you a letter. Acknowledge the letter, reply to the letter,” he said.
Rafique added that the response by MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki did not dampen the organisation’s intention to push forward with its three-day ultimatum.
Despite Aman Palestin issuing a three-day ultimatum on November 27 for MACC to unfreeze its bank accounts, Azam said the agency is ready to justify the freeze order in court.
Azam, responding to Aman Palestin’s ultimatum, yesterday said the charity – which was being investigated for misappropriating funds collected for the Palestinian cause – was welcome to sue the anti-graft agency if it wanted.
In a press conference on Monday night, Aman Palestin insisted that the funds collected had reached their targeted recipients, and were merely not channelled through the Palestine embassy here.
In response, ambassador Walid Abu Ali told Scoop that the embassy here coordinates with the Malaysian Foreign Ministry and its humanitarian mission, Ops Ihsan, to facilitate aid to Gaza via Egypt’s Al-Arish Airport – one of the closest airports to the Gaza Strip.
He added that the Egyptian Red Crescent Society is involved in efforts to facilitate the handing over of donations to Palestinians.
Aman Palestin had also accused MACC of maliciously attempting to tarnish the organisation’s image by freezing 41 accounts and investigating several related entities.
On October 20, MACC announced its probe into Aman Palestin based on information reported in the media. Azam said there was no need for the anti-graft body to have waited for a report to be filed.
A search of the premises to seize financial and operational management documents for the past five years also led to findings that some RM70 million had been allegedly misappropriated or diverted for purposes other than the charity’s objectives.
The RM70 million was said to have been used to buy gold, property and make cash investments.
Previously, Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin wrote a letter to the Perlis Islamic Religious Affairs Department against permitting Aman Palestin to collect funds in places of worship and relevant religious premises within the state.
The state religious authority then suspended fund collections by Aman Palestin in Perlis, effective October 12. – November 29, 2023