May 17, 2011
He told the court that he has sent out several documents to the prime minister to sort out his problem.
KOTA KINABALU: Self-proclaimed ‘Sultan of Sulu’, Mohd Akjan Ali Muhammad, a former Umno power-broker, is seeking the intervention of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak over his predicament.Akjan, who was remanded for seven days by the Magistrate’s Court here to facilitate investigations into allegations into his activities, told the court he had sent several documents to Najib to sort out the matter.
Taken in handcuffs, the former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee is being investigated under Section 130C of the Penal Code which covers acts of terrorism.
Police arrested the prominent businessman, who has a vast following among the Filipino community here, on Sunday afternoon at one of his residences here in an up-scale suburb in the city. He had just returned from Kuala Lumpur.
Akjan, 53, told magistrate Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim that whatever he had done was “for the country’s benefit and not my own”, apparently in reference to the long-standing Philippines claim on Sabah.
He said he understood the “seriousness of the matter” but requested for a shorter period of remand than the 14 days asked for by the police.
Akjan also asked that his case not be held in open court on the grounds that it was unique and serious matter involving the Malaysian government.
His family members also threatened journalists assembled outside court as they waited to take photographs of him.
A controversial figure since his meteoric rise in local Umno politics, Akjan has been in the news since February this year following a ‘coronation’ ceremony crowning him as the 33rd reigning Sultan of Sulu Sultanate at his residence in Likas on Feb 2.
The timing and the place of his ‘coronation’ raised eyebrows as it is well-known as a neighbourhood housing several senior Sabah Umno members including a former head of state.
Following the hue-and-cry by various political parties from both sides of the divide, Akjan issued a clarification saying that what actually took place was just a ‘thanks giving’ ceremony in conjunction with his “acceptance of offer” by the government-in-exile, to be their new sultan.
Umno operative
Akjan and other Umno operatives were arrested and detained under the ISA in the mid 1990s after he was allegedly caught with a briefcase containing about 2,000 Malaysian identity cards at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport on a return flight from Kuala Lumpur.
Little is known about how he came to be in possession with the large number of documents which granted citizenship status to the holders and it was alleged that he was selling the ICs to Filipino illegal immigrants in Sabah for between RM500 and RM3,000.
Opposition politicians have always claimed that there was a murky link between him and Umno and illegal immigrants in the state who were ‘recruited’ as ‘phantom voters’ during elections.
After his released from a two-year detention term, Akjan repositioned himself in Umno at federal level and managed to align himself to former premier Tun Abdullah Badawi.
He was awarded generous government contracts including the prized RM215 million General Operations Force (GOF) housing scheme in Kinarut, in 2004.
The project was however abandoned in 2005 when only 35% of the project completed after a dispute between the main contractor, Nautica Technologies Sdn Bhd in which Akjan was the executive and managing director, and sub-contractors, Lankhorst Pancabumi Contractors Sdn Bhd - FMT
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