AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH AG GANI: LAW ENFORCEMENT

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000589 SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR EAP/MTS AND INL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD KCRM MY PREL SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH AG GANI: LAW ENFORCEMENT ISSUES REF: A. KL 584 - EXPORT CONTROL LAW ¶B. KL 583 - GOM ENGAGEMENT ON TIP Summary - - - - - - - - - ¶1. (SBU) In a July 13 meeting with Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail (also reported reftels),the Ambassador expressed concern about diminished enforcement of international property rights (IPR) laws in Malaysia over the past year. Gani sought U.S. universities, interest in establishing training in Malaysia for his personnel, and conveyed a strong desire to work more closely with the Embassy and the U.S. Government on IPR issues. He raised a long-standing frustration regarding U.S. inability to furnish IP (Internet Protocol) addresses to Malaysian authorities. End Summary. ¶2. (U) This is an action message; please see para 5. ¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Keith, accompanied by LEGAT and acting Polcouns, met with Attorney General Gani and several of his staff on July 13. The Ambassador noted that law enforcement cooperation was one of the most important among the many recent positive steps in advancing U.S.-Malaysian relations. He underlined U.S. intention to expand activities under the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement (MLA). The Ambassador emphasized that IPR remained a high priority for the USG and also for U.S. business, but added that in the past year Malaysian law enforcement on IPR has not been as vigorous as in the past, adding that political will was most important in this regard. ¶4. (SBU) Gani said that while a sufficient number of people had now been trained to permit the law enforcement agencies to "go on their own," regarding IPR cases his personal view was that establishing the IPR court has not helped so much, due to a lack of understanding of these issues on the part of court officials. Promulgating the necessary laws enabled the GOM to demonstrate how serious it took these issues, but in reality numerous challenges remain. More enforcement officers required training on how to collect evidence, and courts needed to understand the seriousness of the offenses. Presently they were handing out only relatively minor fines. Gani stressed the issues were complex. Some Malaysian manufacturers of legal material also were producing illegally on the side. ¶5. (U) Action Request: Gani requested assistance in identifying U.S. universities willing to provide training and degrees, on a fully compensated basis, for his staff in the Attorney General,s Chambers. He noted that British and Australian universities had engaged in such training, but that Americans were not yet interested. Please advise any courses of action Department recommends to attempt to be responsive to Gani,s request. ¶6. (SBU) Gani complained of a lack of reciprocity in one particular area of law enforcement cooperation. While Malaysia was prepared to share IP addresses in response to Department of Justice requests, the U.S. side was not able to respond to Malaysian requests. He said there would have to be reciprocity if the Malaysian side were to continue to provide data to U.S. counterparts. Ambassador and LEGAT expressed a desire to be as forthcoming and flexible as possible in our law enforcement interaction, supported the Attorney General,s general proposition that reciprocal treatment was a worthy and appropriate objective, but noted that we were bound by an ironclad necessity that our provision of such data must be predicated on a determination that we were acting in support of an offense that would be chargeable in the U.S. KEITH