|
Anwar's lawyers fail in bid to discharge Commissioners |
|
|
|
Posted by admin
|
|
Tuesday, 15 January 2008 08:39 |
|
(Channel NewsAsia) - KUALA LUMPUR : A royal commission probe in Malaysia into alleged judicial corruption on Monday saw panel members rejecting calls to recuse themselves on grounds of possible conflict of interest.
Commission chairman Haidar Mohd Noor said he did not see any grounds to do so, while two other members said they would do so if they find themselves unable to carry out their work. {mosgoogle right}
A video clip released publicly by disgraced former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim will be the focus of a Royal Commission of Inquiry in the coming fortnight.
The controversial "Lingam" video clip shows a senior lawyer allegedly brokering judicial appointments with a top judge over the phone.
The panel has been tasked to determine its authenticity, who is in it and whether the featured conversation is true.
But before the hearing could start proper, lawyers acting for Mr Anwar as well as civil society groups submitted that three of the five panel members should recuse themselves out of possible conflict of interest.
Mr Anwar's lawyer, M. Puravelan, submitted that the three - Commission chairman Haidar Mohamed Nor, Steve Shim and Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh - either had links with witnesses or were implicated in the case.
Mr Haidar was once a trustee of the Perdana Leadership Foundation set up by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is a potential witness.
Commission member Mr Shim is mentioned in the video, while Madam Zaitun once prosecuted a vote-rigging case which caused another potential commission witness to lose his parliamentary seat.
Wee Choo Keong, Former Opposition MP for Bukit Bintang, said: "Zaitun should not be a member of the Royal Commission because she was a DPP in my case."
Lawyer for the Bar Council, Robert Lazar, made lengthy submissions emphasising the Commission must not only be independent but must also be seen to be independent - visibly annoying at least one panel member.
At one point, Commission member and also former Court of Appeal judge Mahadev Shankar actually asked counsel for the Malaysian Bar Council to measure how far he wanted to go and that he, Mahadev, could clear the court for counsel to say what he wanted to say.
Mr Anwar's application for permission to watch the proceedings was also turned down as witnesses are not allowed be present unless called to testify.
"I'm an interested party. I released the video and my name was mentioned and I have been consistently mentioning about the corruption in the judiciary," he said.
Besides determining the video's authenticity, the commission has till March 11 to decide if there was any misconduct and the action to be taken against the wrongdoers. - CNA/de
 |
News & Commentaries 
Now we see Eusof Chin trying to teach the RC 'irrelevant'. The famous word introduced into the judiciary by not at all august Augutin Paul. When it is relevant to the defence and weakens the prosecution then it is irrelevant. What a shameless 'human being'! The cheapest people I have ever seen. They say 'don't politicise' when others speak, but they sell the whole concept and system and that isn't politicising.
The next question is whether the application should have been made before the proceedings actually started, so that the Royal Commission could have been properly constituted.