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©The
Star (Used by permission)
by Shaila Koshy and V.P. Sujata
• PM’s Department lodges police report against media
• Post commission’s full report online, says Kit Siang
• Bar: Probe without fear or favour
• A political thing, says Gwo Burne
• Hisham: Let the law take its course
• Better late than never, says Wan Azizah
• Haidar lauds move to make report public
PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet has agreed that investigations be conducted into all
allegations against former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and five
others identified in the Royal Commission of Inquiry report on the V.K. Lingam
video clip.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim said the
five others were lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Umno
secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and former Chief
Justices Tun Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said he would go through the report
before announcing whether he would be ordering a probe.
“I will study the recommendations in the report very carefully, after which I
will issue a statement at the appropriate time.
“Please give us time to do our job properly,” he said.
Zaid said the six would be investigated for offences under the Sedition Act,
Official Secrets Act and the Penal Code, which included obstruction of justice.
“All the recommendations in the report are advisory in nature so we have to have
another investigation,” he said, adding that the Government had taken note of
the recommendations for judicial reform and the establishment of a Judicial
Appointments Commission.
“The Government is in the process of finalising the relevant laws to set up this
commission and it will be made known soon,” he said, adding that the Government
also proposed to include the recognition of “judicial power” as proposed by the
Commission.
He said these moves were vital to help restore the people’s confidence in the
judiciary.
The Cabinet, he said, had urged the public, including the media, to allow
uninterrupted investigations without undue pressure and prejudice against any
individual identified in the report.
“It must be reiterated that in our legal system, an accused is presumed innocent
until proven guilty in a court of law,” he told reporters at the Legal Affairs
Division of the Prime Minister’s Department here yesterday.
The Royal Commission was formed to verify the authenticity of the video clip
purportedly showing prominent lawyer Lingam on the phone brokering judicial
appointments with a senior judge. Twenty-one witnesses testified at the 17-day
inquiry which began on Jan 14.
Zaid also said that the Cabinet had agreed for the contents of the report to be
released and sold to the public.
The report, which comes in four volumes comprising 2,889 pages, will cost
RM541.60; of which the main report costs RM161.40 while the notes of
proceedings, statutory declaration and lists of exhibits are priced at RM123.30,
RM120 and RM136.90 respectively.
The public can buy the report at the Legal Affairs Division from Tuesday
afternoon.
In its report, the commission said that the video clip, made by businessman Loh
Gwo Burne, was indeed recorded at Lingam's house in December 2001.
It said it had no hesitation in finding that the clip to be genuine, real,
reliable and trustworthy and its contents true in substance and material
particulars.
In examining Lingam and Fairuz's testimonies, which they described as bare
denials, against the direct evidence elicited from the phone conversation as
well as the evidence of Gwo Burne and his businessman father Loh Mui Fah, the
commission found that it was none other than Fairuz that Lingam was speaking to
on the telephone.
The panel also said the evidence showed that Lingam was not intoxicated during
the conversations, as he had suggested.
It added that the evidence also militates against Lingam's other suggestion that
he could have been “bullshitting” or bragging.
The commission said that, in the final analysis, there was conceivably an
insidious movement by Lingam with the covert assistance of his close friends Tan
and Tengku Adnan to involve themselves actively in the appointment of judges, in
particular that of Fairuz as Chief judge of Malaya and later Court of Appeal
president.
In the process, the panel added that Dr Mahathir was also entangled.
While noting that the group's ultimate aim could not be ascertained, given the
limitation of the terms of reference, the commission said it was reasonable to
suggest that it could not be anything but self-serving.
The panel said the collective and cumulative actions of the main characters
concerned had the effect of seriously undermining the independence and integrity
of the judiciary as a whole.
PM’s Department lodges police report against media
PUTRAJAYA: The Prime Minister's Department has lodged a police report against
several newspapers for publishing the Royal Commission of Inquiry report on the
V.K. Lingam video clip before it was made public.
It is learnt that a senior official from the PM’s Department lodged the report
at the Putrajaya police headquarters yesterday morning.
Kuala Lumpur CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Ku Chin Wah confirmed that a report
had been lodged but declined to elaborate.
It is learnt that the police will investigate the case under the Official
Secrets Act (OSA).
The Star and several other newspapers as well as online news portals had
published findings of the inquiry and its recommendations several days ago.
Yesterday, the Cabinet agreed to make the commission's findings public. The
report costing RM541.60 will be available from Tuesday.
Post commission’s full report online, says Kit Siang
PENANG: The full report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam's
video clip should be made available online for the public to “judge”.
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said he welcomed the Cabinet's decision to make the
report public but it should be made easily accessible to everyone.
“This is something that concerned all 27 million Malaysians and they should not
be charging a price that no one, other than some rich institutions, can afford.
“If this had happened in other countries that are serious about accountability
and transparency, I believe the report would have been already posted online.”
He said the Government should develop e-governance and make full use of
information technology by immediately putting the report online for everyone to
view.
“I believe the Government has the technical expertise and if it really doesn't,
we are willing to provide help.”
Lim said it was time for Malaysia to restore both national and international
confidence in the independence and quality of the judiciary that had suffered
serious damage in the past two decades.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said it was right for the report to be made
public as it involved public interests.
“Justice should not only be done but must be seen to be done.”
Bar: Probe without fear or favour
PETALING JAYA: The ball is now in the Attorney-General's court and the case
should be investigated without fear or favour, said Bar Council president Datuk
Ambiga Sreenevasan.
Responding to the Cabinet's decision to make public the Royal Commission's
report on the V.K. Lingam video clip, she said that the public was entitled to
the findings in full.
“The A-G's investigations must be carried out fairly, thoroughly and quickly in
such a manner to assure the public that there would be no cover-up.
“This is important for the credibility of our investigating institutions,” she
said yesterday.
Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye described the decision as a step in the right direction to
restore the people's faith in the judiciary.
He added that the move was appropriate as it was a matter of public interest.
“The decision should be lauded as it is in line with the Government's objective
to promote transparency and accountability,” said Lee, who was a member of the
three-man independent panel tasked to probe the authenticity of the video clip
when it surfaced on Sept 19.
He added that back then he had also lobbied for the report to be made public.
Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong said that making public the findings of any Royal
Commission should be an automatic process, adding that it was the right of the
public to know.
Wee, however, said that more should be done.
“It must not just stop here. There must also be an inquiry into any figure who
has been implicated in the case.
“Furthermore, any recommendation by the commission towards the case must be
implemented,” he said.
A political thing, says Gwo Burne
PETALING JAYA: The move to make public the Royal Commission Report is
politically motivated, says Loh Gwo Burne, who made the V.K Lingam video clip.
Gwo Burne said yesterday that he believed it was a “political thing” that the
report is being made open to the public.
He added it appeared everything was politically motivated, from the beginning of
the commission until the present day, with no real attempt to get at the truth.
“Look how much society had to pressure for the Royal Commission to be set up in
the first place,” he said.
The Kelana Jaya MP, however, disagreed that investigations should include former
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad because he was “victimised” by the people
who surrounded him and tried to influence his decisions.
When asked whether he intended to release more of what he recorded at Lingam’s
house in December 2001, Gwo Burne said he did not intend to do so in the
immediate future.
It was reported that he had stashed more video clips entitled VK1, VK2 and
others, somewhere in China.
“It is definitely somewhere. I just have to go find it.”
His father, businessman Loh Mui Fah lauded the decision although he had some
reservations.
“It’s a positive move to make the findings public, but the question is whether
it is politically inclined.
“Based on the fact that the commission had deliberated and postponed the
findings so many times, there could be public speculation that a complete
picture would not be painted,” he said.
Hisham: Let the law take its course
MALACCA: Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said no one should
play up the Royal Commission findings as that could adversely affect the due
process.
He said the parties named in the commission should not be tried outside the
normal process as due justice must be given to them.
“We do not want to see those who have not been found guilty to be judged before
due process,” he told reporters yesterday after the launching of the national
level Teachers Day celebrations.
He was asked to comment on the Cabinet’s decision to make public the Royal
Commission Report over the Lingam video recording.
Hishammuddin, who took part in the Cabinet’s decision, said they had merely
announced that the findings would be made public.
Better late than never, says Wan Azizah
KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has welcomed
the Government's decision to make public the report of the Royal Commission of
Inquiry into the controversial V.K. Lingam video clip.
She said she felt that decision should have been made sooner but added,
nevertheless, it was better late than never.
“We knew the clip was authentic all along,” she said yesterday.
She said the findings vindicated her husband, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who had
been jailed for abuse of power, saying that it proved that the judiciary was
tainted and that cases could be fixed.
She said there was a need to re-examine cases which Chief Justices Tun Ahmad
Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and Tan Sri Eusoff Chin had presided over as this blot
on their names created doubts as to whether they had dispensed justice fairly.
Anwar's lawyer S.N. Nair said his client was seeking to review all of his
criminal and civil cases presided over by the two former top judges.
The Lingam video clip came to light last September when Anwar, PKR de facto
leader, released it to the media.
Lingam’s phone conversation revolved around the fixing of the appointment of
judges.
After a considerable delay, the Government ordered the setting up of a Royal
Commission to carry out an inquiry into the video clip.
The commission found the clip to be authentic.
It suggested action be taken against the six individuals implicated including
Lingam, Fairuz, Eusoff, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Umno
secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and tycoon Tan Sri
Vincent Tan.
Dr Wan Azizah said she welcomed the decision to investigate the six, although
she questioned whether Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail would do so fairly.
“How do we undo all these things in the judiciary?
“We shouldn’t have had these problems in the first place. We have to bring back
credibility to the judiciary.”
On the Prime Minister’s Department's plan to lodge police reports against the
media for reporting on the findings of the Royal Commission before it was made
public, Dr Wan Azizah said the case was of public interest and the media was
just being productive and positive.
“By reporting the findings, the media did not breach the security of the
country,” she said.
Haidar lauds move to make report public
PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor, who chaired the Royal Commission of
Inquiry into the V.K. Lingam video clip, has lauded the move to make the report
public.
“I am glad the Government decided to make it public.
“It is good because the public will know exactly what is going on,” Haidar said
when contacted.
He added that it was a logical decision to make the report public since the
inquiry had been carried out in open court.
Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Khoo Kay Kim, also a member of the commission, echoed a
similar sentiment, adding that the RM541.60 price of the report was based on
printing costs.
“There are four volumes or 2,800-over pages.
“It is a very lengthy report and the evidence in the proceedings took two-thirds
of it,” said Prof Khoo.
When contacted, Salehuddin Saidin, counsel for former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad
Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, said both he and his client could not comment at the
moment because they had yet to receive a copy of the report.
“I have not received any instructions from Tun Ahmad Fairuz at this point of
time,” he added.
Datuk Hazman Ahmad, counsel for former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin, also gave
a similar response.
Efforts to contact Datuk V.K. Lingam were unsuccessful.
Calls to his mobile phone were diverted to voicemail while attempts to reach him
at his residence also proved futile. His daughter said he was not in the
country.
Vincent Tan’s personal assistant said the tycoon was abroad and would not make
any comment until he saw the report.
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