The Malaysian Bar - Deny link to videotape, CJ and lawyer urged

Home

News

Bar News/Berita Badan Peguam

Deny link to videotape, CJ and lawyer urged

Tuesday, 23 October 2007 08:04am

Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim • Lim Kit Siang's open letter to the Chief Justice

©The Star (Used by permission)
At The Dewan Rakyat
Reports by Lee Yuk Peng, Zulkifli Abdul Rahman, Elizabeth Looi and Florenc A. Samy

A VETERAN lawyer who is also an MP has challenged Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and a prominent lawyer to publicly deny that they are in the alleged “judge-brokering” videotape.

Karpal Singh (DAP – Bukit Gelugor) alleged that the tape was of a seditious nature and questioned why no action had been taken against the person who was shown allegedly brokering the deal.

“I challenge him (the Chief Justice) to deny (it) himself and not through Nazri (Minister in the Prime Min-ister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz) that he is the one at the other end of the phone.

“Why did he (Ahmad Fairuz) deny (the allegation) through the executive and not the judiciary? Where is the separation of powers?” he said when debating the Supply Bill 2008.

Karpal Singh also questioned why a royal commission of inquiry was not set up to investigate the video clip instead of having a three-member panel.

Karpal Singh claimed that the judiciary had not recovered since the 1988 judicial crisis and “is now worse.”

Set as favourite

Email This

Comments (3) Add Comment

Subscribe to this comment's feed

QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS AND MORE QUESTIONS
written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng, Tuesday, October 23 2007 01:55 pm

Why doesn't Tun Fairuz just deny it if it is not true and admit it if it is.

Is the incumbent Chief Justice aware that he has subjected his own nation and its peoples to more than a month of mounting anguish?

Is he aware that his stance of neither denying nor confirming what is in the Lingam video clip has in a way caused a record number of 2,000 Malaysian lawyers to walk 3.5km on Sept 26, 2007, a day when all the Courts were still in session?

Can he, in the circumstances, accept any extension offered instead of being jantan enough to take responsibility and resign to end the agony that has plagued the entire judiciary where good Judges still serve?

Coming to V.K. Lingam, why can't this senior lawyer just deny or confirm what is in the Lingam video clip?

For that matter, this lawyer known for his prowess in defamation law has not even threatened to, let alone sue whoever his detractors are. Why? This failure to sue may well incline a lot of Malaysians and Malaysian lawyers to think that there is more to the Lingam video clip than meets the eye.

I am sure the entire episode would make a good dissertation for a student pursuing his Ph.D in law.

Stephen Tan Ban Cheng

National Judicial Heroes
written by Tan Peek Guat, Tuesday, October 23 2007 06:59 pm

To avoid any unnecessary prolongation over the matter, it is time for the witnesses to come forward and allege that they are the witnesses to the facts of the matter.

From there on, the ball can start rolling, and the witnesses will also have their names and dedication towards the judicial well being of our country recorded.

Tan Peek Guat

Witnesses to come forward?
written by Alex Tan Ken Seng, Wednesday, October 24 2007 10:18 am

Whether the witnesses come forward or not, the question remains as to why the CJ and the VK have opted to remain mousily silent. And why the PM and the press have not bothered to hound and "trap" them.

Also, dear Peek Guat, even if the witnesses come forward, what guarantee is there that proper investigations will be carried out? It might all come to waste. The only consequence might be that from looking like Michael Jackson in the early 1980s, the witness(es) will now look like Michael Jackson today, "hiding" in Bahrain or wherever he is, struggling to find a producer who can resurrect his career.

Alex Tan Ken Seng

Write comment

You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]

Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club