The Malaysian Bar - Govt sets up panel to probe damning video clip featuring senior lawyer

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Govt sets up panel to probe damning video clip featuring senior lawyer

Tuesday, 25 September 2007 03:31pm

©The Sun (Used by permission)

PUTRAJAYA (Sept 25, 2007): Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak announced here today that a three-man independent panel has been set up to probe the video recording featuring a senior lawyer discussing judiciary appointments over the phone.

The senior lawyer allegedly was discussing such appointments with a senior judge.

Najib said the panel, chaired by former Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor, is to investigate the authenticity of the video clip.

The other panel members are former Court of Appeal judge Mahadev Shankar and former DAP MP (now social worker ) Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, in a statement issued today, urged all organisations and ordinary Malaysians to join in and support the "March For Justice" organised by the Malaysian Bar Council from the Palace Of Justice in Putrajaya tomorrow at 11am to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Coucil is to hand over a memorandum calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the judiciary to the Prime Minister

Lim said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz is insulting the intelligence of all Malaysians by labelling this march as behaving like the opposition and questioned why they did not seek an appointment with the Prime Minister.

"How can marching be equated with the opposition when the ruling parties themselves have marched on a variety of issues? There is great urgency in taking immediate action or else the issue will fizzle out and be forgotten. That is why waiting for an appointment with the Prime Minister will take too long a time and fall into trap set by irresponsible parties who want to see the issue die a natural death and disappear.

"Whilst Nazri’s comments that the lawyers can march peacefully is welcomed, he is wrong to say that their stature will suffer by marching. Instead, the stature of lawyers and all participants will only be enhanced that lawyers are not only obsessed with money but are prepared to stand up for justice and judicial independence," he added.