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Lingam video clip inquiry: Abdullah to decide
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Lingam video clip inquiry report should be made public, says Haidar
©The Star
(Used by permission)
Correct, it's Fairuz
KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip has
found that it was former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim who
was talking to prominent lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam on the telephone.
Sources said the five-man panel also found that the video clip was authentic and
that the conversation was true in substance.
They said the commission also found that it was lawyer Loh Mui Fah who Lingam
was speaking to after his telephone conversation with Fairuz.
Commission chairman Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor presented a two-volume report on
the findings to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the
Istana Negara here yesterday.
The commission commenced its enquiry on Jan 14.
The sources said the commission also found that there was sufficient evidence of
misbehaviour by certain persons mentioned or identified in the clip.
They said the commission found sufficient reason for the relevant authorities to
take appropriate action against those implicated for breaches of the Sedition
Act, the Penal Code, the Official Secrets Act, the Legal Profession Act and
other laws.
They added that the commission was recommending the Government set up a Judicial
Appointments Commission and to undertake other necessary reforms.
Sources also said the commission stated that its report was not meant as an
indictment against all judges.
Former Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor, who chaired the
commission, said yesterday that the King was happy that the enquiry had been
completed.
The other four members of the commission were former Chief Judge of Sabah and
Sarawak Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong, former Court of Appeal Judge and former
Suhakam commissioner Datuk Mahadev Shankar, former Solicitor-General Puan Sri
Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh and Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Khoo Kay Kim.
The video clip showing the apparent brokering of judicial appointments and
promotions first came to light on Sept 19 last year when PKR de facto leader
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim released it at a press conference.
Anwar later released two more segments that showed Lingam telling Loh that he
had been talking to Fairuz.
On Sept 25, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that an
independent inquiry committee would investigate the authenticity of the video
clip purportedly made in 2001.
The committee completed its report on Nov 6. It was studied by the Cabinet but
never made public.
Based on the recommendations of the committee, Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the setting up of the commission on Dec 12.
At the conclusion of the enquiry on Feb 15, the commission had heard testimony
from 21 witnesses and received more than 100 exhibits and over 15 statutory
declarations.
Among the prominent witnesses were former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,
former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan
Tengku Mansor, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan and retired chief justices Tun Mohamed
Eusoff Chin and Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah.
The commission had first fixed March 11 to submit the report to the King but
sought two one-month extensions later.
Loh: Work to uncover other ‘dealings’
PETALING JAYA: The real work has only just begun with the findings of the Royal
Commission of Inquiry on the V.K. Lingam video clip, said Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo
Burne.
Loh, who recorded the video clip, said the findings should open the way for
further investigations into whether there were other similar cases within the
judiciary.
“This is just the flagpole at the tip of the iceberg. Who knows if there are
others who are doing what V.K. Lingam did?” he said when contacted yesterday.
He was asked to comment on the findings of the report.
Lawyer Wee Choo Keong, who represented Lingam’s brother V. Thirunama Karasu,
said he was very pleased of the outcome of the commission.
“I am glad that there is some semblance of independence,” he said.
Wee said: “If that is the findings, follow-up action has to be taken up. They
are very serious findings. They suggest a clear case of interfering with the
administration of justice and subverting the course of justice.”
Lingam declines to comment
PENANG: Controversial lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam declined to comment on the
findings on the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the video clip of him allegedly
brokering the appointment of judges.
When contacted by phone, he said: “How can I comment on these things.”
Sources said the report had found that the person Lingam had spoken to on the
phone in the video clip had been former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh
Abdul Halim.
Findings ‘should be made public’
KUALA LUMPUR: The findings of the Royal Commission on the controversial Datuk V.
K. Lingam tape should be made public, said commission chairman retired Chief
Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor.
However, he said this was his personal view and the decision whether to make the
reports public was with the Prime Minister.
Haidar handed the Royal Commission of Inquiry report to the Yang di-Pertuan
Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the Istana Negara at 9.30am yesterday.
Four recommendations were made in four volumes of report running up to 186
pages, he said in a telephone interview yesterday.
The commission secretary will also submit the report to Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who will set a date for it to be discussed in the
Cabinet, Haider added.
Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said it was important that the
findings be made public immediately. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi said at a press conference after the Umno supreme council meeting
yesterday that he had yet to read the report.
Asked whether he would make the report public, he said: “I haven’t seen it yet
so how can I make a decision?”
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, who is de facto
Law Minister, said the inquiry was of great public interest.
He said as the public already had knowledge of most of the statements and
exhibits, he was sure the Prime Minister “will take this into account in
determining whether to make the report public.”
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Malacca Bar: Conference on the Roadmap to Local Government Elections 
Circular No 181/2008 : 22nd Sultan Azlan Shah Law Lecture
Firstly, the Government led by Pak Lah must be congratulated for the setting of the Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam tapes.
Secondly, bouquets appear to be in order for the Commissioners who have produced the report that we have yet to read. It is my hope that the participatory principle in a working democracy will tilt the decision to allow the people access to this report.
Thirdly, in a more domestic vein, let me congratulate all those who gave their time and effort to represent the Malaysian Bar in this matter. Well done.
Lest those who voted down the Bar Council's recent resolution on the subscription increase forget, this is one of the many and varied ON-GOING contributions of the Malaysian Bar in nation-building. Funds alone cannot be allowed to stymie our work.
I can imagine the lobbying that went on BEFORE and AFTER the Commission was established, just as I can imagine the lobbying that occurred BEFORE and AFTER the report was made.
Finally, without reading the report in full which I certainly hope to do, what this means is that our young nation has the wherewithal to self-correct. Isn't that going against something that sociologists have almost always said. Most sociologists believe that systems being what they are - "they have a life of their own" - they almost always fail to self-correct.
Stephen Tan Ban Cheng