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©The Sun (Used by permission)
by Husna Yusop

Young Lawyers to interview those involved in the Episode: Bar Council Chief

PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur Young Lawyers Committee (KLYLC) is coming up with a series of interviews with some of the judges and lawyers involved in the 1988 judicial crisis.

This is in line with the move by the Bar Council to ask the government for a review of the crisis since last year, said council president Ambiga Sreenevasan.

She said it was important for lawyers who did not witness this episode, deemed the darkest day in judicial history, to understand and appreciate what had happened then.

“What better way than for them to hear for themselves from the people involved?” she told theSun.

“And it is only if they understand what happened that they can ensure our judiciary and the entire legal system will never have to endure such an assault again.”

The idea to revisit the 1988 judicial crisis was mooted by KLYLC’s human rights unit as one of its projects for the year.

The then lord president Tun Salleh Abbas, and Supreme Court judges Datuk George Seah and the late Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman Pawan Teh were dismissed in 1988.

Last year, immediate former Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh had called for a review of the crisis, which Salleh had concurred, claiming their sacking from the judiciary was wrong.

However, the government had said there was no strong enough reason or new evidence to reopen the case.

Ambiga said she was pleased the KLYLC had supported the council’s initiative and was interested in helping to right a wrong that took place nearly 20 years ago.

She said the council would continue to persuade the relevant authorities to carry out a review. “If we fail, we will examine other options,” she said.

She said looking back on the country’s 50 years of independence, Malaysians must not only look at the many achievements and rejoice.

They must also be prepared to look at the mistakes made and seek to correct them, particularly where grave injustices had occurred as a result.

“It is only then that we can truly say we have matured as a nation, that material wealth is not our only goal and that truth and justice is truly cherished,” Ambiga said.

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