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• Decision whether to make public Lingam video clip report on Friday

©The Star (Used by permission)
by Loong Meng Yee

KUALA LUMPUR: The VK Lingam video clip shown to the Royal Commission of Inquiry is only some 20% to 30% of what was recorded that night at the prominent lawyer’s house in December 2001.

Somewhere in China, there is a disk containing the complete recording of what Loh Gwo Burne videotaped, separated into segments named VK1, VK2 and others. Most of what was made public was from the first segment of VK1.

“I downloaded the video from my private computer into several hard disks and compact discs. When I went to work in China in 2004, I took it along,” Loh told The Star.

“The disk is still there. The rest of the videos contain, among other things, other telephone conversations between Lingam and the other person on the phone, as well as conversations Lingam had with my father.

“What has been made public is only about 20%-30% of what I filmed,” Loh said.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry recently identified former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim as the person on the other side of the call with Lingam in the video.

The Kelana Jaya MP said he had not viewed the videos that he had left in China for some time and therefore could not be precisely sure of what else they contain.

However, from memory, Loh, 34, said he remembered that Lingam had mentioned about how he had manipulated cases to his advantage by using certain lawyers against certain judges to make sure the judgments would be in his favour.

Loh said he made three copies from the videotape. One copy was in China, the other he could not remember where he had kept it and the third was given to the late lawyer Manjit Singh.

Asked what he wanted to do with the copy in China, Loh replied: “Nothing at the moment. Eventually, when I find it, I will give it to the relevant authorities if required.”

He maintained that his family did not know how PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had gotten hold of a copy. Loh believed Anwar had somehow been able to obtain the copy that Loh had given Manjit Singh.

“Maybe after Manjit Singh died, someone went through his things, found the CD and, somehow, it ended in Anwar’s hands,” said Loh.

Asked why he gave a copy to Manjit Singh, Loh said that at that time in 2001 both Manjit Singh and Lingam were acting for his family over some legal matters.

“Manjit Singh had been displeased with Lingam over some payment issues. I passed the CD to him because at that point we were also not happy with the services provided by Lingam because there were many postponements to my family’s case,” said Loh,

But, Loh is not an accidental hero either.

That night in December 2001, he started his camera to film a bowl or vase in Lingam’s house because he was bored to be kept waiting by the lawyer “who was forever on the phone.”

“But when Lingam started asking someone on the other line not to worry, that he would be chief justice soon, I knew I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to document something that may one day help prove something is seriously wrong with the judiciary,” said Loh.

After what he heard that night, Loh said he was so disturbed that he decided there was no more freedom in the courts and chose not to take his Bar exams.

Instead, he went to work for the family business and travelled to China and Indonesia.

“After passing the CD to Manjit Singh, I did not think much of it for years, until (the issue) exploded,” said Loh.

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