Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has admitted that he was wrong and that there is no Witness Protection Act.
He claimed that what he meant was that whistleblowers were already protected under various laws which offered some protection to witnesses, like the Anti-Corruption Act, Criminal Procedure Code, Evidence of Child Witness Act and Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
It is clearly a very lame excuse. But it has not released Nazri from the onus of justifying two outrageous statements he made on Sunday:
Firstly, his ‘No Source, No Case” assertion — that if the maker or makers of the Lingam Tape “don’t co-operate, then the authenticity of the Lingam Tape cannot be determined and this will prevent the (Haider) Panel from discharging its responsibility. As such, it is important for them to reveal the source, failing which, we can only conclude that they are lying.”
Secondly, “The witness will be accorded full protection by the government… a new identity, a new location, even a new face. So what is there to be afraid of?”
Firstly, what right has he to decide how the Haider Panel Inquiry is to operate? Or has the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak passed the buck of the Haidar Panel Inquiry as too hot a potato to Nazri as the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department?
An inquiry into the Lingam Tape with its serious allegations of the perversion of the course of justice concerning the fixing of judicial appointments and fixing of court decisions should not be placed under the responsibility of the Prime Minister’s Department, whether Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister or Minister, but completely independent answerable only to the Yang di Pertuan Agong or Parliament.
Secondly, Nazri’s clarification has not explained how the maker or makers of the Lingam Tape will be fully protected when there is no official declaration by the Attorney-General granting full immunity from any prosecution or adverse consequences for fully co-operating with the Haider Panel.
The maker or makers of the Lingam Tape do not need any new identity, new location or even new faces, for they have no use of them as what they need is protection from victimization or persecution from quarters involving the official authorities. This is why what they need is full immunity from any prosecution or any adverse consequences because of their full co-operation in disclosing their identities.
The ball is firmly in the court of the Cabinet tomorrow.
The Cabinet will only confirm its utter irrelevance if Ministers are not prepared to discuss and take a decision on a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape and the rot of the judiciary in the past 19 years as the first important step to restore national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and meritocracy of the judiciary.
#1 by boh-liao on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 - 9:38 am
‘Shame, shame, shame’ and ‘bohong, bohong, bohong’! Add too ‘no ball, no ball, no ball’ – Nazri did not even have the guts to admit his ignorance of the law and apologise; as usual, he blamed his mah chai for misleading him. What a lame and crap excuse! Is he a lawyer?
#2 by helpless on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 - 9:42 am
cto Says:
October 9th, 2007 at 16: 43.22
RealWorld Says:
Dear cto,
“.. Are you suggesting that there are no poor non bumis? Or are you suggesting that poor non bumis should not be given any assistance because there are rich non bumis around? Is it even remotely reasonable to make such a suggestion? Likewise are you suggesting that because there are poor bumis so the Govt should help the rich bumis? I beg your pardon but I find the logic here rather convoluted, even warpped.”
I think Realworld is in a dream world – having extreme mindset against the reality. Just ponder about..
1. Why 5% discount on purchase of house not extended to hard core poor non-bumi ? but instead given to all rich Bumi?
2. Why can’t standardise a U entry evaluation syst. ? Why “must have” 2 syst. – matriculation and STPM ?
3. Why NEP ‘ must be extended” ? Where is the source of fund ?
list go on………
#3 by Godfather on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 - 9:57 am
UMNO needs to win at all costs….but the Sleepy Head doesn’t know what “all costs” mean. Sure Mahathir had to put Anwar in jail at all costs, but the “cost” there was a total lack of respect from the international community that resulted in the downward spiral of FDI. Mahathir had to sack Salleh Abbas at all costs, but the cost there was a totally compliant judiciary that became beholden to UMNO. Badawi has had to defend all the UMNO crooks at all costs, but the cost there will be a total lack of respect from the rakyat.
Vote out these thieves, liars and cheats. It is the only way to reduce the “cost” to Bolehland.
#4 by AntiRacialDiscrimination on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 - 1:20 pm
Nazri has long been brain dead, always talking nonsense without using the brain.
The IJN should come and harvest his heart for donation.
But I feel that he has no heart.
#5 by undergrad2 on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 - 7:18 pm
“Undergrad2, you’re quite right about the not so known fact that it was Tun Razak who first took Datuk Harun Idris to task for corruption – it is said that Harun Idris incurred the enmity of the Prime Minister, Tun Razak, in the early 1970s (don’t know the actual reason why)…”
What got Dato Harun Idris finally was his refusal amidst the controversy, to take on what was offered to him – if my memory serves me well, it was a post with the United Nations long regarded as a position reserved for senior members of UMNO who have become a liability and an embarrassment to the UMNO run government. Dato Harun Idris fits the profile perfectly.
Dato Harun was charged inter alia (again if my memory serves me well) for pledging shares of the bank he sat as chairman/director to CITIBANK as security for Letters of Credit issued in conjunction with the fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Bugner held in KL without Board approval. Had massive financial losses not been incurred this criminal breach of trust would not have surfaced.
He served four years in jail. The last time I saw him was at Rajoo’s roti canai restaurant in PJ enjoying his normal diet of roti canai and curry fish head – a taste for which he had acquired whilst serving time.