Archive for category Judiciary
Abdullah forewarned – avoid valedictory judicial scandal with new Chief Justice Zaki Azmi
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Judiciary on Friday, 10 October 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reiterated yesterday that he would concentrate on five initiatives he wanted to see through in his final five months in office, viz: to table three bills in Parliament to strengthen:
(i) the judiciary; and
(ii) the anti-corruption enforcement;
(iii) increase the effectiveness and integrity of enforcement agencies;
(iv) to enlarge the social safety net to ensure aid to all who needed it; and
(v) to hold a Barisan Nasional convention to improve inter-racial and inter-religious relations.
Abdullah must be realistic enough to know that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians are skeptical that he could accomplish any meaningful institutional reform in his last five months in office when he was helpless and impotent in the past five years.
The outgoing Prime Minister does not have the luxury of time – as he could be put to the test whether he has found the resolve to implement reforms he promised two days ago in a matter of a week, particularly on judicial reform. Read the rest of this entry »
Zaid’s resignation “last nail in the coffin” of Abdullah’s repeat of reform pledges after March 8 “political tsunami”
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Corruption, Judiciary, PKFZ, Police on Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s announcement this morning that his decision to resign as Minister in the Prime Minister’s DepAartment is final despite being advised by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to reconsider the move is the “last nail in the coffin” of Abdullah’s repeat of reform pledges after the March 8 “political tsunami”.
It is clear that the detentions of DAP MP for Seputeh and Selangor Senior Exco Teresa Kok and Raja Petra Kamaruddin under the nefarious and iniquitous Internal Security Act (ISA) were the last straw causing Zaid to submit his resignation after a six-month stint in the Cabinet, making him the only Minister in the nation’s history to resign on a matter of principle.
When Zaid was surprisingly appointed by Abdullah to be a Minister after the Barisan Nasional debacle in the March general election, it was clear that Zaid had a special agenda – to retrieve Abdullah’s credibility and legitimacy as a Reform Prime Minister by carrying out reforms in the important sectors of the judiciary, the police and anti-corruption.
Zaid’s resignation is an admission that Abdullah’s repeat pledge of the reform programme after the March political tsunami has come to the end of the road, that: Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar Sodomy II – internationalising Malaysia’s Misrule of Law?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Judiciary on Tuesday, 19 August 2008
I had wanted to ask the Foreign Minister, Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim the following supplementary question in Parliament this morning:
“Are you aware that by taking Anwar’s Sodomy II selective prosecution to the United Nations by way of a letter of protest to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at American interference in Malaysian domestic affairs as well as organising a series of ‘information sessions’ overseas, you are only internationalising Malaysia’s ‘misrule of law’ which you had so eloquently and devastatingly criticised in your book ‘Freedom under Executive Power’, exposing the nation to greater mockery in the global arena as we will only be able to depend on rogue states like Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Sudan for sympathy and support for the following reasons:
(i) deterioration of the rule of law in the past decade since the publication of the book, as evident from disturbing developments in the system of justice in the country, such as
(a) the selective prosecution of Anwar on Sodomy II under Section 377B of the Penal Code on consensual sodomy when the complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had alleged that he had been raped, which should have come under Section 377C on sodomy rape;
(b) why Saiful was not similarly charged under Section 377B on consensual sodomy;
and
© the insistence by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that Anwar should also swear on the Quran like Saiful, making Malaysia an international laughing stock as to whether we have a Prime Minister who understands and upholds the system of justice in the country; Read the rest of this entry »
Permatang Pauh by-election – censure BN’s 6 months of zero legislative reform
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Judiciary, Parliament, Police on Thursday, 14 August 2008
I have received the initial notification of the parliamentary business for the 41-day budget meeting beginning on Monday, August 18, which will break for six weeks after the 2009 budget presentation by the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Friday, August 29 for the fasting month and Hari Raya holidays, resuming on Oct. 12 for 32 sittings till December 11, 2008.
It is a great disappointment, for it is evident that there will be no reformist bill for Parliament in August, whether for the establishment of
(i) the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), the most important of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission more than three years ago in May 2005 to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to keep crime low, fight corruption and uphold human rights;
(ii) the Judicial Appointments Commission as the first step to restore national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality, integrity and quality of the judiciary after two decades of “judicial darkness” and being the laughing-stock of the world; and
(iii) the Malaysian Commission on Anti-Corruption (MCAC) to eradicate the rampant corruption in the country which has seen Malaysia’s ranking in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index sliding relentlessly from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 37 in 2003 and No. 43 in 2007 and to spearhead a “zero tolerance for corruption” campaign to place Malaysia among the world’s 20 least corrupt nations. Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar’s Sodomy II – Is Malaysia banking on support of Myanmar/Zimbabwe/Sudan in UN?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Judiciary, Law & Order on Sunday, 10 August 2008
The Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim is taking his idea of internationalizing the Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II charge by organizing a series of information sessions by the Foreign Ministry overseas “to give a true picture so there will be no misconceptions that can hurt Malaysia’s image” one step further.
Yesterday, he announced raising the issue to the United Nations level through a letter to the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to explain Malaysia’s view on what it sees as American interference in the Anwar Sodomy II charge.
Is Rais banking on the support of rogue states like Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Sudan by taking the Anwar Sodomy II issue to the United Nations?
Instead of accusing the United States of violating international law and “meddling in Malaysia’s international affairs”, Rais should lead the charge in the Cabinet on Wednesday to demand the dropping of the Sodomy II charge against Anwar especially as a recent opinion survey has shown that only 11% of the respondents believe in the Sodomy II allegation made against Anwar. Read the rest of this entry »
Rais should lead the charge in Cabinet to demand dropping of Anwar’s Sodomy II charge
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Anwar Ibrahim, Judiciary, Law & Order on Friday, 8 August 2008
The 2008 Olympics opens in Beijing today but for Malaysia, we are obsessed with scaling a new Olympian height of national trauma and international infamy – the strangulation of what is left of the rule of law in Malaysia after two decades of judicial darkness in the continued political persecution of Anwar Ibrahim in the Sodomy II prosecution.
Thanks to this special Malaysian official obsession with sodomy, Malaysia was big news in seven continents when Anwar Ibrahim was charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code for sodomising his 23-year-old male aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Furthermore, Anwar’s Sodomy II trial and tribulation will be kept alive in the international stage because of the disgraceful, dishonourable and ignoble circumstances and motivation of the prosecution to the extent that the Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim has made a most unusual and extraordinary decision to organize a series of information sessions by the Foreign Ministry overseas on Anwar’s Sodomy II “to give a true picture so there will be no misconceptions that can hurt Malaysia’s image”.
What is this “true picture” that Rais is going to tell the world in a series of information sessions overseas? Read the rest of this entry »
Anwar’s Sodomy II – has it become Abdullah’s personal crusade?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Anwar Ibrahim, Judiciary, Police on Friday, 1 August 2008
I am flabbergasted.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi seems very determined to provide examples to illustrate the continuing crisis of confidence in his administration.
Yesterday, in an interview with Associated Press, Abdullah went public on the Sodomy II allegations against Anwar Ibrahim in a manner which could only mean that he was in the thick of the decision-making process as to whether Anwar Ibrahim, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser would be hauled to court for a second sodomy charge in a decade, when the Prime Minister has no business to be involved in the exercise of the discretionary power by the Attorney-General on matters of prosecution or otherwise.
How else could one interpret the following remarks by Abdullah yesterday:
I am verily surprised that Abdullah had today repeated this obsession of “justice for Saiful” when he returned to the same subject today. Read the rest of this entry »
Next CJ – not affected by “Judicial reforms”
De facto Law Minister, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has just confirmed that the appointment of the next Chief Justice will not be affected by any judicial reform currently in the pipeline.
I posed this question during the winding-up of the debate on the Judges’ Remuneration (Amendment) Bill 2008.
The Chief Justice, Tun Abdul Hamid will retire on 18th October 2008.
I pointed out that as it does not appear that the much-hyped judicial reform, including the establishment of a Judicial Appoinments Commission, will be presented to Parliament before October although Zaid had earlier promised that the legislative proposals would be presented in the current meeting of Parliament, the appointment of the next Chief Justice will be by the present process.
When Zaid agreed, I remarked that the country seems set to have the first UMNO Chief Justice in the nation’s history.
I had earlier expressed my concern that the government is back-tracking on its promise of judicial reforms.
“Boot camp for judges” – Mahathir should speak up
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has declared that he is prepared to be investigated over allegations he had interfered with the judiciary when he was prime minister.
He said he was not afraid of being investigated and would give his full assistance to the police.
Malaysians hope that Mahathir is sincere and truthful in pledging full co-operation in any such investigation and that he would not do another repeat of the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry where he pleaded a massive attack of loss of his famous elephant memory! Read the rest of this entry »
RCI on boot camp for delinquent judges – critical test of Abdullah’s political will for judicial reforms
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the de facto Law Minister, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim have both poured cold waters on calls for an inquiry into the latest allegation levelled by High Court judge, Justice Datuk Ian Chin against former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
“No need…there will be no end to this. Instead, we will carry out reforms to restore confidence in the judiciary” said Abdullah.
“Another inquiry will not reveal anything more than what we already know. It will be a waste of time and money. Instead, we need to look at ensuring such incidents do not happen again…” said Zaid.
Both cannot be more wrong.
A Royal Commission of Inquiry into the two decades of judicial darkness, including the boot camp for delinquent judges, is vital and imperative as critical test of the political will of the Abdullah administration to fully restore public confidence in the system of justice in Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
Revisiting the judicial darkness of the past two decades
Blast from the Past
This is a statement I issued on 12th June 2001 calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Judicial Independence which would also investigate into Justice Muhammad’s shocking expose of telephone directive from a judicial superior to strike out the Likas election petitions without a hearing as well as similar directives to other election judges in Sabah and Sarawak:
(Petaling Jaya, 12.6.2001 Tuesday): Justice Datuk Muhammad Kamil Awang deserves the gratitude of the nation which is seeking to restore national and international confidence in the judiciary for exposing the telephone directive from a judicial superior in September 1999 to strike out the Likas election petitions without a hearing.
Yesterday, Muhammad Kamil said that the Likas election petitions were brought to his court in mid-1999, following the Sabah state general elections on 13th March 1999.
He said that after many preliminary objections were raised by the lawyers, he announced on September 24, 1999 that he was setting aside technical objections in favour of justice.
Muhammad Kamil said: “That started it. That’s when the phone call came.”
He said he told the caller, who had identified himself, to “drop me a note for that” but it never came. The hearing of the petitions then began on Sept 27, 1999.
Muhammad Kamil said he had disclosed the identity of the person to Chief Justice Tan Sri Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah and related the incident to several other judges in Sabah and Sarawak at that time, as they had confided in him that they had also received similar directives from the same person on election petitions before them. There were three other election judges in the two States. Read the rest of this entry »
High Court judge makes explosive judicial disclosures
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
Borneo Post
High Court judge makes explosive judicial disclosures
By Danny Wong
SIBU: A High Court judge here yesterday made some startling revelations at the commencement of the proceedings of the election petition filed by the DAP candidate for the Sarikei parliamentary seat, Wong Hus She, to declare the result of the March 8 general election for the seat void.
The Barisan Nasional candidate, Ding Kuong Hing, won the seat with a slim majority of 51 votes.
Justice Datuk H C Ian Chin informed the parties in open court that he had certain disclosures to make at the start of the proceedings, saying he was doing so to forestall any complaints that might be made by the parties later.
He said complaints had been made against him in an earlier case that he had failed to disclose the detention of his father and brother during the time of the Mustapha regime in Sabah in late 1969 and the early 1970.
Chin then proceeded to make his disclosure the contents of which could only be described as explosive, coming hot on the heels of the findings of the Royal Commission in the Lingam video tape. Read the rest of this entry »
AG’s role in two decades of judicial darkness
The Star
Monday May 19, 2008
Call to order withdrawal of report against press
KOTA KINABALU: The Prime Minister should order the withdrawal of a police report made against several newspapers for publishing the Royal Commission of Inquiry report on the V.K. Lingam video clip before it was made public.
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said the Government’s police report over alleged contravention of the Official Secrets Act by the media was incorrect.
The Act could only be used if any leaked government confidential information had threatened national security, he said.
Lim said the contents of the Royal Commission of Inquiry findings into the video clip was of public interest.
He noted that in other countries, royal commission reports were immediately made public.
He also said the Cabinet’s decision in instructing the Attorney-General’s Chambers to investigate the various individuals named in the commission’s report was insufficient. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir says it again – others are more guilty
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Judiciary on Monday, 19 May 2008
The nub of Tun Dr. Mahathir’s response to the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Tape scandal – whose finding can be summed up as “He looks like Lingam, he sounds like Lingam, he is Lingam!” – is that the offensive is the best defence.
As shown by the following press report, Mahathir is not putting up any defence that he has done no wrong but the ominous rebuttal that others, including judges were even more guilty than him if what he had done was deemed to be wrong or criminal. And he appeared to be implicating the former judges on the Lingam Video Tape Royal Commission of Inquiry.
As Prime Minister for 22 years, it is both pathetic and tragic Mahathir failed to see that while it is commonplace to lobby for appointments to be Ministers and Deputy Ministers, it is just not acceptable for any lobbying to be done for judicial appointments or promotions.
This is why the Judicial Appointments Commission must be set up immediately, which must affect every new judicial appointment and promotion including that of the next new Chief Justice, with the highest judicial office falling vacant in five months’ time in October.
The Prime Minister’s decisions on the appointment and promotion of judges must be based on the recommendations of the Judicial Appointment Commission. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir’s challenge – dare Abdullah pick up the gauntlet?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Judiciary on Saturday, 17 May 2008
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has challenged the government to charge him following the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip scandal.
Dare the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, pick up the gauntlet?
This is the AFP report of Mahathir’s cdare:
Malaysia’s Mahathir challenges govt to charge him
JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday challenged the government to charge him for his alleged involvement in a judge-fixing scandal during his rule.
The government on Friday released a report that found evidence of an “insidious” conspiracy to influence the appointment of judges and had listed Mahathir, along with other top figures, as being involved.
Following the release of the report, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s cabinet agreed for the attorney-general’s chambers to immediately investigate the allegations against those identified in the report, including Mahathir.
“I welcome it,” the 82-year-old influential leader said at a meeting in southern Johor state.
“I want them to charge me in court. Only then will I have the opportunity to expose more conflicts faced by the judges, including those who have implicated me,” he told reporters. Read the rest of this entry »
Et tu Zaid Ibrahim?
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Judiciary on Saturday, 17 May 2008
While the Cabinet decision to make public the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip is to be applauded, one jarring note is the police report lodged by the Prime Minister’s Department against several newspapers under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for publishing earlier the findings of the inquiry and its recommendations.
Et tu Zaid Ibrahim?
Before his reprieve from the political wilderness as a result of the March 8 “political tsunami” and surprise appointment to the Cabinet, Zaid had called for a purge of the culture of secrecy “once and for all”, proposing that “official secrets” should be defined and limited to matters of “real” national security such as inter-governmental communications, information from the police and military intelligence, issues affecting public order and Cabinet minutes – “that is, where harm to the nation is actual and probable, not according to the whim and fancy of the government”.
What actual and probable harm had been done to national security or public order by the New Straits Times, the Star, Berita Harian and Sin Chew Daily and others for the publication of the findings of the Lingam Video Tape Royal Commission of Inquiry before Friday’s Cabinet decision to make the report public, as to justify Zaid Ibrahim’s directive to the Prime Minister’s Department to lodge police report against the newspapers concerned.
The police report against the newspapers also runs counter to the renewed pledge by the Prime Minister after the March 8 “political tsunami” for a more open, accountable and transparent society including the promise to introduce Whistleblowers’ Protection legislation. Read the rest of this entry »
Lingam Video Clip RCI report – table it in Parliament on Monday
The four-volume 186-page Lingam Video Clip Royal Commission of Inquiry Report, which was submitted to the Yang di Pertuan Agong yesterday, should be tabled in Parliament on Monday, in toto without any abridgement, regardless of whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had read or approved of it or not.
In first-world developed countries where governments are held strictly to international best practices of accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance, it would be completely unthinkable for the reports of Royal Commissions of Inquiry to be withheld from the public.
In fact, it is the practice of these countries for reports of Royal Commissions of Inquiry or other public investigations to be simultaneously released to the public when the reports or findings are submitted to the appointing authorities, whether the ruling monarch, the head of state or government.
Yesterday, Abdullah said he would decide whether to make the Royal Commission report public once he has read it.
He said: “I haven’t seen it yet. If it was submitted to the Prime Minister’s Department, it must have been while the cabinet was meeting.”
Does it really matter whether the Prime Minister had personally seen or read it or not, or whether it had been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Department while the cabinet was meeting? Read the rest of this entry »
On judicial reform
Posted by Kit in Judiciary, Parliament on Wednesday, 7 May 2008
The Prime Minister recently announced reform proposals for the judiciary and in the fight against corruption.
Many were disappointed by the Prime Minister’s speech on “Delivering Justice, Renewing Trust” at a special dinner hosted by the Bar Council on April 17, 2008, as more, much more, than what was announced to restore public and international confidence in the independence, impartiality and quality of the judiciary had been expected, viz:
• Ex-gratia payment for “the pain and loss” suffered by the late Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and their families, Tun Salleh Abas, Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh and Datuk George Seah in the 1988 Judicial Crisis;
• A Judicial Appointments Commission;
• Review of the judiciary’s terms of service and remuneration to ensure that the Bench can attract and retain the very best of the nation’s talent.
The thunderous and prolonged applause at the Bar Council dinner which greeted Abdullah’s recognition of the “contributions of these six judges to the nation, their commitment towards upholding justice” and acknowledgement of “the pain and loss they have endured” in the 1988 judicial crisis cannot hide the general disappointment that the Prime Minister had fallen far short of expectations to ensure a fair and just closure to the Mother of Judicial Crisis in 1988. Read the rest of this entry »
Goodwill ex gratia payments to Anwar, Guan Eng, Syed Ahmad Idid and Operation Lalang ISA detainees?
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, Judiciary on Saturday, 19 April 2008
(Speech at the DAP Teluk Intan Public Ceramah/Consultation with DAP MPs, State Excos and State Assembly members at Teluk Intan Municipal Hall on Friday, 18th April 2008 at 9 pm)
When the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced on Thursday night the payment of unspecified “goodwill ex gratia payments” to the six wronged judges in the 1988 judicial crisis, Tun Salleh Abas, Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh, Datuk George Seah and the late Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh, he skirted the “rights and wrongs” and the “legality and morality” of the Mother of Judicial Crisis which plunged the country into two decades of judicial darkness.
The victims of the 1988 Mother of Judicial Crisis and the ensuing two decades of judicial darkness, with three of the four chief justices during the period, Tun Hamid Omar, Tun Eusoffe Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz compounding the travesties of justice by the judicial system, were not just the six wronged judges in 1988 but also included innocent, high-minded, idealistic and patriotic Malaysians who want the best for the country. In fact, a whole generation of Malaysians were victims of the 20 years of judicial darkness!
Will the Prime Minister extend goodwill ex gratia payments to the other victims of the two decades of judicial darkness like former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and former High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Idid (the first whistleblower from the judiciary with his 112 allegations of corruption, abuses of power and misconduct against 12 judges in 1996) as well as to the 106 Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees in the 1987 Operation Lalang? Read the rest of this entry »
PM’s judicial reform speech – disappointing
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Judiciary on Friday, 18 April 2008
I was disappointed by the speech of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on “Delivering Justice, Renewing Trust” hosted by the Bar Council last night.
I had expected more, much more, than what was announced by Abdullah, viz:
• Ex-gratia payment for “the pain and loss” suffered by the late Tan Sri Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and their families, Tun Salleh Abas, Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh and Datuk George Seah in the 1988 Judicial Crisis. .
• A Judicial Appointments Commission;
• Review of the judiciary’s terms of service and remuneration to ensure that the Bench can attract and retain the very best of the nation’s talent.
The thunderous and prolonged applause which greeted Abdullah’s recognition of the “contributions of these six judges to the nation, their commitment towards upholding justice” and acknowledgement of “ the pain and loss they have endured” in the 1988 judicial crisis cannot hide the general disappointment that the Prime Minister had fallen far short of expectations to ensure a fair and just closure to the Mother of Judicial Crisis in 1988.
It is precisely because the “contributions, pain and loss” of the six wronged judges cannot be equated with mere currency that the ex gratia payment is grossly inadequate. The six wronged judges deserve a full and proper recompense.
Furthermore, the victims of the 1988 “Mother of Judiclal Crisis” and the series of one judicial crisis after another which rocked the nation for two decades were not just the six wronged judges, but the Malaysian people and nation for 20 years because of the ravages to the system of justice which became a laughing stock to Malaysians and the world. Read the rest of this entry »
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