'Lingam video' report has AG under duress

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — When the Abdullah administration makes public the explosive Royal Commission report on the V.K. Lingam video, one man’s every move will come under scrutiny.

Not Lingam or former Lord President Tun Ahmad Fairuz who have been identified by the commission as the parties involved in the controversial telephone conversation where judicial appointments were being brokered.

Not Tengku Adnan Mansor or Tan Sri Vincent Tan who allegedly discussed appointments of judges with the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The man in the spotlight will be beleaguered Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail. The fact that the commission has verified the authenticity of the tape and saw it necessary to recommend a raft of charges and possibilities against the main actors will be an embarrassment for the government’s chief legal officer.

When the scandal first broke late last year, he declared that “no criminal offence appears to have been committed” and said that Lingam “was in a monologue over his mobile phone and it was unclear who he was talking to”. He was criticised by the Opposition for shooting from the hip without recommending a thorough probe into the episode.

The commission headed by Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor has made several recommendations including suggesting that the separation of powers between the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary be strengthened.

It also said that some of the individuals who came before the commission can be charged with offences under the Sedition Act, Official Secrets Act and the penal code. Because it is not a court of law or vested with the prosecution powers, the levelling of charges against the individuals has been left to the discretion of the AG.

But really he has little wriggle room. He is up against the wisdom of three senior judges – Haidar, Datuk Mahadev Shankar and Tan Sri Steve Shim - who between them have more than half a century of experience of sifting through witness accounts, evidence and reaching decisions that are sound in law.

If they say that several individuals could or should be investigated for criminal offences, then it is more than likely that conclusion was reached after thorough examination of the information before them.

Gani will also have to consider two other constituencies – the public and five players in the commission who are now sitting in Parliament as elected representatives.

Wall-to-wall coverage of the commission hearings in the media brought all the allegations of misconduct and judge fixing into the living rooms of Malaysians and coloured their perception of some of the actors involved. They are not going to allow the AG to take the findings of the commission lightly.

Neither are William Leong, Loh Gwo Burne, Sivarasa Rasiah, Wee Choo Keong, Mohd Yusmaidi Yusoff – all Pakatan Rakyat MPs in Parliament. Loh captured the infamous video while the rest acted as lawyers for different parties during the commission hearing.

On the flip side, Gani does not have much goodwill to draw on. His team of prosecutors has a dismal record prosecuting major cases over the past several years. More recently, Umno politicians were upset over the advice he gave Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and other top party leaders in the legal wrangle over the appointment of menteris besar in Perlis and Terengganu.

Based on the legal advice, the Federal government held firm that it – and not the Malay Rulers of Perlis and Terengganu - had the power to appoint the MBs. This resolve melted in the face of arguments mounted by top legal brains hired by the royalty.

The view among some Umno politicians is that Gani has become a liability. His handling of the Royal Commission’s report may well decide if he remains as the Attorney-General of Malaysia.

The Malaysian Insider

No criminal offence seen, says Gani
PUTRAJAYA: No criminal offence appears to have been committed in a video recording of a telephone conversation between a well-known lawyer and senior judge allegedly discussing appointments to the Bench, the attorney-general said.

Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, however, said he was "getting further opinion on the matter and studying other information in the video clip".

Responding to the video released by Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday, Gani said the lawyer was in a monologue over his mobile phone and it was unclear who he was talking to.

"There is no clear reference that he was talking to a top judicial officer," he said.

Anwar made public the video showing the lawyer purportedly saying he would lobby for the judge's elevation. The video was made in 2002.
Anwar said the video was handed over recently by a source who wanted to remain anonymous.

The clip shows the lawyer talking about how he had helped the judge's appointment to top judicial postings through a prominent businessman and a politician, both of whom were said to be close to the then prime minister.

The lawyer said he was also working to get Tan Sri Mokhtar Abdullah appointed Chief Judge of Malaya and named a number of high-level judges in the video.

Mokhtar, a former attorney-general, was elevated to the Federal Court but went into a coma after a fall in August 2002. He died in 2003.

The video is 14 minutes and 16 seconds long but was edited to eight minutes and 26 seconds to protect the identity of the source.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the authorities would act on the video clip when an official report was made.

"I have not been briefed or contacted by the judiciary or the attorney-general on the matter. At the moment, I have nothing."

Nazri said the proper procedure would be for any of the parties in the video, or those who may be affected by it, to make a police report.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Lim Kit Siang has called for the judge to be suspended for unethical conduct under Article 125 of the constitution.

He said in a statement that the law allowed the king to appoint a tribunal, upon whose recommendation the judge could be removed from office.

The New Straits Times contacted some of those whose names were mentioned in the video clip.

Former chief justice Tun Dzaiddin Abdullah declined comment.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who was deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department when the video was allegedly made in 2002 and who was referred to a number of times by the lawyer, also refused to comment.

NST online