How many of you remember what happened almost 14 years ago back in 1996? Some of you were probably too young then. Well, in 1996, a very brave judge exposed the serious corruption in the Malaysian Judiciary and was eventually forced to resign for this ‘crime’. Yes, even back in 1996 the whistleblower and not the criminal gets punished. Anyway, for those ‘not around’ in 1996 and who may have missed the fireworks, today, Malaysia Today will take you down memory lane. 

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Courting Controversy

A flurry of questions about Malaysian justice

By Roger Mitton, Asiaweek, July 1996

THE MALAYSIAN JUDICIARY IS in a state of crisis. In the recent past, several court decisions have provoked allegations of interference. Government leaders felt obliged to try to quell the unease; Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad himself cautioned judges about associating with businessmen. On July 1, in an unprecedented move, a High Court justice, Syed Ahmad Idid, resigned after publishing a 33-page pamphlet accusing colleagues on the country's highest benches of corruption, abuse of power and personal misconduct.

Last week Attorney-General Mohtar Abdullah revealed that police and the Anti-Corruption Agency had questioned 12 top judges, including Chief Justice Eusoff Chin, and had examined their assets in light of the pamphlet. It contained 112 allegations: 39 charges of corruption, 21 of abuse of power, and 52 of misconduct, immorality or other indiscretions. There were claims of payments of RM 50,000 ($20,000), with recipients graduating to taking millions from named business entities. 

The AG said police found the judges clean; he described the accusations against them as "highly seditious, defamatory and derisive." But he was not prosecuting Idid, whom he did not name in his statement. The judge's resignation, Mohtar explained, was sufficient punishment. The matter was closed, he added: "I hope the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary will not be doubted henceforth." Chief Justice Eusoff echoed the AG's position.

No dice. The government-aligned domestic media, including the influential vernacular press, carried comments critical of the AG's handling of the matter. Some critics saw it as an attempt to skirt the concerns raised by Idid. "The judiciary must be clean -- and must be seen to be clean," said government MP Fauzi Rahman. "I'm glad the CJ says it is clean. On whether it is seen to be clean, I don't want to comment." Lawyer and legislator Khaled Nordin, also of the dominant UMNO party, declared: "To sweep things under the carpet like this will only make matters worse." Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang added: "The public reaction has been one of widespread disbelief and dismay. It has not restored confidence in the judiciary, but has further undermined it."

Of the ex-justice's charges, Lim says: "We want to see how they are found to be untrue. Idid is generally respected by the bar, so the question is: why did he feel impelled to author such a pamphlet?" Mohtar said the judge made a full statement explaining his reasons, but that it could not be made public. In parliament, a request by Lim for an emergency debate on the accusations against the judiciary was rejected. For its part, the Bar Council called for an urgent "independent Royal Commission to look into the administration of justice and propose, if need be, radical reform." Mahathir said there was no need for a further inquiry since the allegations had been found to be false.

The issue, however, continues to reverberate in the legal fraternity. Bar Council chairman Hendon Mohamed says: "We have always believed [the pamphlet] was the work of more than one person." Idid, asserts lawyer and opposition MP Karpal Singh, "is just the fall guy. Obviously, he was pressured to resign." The judge has vanished; his family says he has gone abroad, the local press reports that he left for London on July 2.

"Poison-pen letters" are common in Malaysia and tend to be quickly -- and rightly -- dismissed as malicious nonsense. But Idid's missive was different. Like some epistolary neutron bomb, its shock waves are still causing casualties, partly because it appeared amid mounting concern over some judges. Malaysian lawyer Param Cumaraswamy, who is also the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, says: "There was already public disquiet about the judiciary well before this letter."

The concern arose over several judgments, culminating in the Ayer Molek Rubber Co. share dispute. In that complex commercial case, the second-ranked Court of Appeal called a lower court's decision "an injustice perpetrated by a court of law." But the nation's highest bench, the Federal Court, overruled the appeal chamber and berated it for "bringing the administration of justice into disrepute."

Mahathir pacified the quarrel, but the damage was done. "The affair badly affected public confidence in the judiciary," says former MP and lawyer Wee Choo Keong. Param adds, echoing others in the legal profession: "That case brought to the surface allegations about some business quarters influencing the system of justice."

Matters cooled off briefly -- until Idid's pamphlet appeared. Judicial practice seems set to remain a big issue despite the AG's statement clearing the 12 judges. A flurry of defamation charges made by tycoon Vincent Tan and lawyer V.K. Lingam (both named in Idid's pamphlet and involved in the Ayer Molek case) will further stir the controversy. The two are suing, among others, a senior member of the bar, Tommy Thomas, and a leading law firm, Skrine & Co.

If these allegations reach court, they may again call into question the decision not to prosecute Idid. Statements cited in the defamation charges, which claim $144 million in damages, appear less inflammatory than those in the judge's pamphlet. For his part, Idid told Asiaweek he may write a book about the whole affair.

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Chief Justice says 'Flying Letter' issue closed

The issue of the anonymous letter written by former High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah which alleged corruption in the Judiciary is closed and need not be mentioned again, said Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

He said all necessary action on the "flying letter", which was written 10 years ago, had been taken and it was over.

"I don't know about this case. It happened a long time ago but I believe all the necessary action had been taken by the parties involved," he told reporters here Friday.

He said he was told that the investigation was over and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamad Nazri Aziz had also told him that the case was closed.

However, he said, anyone with information on wrongdoings by judges should come out in the open to give evidence instead of writing "flying letters".

He also said a proposal by the Bar Council to set up a royal commission to investigate the allegations of corruption in the Judiciary was unnecessary.

The Chief Justice recently revealed that he had received several anonymous letters that accused some judges of being corrupt. – Bernama, 23 June 2006

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I’ll do it again, says ex-judge Syed Idid who blew whistle on corruption

Former High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid, who resigned after a 33-page letter on corruption in the judiciary was circulated 11 years ago, said yesterday he would “do it again, but differently.”

“But I want to clear something up: I did not distribute the letter to the public.

“I sent it to seven people and one of them must have printed copies and distributed them,” he said at a public lecture titled Addressing Corruption in Malaysia organised by the International Institute of Public Policy and Management at Universiti Malaya.

Syed Ahmad said this when asked whether he would do the same today if he were still a judge.

“I was trying to get the Government to realise there was a problem and the need to address it.”

“Life has been hard (since his resignation) but at least I’m still alive unlike in some other countries where informers are killed,” said Syed Ahmad, who made it public last year that he was the author of the letter.

In 1996, Syed Ahmad resigned and there was no prosecution.

Although he was never officially identified as the author, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, then Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, had told Parliament: “Everyone already knows that only one judge has resigned.”

Asked later at a press conference how he would do things differently since there are still no laws today to protect whistleblowers or for the public to have access to information that could substantiate allegations of corruption, particularly in light of the authorities maintaining that his allegations had been investigated and proven untrue, Syed Ahmad said: “If that’s what they say, I can’t say anything more. The government machinery is very strong.”

He commended Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the government’s campaign to combat corruption. – The Star, 23 May 2007

Comments (17)

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written by NSTPravda, December 24, 2009 11:54:24

Not all judges are slimeballs... ? Really? I thought any decent ones have been extinct-quished. Now you are telling us that they are merely highly "endangered" and surviving in some judicial gulag? So the demise of all decency of our corrupt judiciary has been somewhat overstated although we still have the best judges that money can buy. $emua-nya OK!

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written by capricorn, December 24, 2009 10:40:18

it is true that not all judges are slime-balls or scumbags, although a majority of them are. Just like not all mankind are evil. Its just that in M'sia evil has triumphed over good. So its time for the people to get rid of the evil clouds hanging over the country come GE13.

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written by EYFF, December 24, 2009 07:25:39

Malaysian Judges are the LUCKIEST in the world!

Malaysian judges are top gamblers and always lucky and win big time! You may run across some of them at Genting, Macau, Vegas, Melbourne, etc carrying bags of chips from grateful patrons!

No Malaysia judges are not corrupted but just dammed lucky. And they have the casinos issued cheques to proof their source of wealth!

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written by temanmu, December 24, 2009 01:41:39

Apologies... the correct link..

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/world/asia/20indo.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

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written by fireduck, December 24, 2009 00:22:38

Now that there's revelation of the Lingam tapes, notwithstanding what the govt say, I hope Skrine & Co, go after that sonofagun Vincent Tan and counter sue him. Heck class action sue him on behalf of all Malaysians for messing up the Judiciary. And I hope that Eusoffe Chin gets dementia before he checks out. Looks like that shameless guy is the main guy who prostituted the independence of the Judiciary when he was Chief Justice. One shameless piece of crap.

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written by temanmu, December 23, 2009 22:39:47

Indonesia (again) is showing Malaysia the way to go! (sigh!)

"Created in 2005 to oversee the nation’s judges, the Judicial Commission recently moved into a gleaming, six-story building with the capacity to house a staff far larger than the commission’s 200 employees. Inside, the commission’s posters display mafia-like judges wielding guns and holding stacks of money. The posters urge people to report corrupt judges, saying, “Don’t let them kill justice.”"

Read this if u have time:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/world/asia/20indo.html?pagewanted=2

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written by jokersland, December 23, 2009 22:10:26

My great respect to Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid who really want to uphold his most important obligations as a judge. Hope for all our learned judges to take this as an example to restore back the judiciary to where it belong. It's really been a laughing stocks in the eyes of the world for such a long time. Being a judge is the most holliest professions. Don't be greedy as God gifted all of you with brains is to carry out your duty with dignity and to be fair for the commom peasants like me. How about you at Bar Council ?

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written by Sudahlah tu, December 23, 2009 19:08:04

selagi lingam tidak bersalah ....... maruah badan berkanun negara bagaikan stesyen sistem pemulihan kumbar kezaliman umno .... IWK negara ini dipenuhi oleh binatang-binatang asuhan umno yang sebenarnya layak sebagai pekerja sapu jalanraya sahaja ..

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written by mikewang, December 23, 2009 18:17:18

I salute you, Justice Syed Ahmad Idid.

Unfortunately your revelation happened at a time when all avenues to reach the rakyat were controlled by the BN government and they put the stink on you.
If that had happened today, your message would have reached millions.

Btw, from where can we read a copy of that letter?

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written by Angela Ooi, December 23, 2009 17:51:24

The AG and the 12 judges implicated are no Jesus and his disciples... in the PEOPLE"S COURT, THEY
ARE GUILTY, otherwise Roastporkymah is the most desirable and alluring woman in the world.

Syed Ahmad Idid, your honourable deed will not be forgotten. May you and your family reap the good karma you have earned.

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written by arazak, December 23, 2009 17:37:11

The scumbag Toon Kutty corrupt our judges!

He had the judges under his thumb. . ., remember that gula-gula "Hacks" Augustine Paul? The gula-gula "Hacks" judge did not even throw out the Sodomy I case when the main witness Azizan admitted he was NOT sodomise by Anwar. And he repeted this 3 times in court!

Toon Kutty is the real scumbag, real SOB. . ., the judges are all without balss afraid of Toon Kutty's warth!

Well, what can we say? Same thing happening now with Scumbag Jibby!

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written by betasigma, December 23, 2009 17:24:04

umno be end doctrination says 'good man must die first'!!

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written by malgal, December 23, 2009 17:21:03

that was 1996. who do we have now? don't forget some sleaze buckets?

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written by biggun129, December 23, 2009 17:03:04

When the Jet Fighter dived nose, it is because there is no more "Engine', Malaysian Judiciary is some sort like a Plane flying without engine, even though the signal 'Mayday for Justice' is sent out, because the accessories of the Plane was stolen, there is no Network connected to it, so, Evidently Malaysian Judiciary already crash near the valley of Janda Baik! Unless, unless, we used the Hercules plane to carry BN and dispose it like waste product in the Atlantic Ocean, if not, it remain a Doom Day for Malaysia, Remember, Next GE, Vote not for BN to rule the country, the BN dont deserve our support ! We need the Majority of 15 million votes to kick BN out of Putrajaya!

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written by dieselngan, December 23, 2009 17:00:28

24 years ago, my high school teach told me 80% of the population is controlled and managed by 20% of the good men/women population.

I guess it is not true in Malaysia since the good ones had to resign.

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written by eloofk, December 23, 2009 16:53:43

Just by looking into the formation of the Judicial Appointment Committee would be seen that there is an absence of independence from the interference of the Executive so much so that they must be beholden to him for the appointment which in the process creates corruption.

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written by usurper, December 23, 2009 16:50:01

"If that’s what they say, I can’t say anything more. The government machinery is very strong,”said Syed Ahmad Aidid. ...He commended Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the government’s campaign to combat corruption. – The Star, 23 May 2007

Not much can be said of this man. Not a scum bag nor a slime ball but could never come near RPK for courage. 13 years ago the rot was at its peak when nobody would know even if whole F1 fighters had gone missing. So he must have had a lot of gall to write what he did. This article must be the beginning of more related things to come from RPK.

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