From:
Date: 16 Sep 1999
Time: 20:07:30
Usul Kenyataan Akhbar Bersama oleh Badan-badan Bukan Kerajaan (NGOs) 15th Sept 1999
Peristiwa-peristiwa yang berlaku sejak kebelakangan ini telah menambahkan lagi krisis politik di negara ini dan terus menyebabkan kehilangan keyakinan terhadap institusi politik yang penting di negara ini. Kami organisasi yang bertandatangan di bawah, ingin menarik perhatian terhadap tiga peristiwa berkaitan baru-baru ini, dan menggesa tindakan segera diambil terhadapnya.
Tuduhan Rasuah dalam sistem kehakiman Kejadian pertama adalah pendedahan di Mahkamah Tinggi, dalam kes Insas Bhd. Vs. Raphael Pura. Di dalam kes ini keputusan telah diberikan oleh YA Hakim Dato' Moktar Sidin di Mahkamah Tinggi yang lain pada Disember 1994 (kini bertindak selaku hakim di Mahkamah Rayuan) di mana ganti rugi sebanyak RM 10 juta diberikan kepada plaintif Tan Sri Vincent Tan bagi libel yang telah ditulis oleh peguam bagi pihak plaintif Dato V.K Lingam.Pihak. Defendan adalah wartawan terkenal M.G.G. Pillai. Usul pembelaan baru Raphael Pura mengatakan keputusan telah ditaip di pejabat peguam plaintif, disemak oleh beliau dan draf terakhir diberikan kepada hakim berkenaan dalam bentuk disket. Usul pembelaan itu juga mengatakan bahawa salinan draf keputusan yang mengandungi pembetulan oleh tulisan peguam akan dikemukakan di mahkamah. Kenyataan ini dalam usul pembelaan baru Raphael Pura telah membolehkan pembelaan diutarakan terhadap tuntutan libel oleh InsasBerhad yang berkait dengan kenyatan yang diterbitkan iaitu "Malaysian justice was up for bid".
Pembetulan yang diusul juga termasuk tuduhan bahawa peguam yang sama Dato V.K. Lingam telah mengadakan hubungan rapat dengan Yang Berhormat Ketua Hakim Malaysia Tun Eusoff Chin di mana beliau telah menyebabkan Tun Eusoff Chin terhutang budi , dengan membawa Yang Berhormat Ketua Hakim Negara dan keluarganya ke New Zealand untuk percutian bersama keluarganya sendiri dari 22.12.94 - 30.12.94. Pembetulan ini memperkatakan tentang gambar-gambar kedua-dua keluarga pada masa percutian ini di resort memancing ikan dan ski yang mahal di New Zealand.
Malangnya pembetulan ini tidak diterima di Mahkamah Tinggi minggu lepas. Ini bermakna untuk ketika ini isu-isu tersebut tidak boleh disiasat dalam perbicaraan ini. Pada pendapat kami tuduhan ini sangat serius yang melibatkan penyelewengan yang memerlukan penyiasatan segera dan terbuka ke atas perlakuan Dato' Moktar Sidin dan Tun Eusoff Chin. Malangnya juga tiada penyiasatan sebegitu dijalankan oleh badan kehakiman atau pihak kerajaan. Tuduhan-tuduhan sebegini akan menimbulkan kecurigaan di kalangan orang ramai terhadap dan kewibawaan sistem kehakiman di Malaysia dan memerlukan suatu penyiasatan yang terperinci yang dilakukan dengan ketelusan sepenuhnya.
Sejak pemecatan Tun Salleh Abbas dalam tahun 1998, bekas Lord Presiden dan Hakim Tertinggi negara, kebebasan kehakiman sentiasa dipertikaikan. Sejak kebelakangan ini beberapa kes termasuk kes Vincent Tan melawan M.G.G. Pillai, kes Ayer Molek Rubber Company, MBf Holdings melawan Wee Choo Keong, pendakwaan terpilih dan penyabitan Lim Guan Eng, pendakwaan bermotif politk dan penyabitan Anwar Ibrahim telah menunjukkan kurangnya kebebasan kehakiman di negara ini.
Kami menggesa, Suruhanjaya Penyiasatan Diraja dibentuk dengan segera untuk menyiasat tuduhan-tuduhan berkaitan dengan Dato Mokthar Sidin dan Tun Eusoff Chin dan juga untuk memberi cadangan yang sesuai untuk memulihkan semula keyakinan orang ramai terhadap sistem kehakiman negara.
Hukuman Penjara terhadap Murray Hiebert Peristiwa kedua ialah wartawan Murray Hiebert dipenjarakan bagi kesalahan menghina mahkamah kerana artikelnya mengenai kes Datin Chandra Sri Ram, isteri Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan Datuk G. Sri Ram melawan International School of Kuala Lumpur kerana penyingkiran anaknya dari pasukan debat sekolah. Artikel Hiebert yang bertajuk "See you in court" dikatakan menghina kehakiman dan merendahkan kewibawaan kehakiman menyebabkan beliau dipenjarakan selama enam minggu, iaitu pengurangan hasil rayuan daripada tiga bulan penjara yang dijatuhkan oleh Mahkamah Tinggi.
Kami mengemukakan kebimbangan kami ke atas hukuman penjara ini yang merupakan penafian terhadap kebebasan bersuara di Malaysia. Penulisan analisis Hiebert boleh dikatakan sederhana jika dibandingkan dengan kritkan yang lebih mendalam yang dibuat ke atas kehakiman di negara demokrasi yang lain yang diterima dengan semangat demokratik.
Kami ingin menggesa badan kehakiman Malaysia mengakui bahawa tiada institusi yang berada di luar kritikan dan harus menerima kritikan hingga ke suatu tahap. Kami berpendapat keyakinan orang ramai terhadap sistem kehakiman berkurang dan kewibawaan dipertikaikan terutamanya dengan perjalanan perbicaraan Anwar. Reaksi sebegini terhadap kritikan awam akan lebih memburukkan lagi imej sistem kehakiman terhadap orang ramai.
Tuduhan Meracun Anwar Ibrahim Jumaat lepas, semasa perbicaraan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, bekas Timbalan Perdana Menteri, di Mahkamah Tinggi telah diberitahu bahawa ujian perubatan telah menunjukkan badannya mengandungi arsenik pada paras yang tinggi iaitu 230 mikrogram per gram kreatinine berbanding dengan paras biasa bagi orang dewasa iaitu 3 - 17 mikrogram. Beliau dengan segera mendakwa terdapatnya motif politik untuk meracun beliau.
Pendakwaan yang dikemukakan oleh Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dan peguam-peguamnya mengenai keracunannya sekali lagi mengemukakan persoalan yang luas yang berkaitan dengan kewibawaan dan kebebasan institusi penting seperti polis dan penjara. Jaminan terhadap keselamatan fizikalnya sama seperti banduan lain di bawah jagaan polis yang merupakan tahanan politk menurut Amnesty International dan kumpulan hak asasi manusia tempatan, keselamatan fizikalnya juga berkaitan langsung dengan kewibawaan pengendalian hal-hal politik dalam negara.
Walaupun Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Abdullah Badawi, telah mengarahkan penyiasatan segera diambil akan tetapi ia tidak jelas bahawa siapa yang akan menjalankan penyiasatan ini - polis, penjara atau kedua-duanya. Pengalaman kita sebelum ini telah menunujukkan ketidakmampuan pihak polis untuk menjalankan penyiasatan yang efektif terhadap kecederaan Anwar yang menyebabkan pembentukan Suruhanjaya Penyiasatan, telah menyebabkan kita mempunyai keyakinan yang rendah hasil daripada arahan pihak Menteri.
Kami percaya bahawa Suruhanjaya Penyiasatan Diraja yang dianggotai oleh ahli-ahli kehakiman terpilih yang mempunyai reputasi kebebasan diperlukan untuk memastikan kebenaran. Sementara itu, kami berasa kesal kerana tiada usaha yang serius yang telus mengenai keadaan kesihatan Anwar atau rawatan yang diterima oleh beliau kerana kandungan arsenik yang didapati padanya. Kami menggesa ketelusan yang penuh dan segera oleh kerajaan.
Joint Statement by NGOs on 15th Sept 1999 in Petaling Jaya Malaysian Judiciary in Question
Recent events are underscoring the continuing political crisis in the country and the continued loss of confidence in the key political institutions of our country. We, the undersigned organisations, wish to draw attention to three recent such events in the last few days, and urge immediate action with regard to them.
Allegations of corruption in the judiciary The first of these events is the recent expose' in the High Court in the Insas Berhad v. Raphael Pura case that, in an earlier case before another High Court in December 1994, the judgement delivered by YA Justice Dato' Moktar Sidin (now sitting as a judge of the Court of Appeal ) in that case awarding a total of damages of RM10 million to the plaintiff Tan Sri Vincent Tan for libel was written in part by counsel for the plaintiff Dato V.K. Lingam. The Defendant was a well-known journalist M.G.G. Pillai. The proposed amended defence of Raphael Pura said the judgement was typed in the lawyer's office, corrected by him and the final draft forwarded to the judge concerned on floppy disk. The proposed amendments also said that a copy of the draft judgment bearing amendments in the lawyer's handwriting would be provided to the court. These statements in Raphael Pura's proposed amended defence were made to raise a defence to a claim of libel by Insas Berhad with regard to a published statement that "Malaysian justice was up for bid".
The proposed amendments also included allegations that " the same lawyer Dato VK Lingam cultivated inappropriately close relations with the Honourable Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Eusoff Chin whom he has placed in his debt notoriously, inter alia, by getting the said Honourable Chief Justice and his family on a New Zealand holiday together with his family from 22.12.94 - 30.12.94. The amendments also spoke of photographs of both families during this holiday at expensive ski and fishing resorts in New Zealand.
The amendments were unfortunately refused by the High Court last week. This means that for the moment these issues cannot be investigated at a trial.
It is our view that these are very serious allegations involving corruption which warrant an immediate and public inquiry into the conduct of both Dato Mokhtar Sidin and Tun Eusoff Chin. Regrettably no such inquiry has been commenced either by the judiciary or the government to date. The allegations have and will continue to cause public concern with regard to the independence and integrity of the judiciary in Malaysia and warrant a detailed fact-finding exercise conducted with full transparency.
Since the sacking in 1988 of Tun Salleh Abas, the former Lord President and highest judge of the country, the independence of our judiciary has been questionable. In recent years, a number of cases including the Vincent Tan suit against M.G.G. Pillai, the Ayer Molek Rubber Company case MBf Holdings Berhad v Wee Choo Keong case, theselective prosecution and subsequent conviction of Lim Guan Eng, the politically motivated prosecution and conviction of Anwar Ibrahim have demonstrated the lack of independence on the part of the judiciary.
We call for an immediate Royal Commission of Inquiry to be set up to investigate these recent allegations involving Dato Mokhtar Sidin and Tun Eusoff Chin and to also propose suitable measures to restore public confidence in the judiciary.
Jailing of Murray Hiebert The second event is the jailing of the journalist Murray Hiebert for contempt of court for his article on the case of Datin Chandra Sri Ram, wife of Court of Appeal Judge Datuk G. Sri Ram, against the International School of Kuala Lumpur for dropping her son from its debating team. Hiebert's article entitled "See you in court " was treated as scandalising the judiciary and lowering the integrity of the judiciary earning him a six week jail sentence, reduced on appeal from the original three month sentence imposed by the High Court.
We express our utmost concern with this jail sentence which is a blow against freedom of expression in Malaysia. The written analysis of Hiebert would appear to be well-within the purview of permitted criticism and comment on the judiciary. The comments by him appear almost mundane when compared with the kind of trenchant criticism leveled against the judiciary in many democratic countries and accepted in the spirit of democratic expression.
We would urge the Malaysian judiciary to note that as an institution it is not above criticism and ought to be able to tolerate a degree of criticism. We are of the view, especially in the wake of the Anwar trial, that public confidence in the judiciary is waning and its integrity under question. A reaction of this nature to public criticism can only worsen the public image of the judiciary.
The alleged poisoning of Anwar Ibrahim Last week on Friday, it was disclosed in the High Court in the trial of Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the former Deputy Prime Minister, that medical tests showed his body to have very high levels of arsenic measured as 230 microgrammes per gram creatinine compared to the usual levels in adults of 3 - 17 microgrammes. He immediately alleged a politically motivated attempt to poison him.
The allegations raised by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his lawyers with regard to his poisoning again raise huge questions with regard to the integrity and independence of key institutions such as the police and prisons. The guarantee of his physical security, as well as of any prisoner in the custody of the police and prisons, is a fundamental human right. In the case of Anwar Ibrahim, who is treated by Amnesty International and local human rights groups as a political prisoner, his physical security is also directly connected with the integrity of the conduct of political affairs of this country.
Whilst the Home Minister Datuk Abdullah Badawi may have ordered an immediate investigation, it is unclear who will handle this investigation - the police, prisons or both. Our earlier experience with the inability of the police to conduct an effective investigation into the assault on Anwar Ibrahim necessitating the setting up of an judicial commission of inquiry leaves us with little confidence in the outcome of the Minister's instructions.
We believe that a Royal Commission of Inquiry made up of selected members of the judiciary who have a reputation of independence will be required to ascertain the truth. In the meantime we are dismayed that there is no serious attempt to be completely transparent about the state of Anwar's health or the treatment he is undergoing for the high levels of arsenic found in his body. We call for full and immediate transparency by the government.
Released on: 15th Sept 1999
-------- List of Endorsers of Joint Statement
1. ABIM 2. Alaigal 3. Aliran 4. All Women Action Society 5. Borneo Resources Institutes Malaysia 6. Centre for Orang Asli Concerns 7. Community Development Centre 8. Democratic Action Party 9. ERA Consumer 10. Gerakan Democratic Belia dan Pelajar Malaysia (DEMA) 11. IDEAL Times 12. International Movement for a Just World 13. Jawatankuasa Sokongan Peneroka Bandar 14. Jawatankuasa Sokongan Peneroka Bandar (Johor) 15. Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) 16. Labour Resource Centre 17. Parti KeAdilan Nasional 18. Parti Islam SeMalaysia 19. Parti Rakyat Malaysia 20. Parti Sosialis Malaysia (pro-tem) 21. Persatuan Sahabat Wanita 22. Pusat KOMAS 23. Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (Youth Section) 24. Society for Christian Reflection 25. Suara Warga Pertiwi 26. Suara Rakyat Malaysia 27. Sustainable Development Network Malaysia 28. Tenaganita 29. Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Youth Graduate Society 30. Women's Development Centre
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