UMNO MPs pledge their support for Abdullah

Source: www.nst.com.my

More than 50 UMNO Members of Parliament pledged their support for party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in a five-minute meeting at Parliament House today.

Sri Gading MP Datuk Mohamad Aziz spoke to reporters on behalf of the MPs.

Conspicuously missing was the Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir. The meeting ended with a round of applause for Abdullah.

Penang CM: Review cases decided by Eusoff Chin and Ahmad Fairuz

Source: www.thestar.com.my

PENANG: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has called for an immediate review of cases, which had been decided by former Chief Justices Tun Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim. He said the review would be the most appropriate redress or remedy to restore the independence and integrity of the country's judiciary and to uphold the rule of law.

Lim said the focus of the probe, if the Attorney-General (AG) ordered for one, should be mainly on Eusoff and Ahmad Fairuz because as judges, they carried a higher responsibility.

He said he was one of those affected by the decisions made by these judges, referring to his 18-month jail term for sedition in 1998 and publishing false news for complaining that the AG did not prosecute former Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik for alleged statutory rape.

Lim was asked to comment on the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry, which held there was evidence that lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Manson, Eusoff, Ahmad Fairuz and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad were involved in a conspiracy to manipulate the appointment of judges.

On Friday, the Cabinet directed the AG's Chambers to institute immediate investigations into all allegations against the individuals identified in the report.

Lim said people whose lives had been affected by the decisions made Eusoff and Ahmad Fairuz had the right to demand for the cases to be reviewed.

"Justice must not only be seen to be done but in this case, justice has to be done,'' he told reporters after presenting rice aid to 2,013 welfare aid recipients at the Caring Society Complex Saturday.

The state also distributed free rice to 1,149 recipients at the Southwest district office, 1,333 at the North Seberang Prai district welfare office, 1,809 at Dewan Yayasan Aman SMK Penanti in Bukit Mertajam in Central Seberang Prai and 1,338 at Dewan Serbaguna Jawi in South Seberang Prai.

The state had allocated RM130,000 for the programme and had purchased the rice at a lower price of RM16 per sack.

Lingam video clip: Commission's report: Laws may have been broken, says Zaid

Source: www.nst.com.my

PUTRAJAYA: The cabinet has ordered the attorney-general to immediately direct agencies to investigate allegations levelled against six prominent individuals identified in the Lingam video clip.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said the six were former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, retired chief justices Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, former minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan and prominent lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam.

The six were among the 21 witnesses who gave evidence before the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip.

The clip basically shows Lingam engaged in a conversation over judicial appointments with Ahmad Fairuz.

During the 17-day hearing between Jan 14 and Feb 15, the public was privy to some explosive revelations.
Zaid, who is the de facto law minister, said the government took into account the findings of the commission which had identified and decided that the 14-minute recording in the clip was authentic and recommended that appropriate action be taken against individuals identified and were said to have committed certain offences.

"Following these findings, there is a possibility that offences against the law have been committed as stipulated in the commission's report," he told a news conference to announce that the government had decided to make the commission's report public.

The five-man inquiry panel, led by former chief judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor, in its report said there was sufficient cause to invoke the Sedition Act 1948, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1961, the Legal Profession Act 1976, the Official Secrets Act 1972 and the Penal Code against some of the principal individuals involved.

"We do not discount the possibility of other laws being contravened," the report stated

The commission said the findings have, at the very least, provided the catalyst for further investigations so that, it hoped, there would be complete transparency and full accountability.

"This is absolutely essential if we are to wipe out once and for all the stain of that remark once made by justice N.H. Chan in reference to the judiciary that 'Something is rotten in the State of Denmark'," said the report.

Zaid said the government took into account the findings of the commission which had identified and decided that the recording in the clip was authentic.

He said the report and recommendations were information and as such an investigation must be carried out.

Zaid said the cabinet urged the public, including the media, to allow the investigation process to proceed uninterrupted without undue pressure or any prejudice against any individuals identified in the report.\