*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
{ Sila lawat Laman Hizbi-Net - http://www.hizbi.net }
{ Hantarkan mesej anda ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] }
{ Iklan barangan? Hantarkan ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] }
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 11:49:46 +0800
From: DAP MALAYSIA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [BUNGARAYA] Eusoff Chin: Multiple questions
Media Statement by DAP National Chairman Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya
on
Saturday, June 10, 2000:
Barisan Alternative, with 42 MPs and 113 Assemblymen, should ask for the
resignation of Eusoff Chin as Chief Justice if he is not prepared to
rebut
MGG Pillai's serious allegations, including that he had travelled
together
on the same flights for the New Zealand holidays with Lingam in
December 1994
===================================================
The clarification by the Bar Council yesterday to dispute the impression
given that it had pronounced itself "satisfied" over the propriety of
the Chief Justice's holiday in New Zealand, purportedly with a lawyer,
has raised even more questions which demand instant response from the
Chief Justice of the Federal Court, Tun Eusoff Chin.
Bar Council President Sulaiman Abdullah said that the Council's then
vice-president R.R. Chelvarajah and then secretary Mah Weng Kwai met
Eusoff in early 1988 when the holiday photographs which showed Eusoff
and Datuk V.K. Lingam in New Zealand surfaced on the Internet.
Chelvarajah and Mah had asked Eusoff to disqualify himself from hearing
the appeal in Datuk Param Cumaraswamy's case as Lingam was appearing as
counsel for the two MBf companies suing Param for libel.
The Chief Justice had told them he would consider the matter and he
later informed Das, who was then the council president, that he would
not hear any matter where Lingam was appearing.
Eusoff had told the media on Tuesday that he had coincidentally "bumped"
into Lingam when holidaying in New Zealand and that the photographs were
taken at Lingam's request.
According to the Star (June 7, 2000), Eusoff said:
"Everywhere I go, I bump into lawyers and they like to take photos with
me. In this case, the same thing happened.
"I was very happy because when you are in a foreign country, when you
meet a fellow countryman, even though you never knew him, you will feel
very happy.
"I was going to the zoo and he asked 'Could I tag along?'".
Two questions arise here to which Malaysians are entitled to an answer
from Eusoff, in accordance with the principles of accountability, viz:
Firstly, did he tell Chelvarajah and Mah Weng Kwai in their meeting in
early 1998 that he "coincidentally bumped" into Lingam when holidaying
in New Zealand, and secondly, why he agreed not to hear any matter where
Lingam was appearing since he had denied "socialising" with Lingam by
holidaying together in New Zealand in 1994?
If Eusoff concedes that his hearing any matter where Lingam is a counsel
could lead to prejudice of the administration of justice, then is he
prepared to order an independent review of all previous cases and
judgements where Lingam had appeared before him as a counsel?
Referring to Eusoff's statement that former Bar Council President Datuk
Dr. Cyrus Das was "satisfied" when shown copies of credit card receipts
and bills to prove that he had paid for his New Zealand holiday,
Sulaiman said Das was no longer Bar Council president at the time.
He said in 1999, Das had met Eusoff several times over preparations for
the Commonwealth Law Conference and special programme for Chief Justices
later that year. At one of these meetings, the Chief Justice indicated
a large stack of credit card documents and bills on his table and said
something to the effect that those documents would show that he had paid
for his holiday. Das politely advised the Chief Justice to keep the
documents safety and as he was no longer the president, he did not
report this to the council.
A third question arises here. Why didn't Eusoff show Chelvarajah and
Mah Weng Kwai in early 1998 the credit card receipts and bills for his
New Zealand holiday to convince the Bar Council officials that there was
no basis for their complaint that he disqualify himself from hearing the
appeal in Param's case?
The fourth question is whether Eusoff had shown the credit card receipts
and bills to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) during ACA investigations
into the "poison-pen letter" by a High Court judge in 1995 as Eusoff had
said on Tuesday that his holiday trip to New Zealand in 1994 had been
investigated and cleared by the ACA. Can the Anti-Corruption Agency
confirmed that it had investigated and cleared Eusoff of all
improprieties in connection with the New Zealand holiday in 1994, as
claimed by Eusoff in the following Sun report (June 7, 2000):
"He pointed out that the accusation is not new as it was mentioned in a
poison-pen letter in 1995.
"He said he, through the Attorney-General, had invited the authorities
to investigate all judges named in the letter.
""The ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency) confronted me with the allegation. I
showed them the receipts. Nobody paid for the trip. I paid them all
myself,' he said."
The fifth question is whether Eusoff had ever told Das, Chelvarajah or
Mah Weng Kwai that the ACA had investigated and cleared him of all
improprieties in connection with his New Zealand holiday in 1994.
Yesterday, veteran journalist MGG Pillai put up an Internet posting
challenging Eusoff's claim that he had "bumped" into Lingam in New
Zealand, making very serious allegations as well as giving particulars
that Eusoff and Lingam had travelled together on the same New Zealand
Airways flight NZ73 from Singapore to Auckland on business class on 22nd
December 1994 and on Flight NZ1541 between Auckland and Christchurch
later that day.
In the era of information technology, it has been said that a human year
is about five Internet years. A human day or five Internet days have
passed but there has been no rebuttal or response from Eusoff to the
very serious allegations by Pillai. The Barisan Alternative, with 42
MPs and 113 Assemblymen, should ask for the resignation of Eusoff Chin
as Chief Justice if he is not prepared to rebut MGG Pillai's serious
allegations, including that he had travelled together on the same
flights for the New Zealand holidays with Lingam in December 1994
Malaysians cannot afford to allow our system of justice to continue to
be the laughing stock of the world and the butt of scathing reports not
only by the international legal and judicial community like the recent
damning indictment "Justice in Jeopardy: Malaysia 2000" but also by
eminent Malaysians as reflected in the comment by the highly-regarded
former Lord President Tun Suffian who recently said:
"While there are judges whose integrity and impartiality have never
wavered, the public perception is that the judiciary as a whole can no
longer be trusted to honour their oath of office. When I am asked what I
thought, my usual reply is that I wouldn't like to be tried by today's
judges, especially if I am innocent."
I will be discussing with other leaders of the Barisan Alternative on
the latest developments on the system of justice in Malaysia.
- Lim Kit Siang -
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
( Melanggan ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body : SUBSCRIBE HIZB)
( Berhenti ? To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] pada body: UNSUBSCRIBE HIZB)
( Segala pendapat yang dikemukakan tidak menggambarkan )
( pandangan rasmi & bukan tanggungjawab HIZBI-Net )
( Bermasalah? Sila hubungi [EMAIL PROTECTED] )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pengirim: "Haji Johari Adam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
