Malaysia panel finds judicial conspiracy

By JULIA ZAPPEI – 16 May, 2008

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) — A high-level inquiry found evidence that prominent government and judicial figures — including former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad — were involved in a conspiracy to manipulate the appointment of judges, Malaysia's law minister said Friday.

The revelation deals a major blow to the reputation of Malaysia's courts and bolsters allegations by many lawyers and opposition leade rs that judicial corruption has tainted verdicts stretching back more than a decade.

Demands for reforms jolted the judiciary after the opposition leaked a video in September that allegedly showed a well-connected lawyer, V.K. Lingam, speaking by telephone in 2001 to a former top judge, Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, about the promotion of judges.

Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim said a panel that investigated the video found that it was authentic, and that Lingam apparently conspired with his allies in the judiciary, government and corporate world to broker the appointment of judges.

The Cabinet told the Attorney General's office Friday to undertake immediate investigations into the "possibility that offenses against the law have been committed," Zaid told reporters.

The video — filmed by a visitor to Lingam's house — shows him talking about ways to help Ahmad Fairuz become Malaysia's top-ranking judge with the help of business tycoon Vincent Tan and Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a former Cabinet minister.

The inquiry's report said "there was conceivably an insidious movement by (Lingam) with the covert assistance of his close friends (Tan and Tengku Adnan) to involve themselves actively in the appointment of judges."

"In the process ... Mahathir was also entangled," the report added. "Actions of the main characters concerned have the effect of seriously undermining and eroding the independence and integrity of the judiciary as a whole."

Tengku Adnan did not answer calls to his mobile phone. Aides to Lingam, Tan and Mahathir could not immediately be contacted.

All denied any wrongdoing while testifying in inquiry hearings earlier this year.

Lingam claimed he may have been drunk when the video was shot. Ahmad Fairuz, who became chief justice in 2003 and retired last year, denied speaking to Lingam. Mahathir, Tengku Adnan and Tan insisted they were not part of any conspiracy.

In Malaysia's legal system, the chief judge recommends candidates for senior judicial appointments and promotions to the prime minister, who can accept or reject those names.

Associated Press writer Sean Yoong contributed to this report.