Youth
Movement protests the appointment of Federal Court judge
The
National Justice Party Youth Movement has protested the
appointment of Mohtar Abdullah, Malaysia's former Attorney
General, as a Federal Court judge.
In a
media statement released to the press on 23 January 2001, Youth
Head Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor said he believes Mohtar's appointment
"is not only inappropriate but detrimental to the
judiciary’s image".
Ezam
went on to say, "During the sham trial of Anwar Ibrahim,
his case against Anwar Ibrahim was repeatedly exposed to be
nothing more than a fabricated conspiracy. Even the facts of the
case could not be ascertained conclusively. His conduct as an
Attorney General has proven that he has not been performing in
the interests of justice but under orders from a privileged
few."
"Given
his proven lack of impartiality, we question his appointment as
a Federal Court judge. A man who is so blatantly biased that he
is unable to distinguish loyalty to a political master with
responsibility to the important office which he is supposed to
discharge cannot be appointed to be a Federal Court judge
without bringing the judiciary into further disrepute."
"All
his actions have so far pointed to Mohtar being a lap-dog of the
Barisan Nasional leaders. His appointment as a Federal Court
judge makes a mockery out of the intention of the new Chief
Justice, His Honor Tan Sri Dzaiddin Abdullah, to reform the
Malaysian judiciary and restore public confidence in this
institution."
Mohtar,
as Attorney General, pursued the case against Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar's trial was marred by inconsistencies and contradicting
statements by witnesses while the charge dates had to be changed
three times.
The
condominium where Anwar was supposed to have committed the crime
was not yet built on the first charge date while Anwar was out
of the country on the second date. The prosecution got lucky on
the third date - though they could not pin down the actual date
and had to leave it a "flexible" period of "one
day within the three months".
Anwar
was able to account for his whereabouts on each and every day of
those three months with strong alibis that were never discounted
by the prosecution. Nevertheless, the court still found Anwar
guilty and sentenced him to a total of 15 years in jail.
Legal
observers have stated that, in any other country, Anwar would
have been discharged without his defense even being called and
they cannot comprehend how the court could have proceeded with
the trial, let alone found him guilty.
Many
believe Anwar is a victim of trumped up charges and that he was
found guilty in a sham trial.
