Justice for the justices
Malaysiakini
Sep 16, 2006
Baradan Kuppusamy

A dark and shameful episode in the history of Malaysia's judiciary, that had lain hidden from public view for 18 years, is finally unravelling as lawyers, judges and rights activists press for an independent investigation into what is still spoken of in hushed tones as the '1988 scandal'.

That year, the country's top judge 'Lord President' Salleh Abas and five other senior judges were variously sacked and suspended by a 'kangaroo tribunal' after a series of politically sensitive cases went against the government.

The then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was fighting a "do or die" battle with a political challenger when a still respected and independent-minded judiciary came into his crosshairs and was swiftly decimated.

Abas who defended justice and suffered for it in 1988, spoke up finally, last month, lending his voice and weight to the chorus calling for an investigation into the country's worst ever judicial scandal.

"I worked in my garden and dreamt of the day when I could speak up against the sacking. Now the time has come to speak up," Abas, 77, said.

Abas, gave credit to the ''liberal atmosphere" under Mohamad's chosen successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, for his decision to speak up. He denied it had anything to do with the fact that the two have fallen out on various issues.

The issue of a probe into the 1988 affair was first raised by a retired judge in a newspaper interview. The Bar Council then took it up urging Abdulah to investigate the affair, rehabilitate the victims and punish the offenders.

Now Abas, the man at the centre of the storm, has himself spoken up and added his voice to the demands to come clean on the "sordid" affair.

Right the wrongs

The government appears to be keeping its options open, although a junior minister, overseeing parliamentary matters, has said that the matter is best left undisturbed.

"The wrongs must be righted, the wronged judges must have their honour restored and the offenders must be punished," opposition leader Lim Kit Siang told IPS. "Otherwise we can't heal and we can't restore public confidence in the judiciary. An inquiry is the strongest step Abdullah can take to demonstrate his commitment to reforms."

"A review will allow the truth to be uncovered," said Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh. "It is not for vendetta but for society and younger judges to know what really happened."

The crisis was first sparked off after judges overturned a government decision to expel two Asian Wall Street Journal reporters John Bertelsen and Raphael Pura for writing a series of articles on questionable government transactions.

A furious Mohamad began attacking the judges openly as judgments in other
politically sensitive cases went against his autocratic government.

In an effort to protect the judiciary from the attacks, Abas wrote to the king, a constitutional figurehead, complaining that the prime minister was browbeating the judges.

That only further enraged Mohamad who set up a tribunal, mostly of pliant judges, to punish Abas for "misconduct''.

The charges against him were: - Writing "a letter to the king without approval of all judges in the country''. - Displaying "bias and prejudice" against the government''. - Seeking "to undermine public confidence in the government's administration''.

Abas was found guilty and sacked along with two others judges. Later, three more senior judges, who had ruled that the tribunal was unconstitutional, were either suspended or sacked.

A new bench of pliant judges then filled the vacancies and they subsequently
ruled that all the actions against the six judges were valid.

The same year, Mahathir's government tabled a bill in parliament, amending the constitution divesting the courts of their "judicial power of the federation" and giving them only such powers as Parliament grants them. The changes made the judiciary subservient to a Parliament already dominated by the executive.

By 1989, Mahathir was presiding over an economic boom and went on to be hailed as a Third World leader, but the Malaysian judiciary suffered irreparable damage.

"This (the demand for an inquiry) is a serious attempt to resuscitate and restore our judiciary to its former golden era," said Abas who was made chief judge in 1982 and Lord President in 1984.

"It is not so much my personal interest and that of my dismissed colleagues which need to be rectified but more importantly, the democraticinstitutions
and the rule of law which have to be restored," he said.

Vindicated

Abas said if the country is to be governed democratically, legislations introduced in 1988 should be reversed and power of judicial review of government decisions, as accepted and established in Britain and India, restored. "I hope, before I breathe my last, to see that the wrongs and injustices perpetrated on me and my colleagues will be finally vindicated," Abas said.

Mahathir has denied Abas' accusations saying he had no influence over the courts. Political analysts say his image is likely to take a massive blow if an inquiry opens into the affair.

"It will open a can of worms. The people will be shocked at the extent to which the judiciary was manipulated by politicians," said S Arulchelvam, coordinator in Suaram, a leading human rights NGO. "Already public confidence in the judiciary has taken a severe beating. A proper inquiry will restore the confidence,'' he told IPS.

Prominent lawyer R Sivarasa said: "An independent inquiry is important because we need to know why the judges were treated that way, although they were only carrying out their duties to uphold the constitution''.

"It will also go a long way towards reforms in the appointment of judges," he said, adding that a permanent independent commission for judicial appointments would help restore the judiciary to what it was before the crisis.

A probe would confirm that Mahathir had no respect for a check-and-balance
system and that he did not see the point in having a dignified judiciary, said a political analyst. ''The will of Dr Mahathir was too strong to challenge. until now," he said.