Introduction
The Attorney-General plays an important role in upholding the Rule of
Law in Malaysia, and thus contributes to one of the key aspirations of
her people: to build a democratic society based on the fundamental ideals
of justice and equality. It is important therefore that the Attorney general
is seen as a competent, honorable and worthy guardian of the public's interest
of which he defends. The Office of the Attorney general is seen as part
of a system of check and balance in a democratic society, and therefore
must remain and is seen as independent of the other institutions.
The Attorney general must not hesitate to prosecute any individual or
party, if there is just cause to do so. It is imperative that the Attorney
general's Office carries out its duties without fear or favor. It is to
the Attorney general's Office that one turns to as the last bastion of
moral ethical policing. At the same time, it is also important that the
Attorney general is thorough in its investigations and preparedness as
to not falsely prosecute an innocent man, the repercussions of doing so
are, have far reaching consequence which will impact upon the credibility
of its good office.
This memorandum outlines the concerns and demands of a large segment
of the population of Malaysia through the voice of the students, the next
generation and the future leaders of this great nation. Our concerns are
genuine and we are willing to go to great pains and risk to ensure they
are heard and acted upon by your good office.
We have in this memorandum outlined a number of recent cases which your
good office has decided to act upon and a great number of other equally
important cases which seemed to have escaped the attention of your good
office.. These cases have aroused a number of disturbing questions with
regards to the credibility of your Office. The sooner your office acts
on these doubts to clear the tarnished name of your office the sooner Malaysians
of all creeds and races can resume their faith and trust in our institutions
of justice.
Our Concerns
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The prosecution and incarceration of a Member of Parliament YB Lim Guan
Eng who rightly spoke up against injustice to an underage Malay girl, who
had claimed that she was raped by Tan Sri Rahim Tamby Chik, to date the
Attorney general has yet to give the Malaysian public a believable explanation,
a case that has drawn much criticism from within and outside the country.
One of the first to criticize the dentition of the rape victim was none
other than the daughter of the present Prime Minister, Dato Paduka Marina
Mahathir. It is unbelievable that the Attorney-generals office choose to
prosecute YB Lim Guan Eng, without first considering a case against the
PM's daughter. If indeed there was a case.
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The leak of court documents in the form of affidavits to major media publications
even before they were tendered and approved in a court of law as public
documents. The unprecedented incident took place on the 3rd of September
1998, a day after the sacking of Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The case in question
is the case of Dato Nallakarupan which was tendered together with the affidavit
by one Musa Hassan, an officer of the Law.
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Although Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim was first charged with section 337B of
the Criminal Code, this was then changed to detain him under the Internal
Security Act, In retrospect, The Royal Commission of Inquiry in the beatings
of Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim has now raised questions with regards to this
change.
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It has greatly shocked us to find out that an officer of your department
Dato' Gani Patail had tried to stop Anwar Ibrahim from giving evidence
with regards to his injuries, claiming that the injuries were light.
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It is with grave concern to us that your good office took a whole two months
before a statement by your goodself was forthcoming, even then to dispute
an expert appraisal of the injuries sustained by Anwar Ibrahim, rather
your office choose to rely on a report by Dr Abdul Rahman Yusof who had
not even examined Anwar Ibrahim.
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A sworn letter by Dato' Nallakarupan's lawyer, Manjeet Singh Dhillon, that
implicates your goodname, Gani Patail and Azhar Mohamad in trying to strike
a deal with the accused using the Death sentence above the man as 'Sword
of Damocles'. Seven. Ignoring affidavits of Dr Munawar Anees, Sukma Darmawan,
Mior Abdul Razak and Azmin Mohamad Ali which clearly alleges that they
were tortured and intimidated by the police.
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Constant amendments to the charges against Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the
first and now in the second case have raised considerable doubts in the
minds of the discerning public as to the credibility of the charges brought
against him.
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Over reliance on witnesses who have been proven to be less than credible,
not only those who have a poor memory but those who seem to have a dubious
background.
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The inability of the Attorney general's office to reply to allegations
which has implicated your office and your officers namely Abdul Gani Patail
in an alleged report by the ACA to your good office and the subsequent
charges that were recommended by good office against Dato Seri Rafidah
Aziz for acts of corruption involving the awards of large amounts of shares
to her son-in-law.
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Although three police reports have been lodged thus far against the Minister
of Trade and Industries, the police and your good office have yet to comment
nor seemed to have made much progress, this has been contrary to the speed
of investigations into alleged secret documents said to have been kept
overseas by the former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.
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Similarly the allegations of misuse of office by the Prime Minister and
Tun Daim Zainuddin with regards to the Rafidah case and the receival of
large amounts of monies through unusual circumstances and procedures have
yet to be openly acted upon by your good office.
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The persecution of Dr Chandra Muzaffar, through a contempt of court proceeding,
when so many other personalities including the PM has made many comments
on Anwar Ibrahim's proceeding and gotten away scot free smacks of selective
prosecution. Dr Chandra in our view was only exercising his constitutional
rights when he spoke up against abuse of power and negligence of responsibility.
Our Appeals
We urge the Office of the Attorney general to be fair in acting upon
cases without fear or favor, failure to do so as has been the case in the
cases above will and have impacted upon the credibility of your Good Office.
Every citizen implores upon you to carry out your duties with the highest
of moral and ethical standings.
Bearing in mind that the whole world is watching, it is crucial that
you are able to safeguard the integrity and the good name of the country.
We urge you to carry out your duties without fear of human reprisals as
the wrath of God will have far greater consequence on us all.
It is our sincere hope that you will be able to put right what has been
done wrong, it is still not too late to clear the doubts that the people
have begun to have in your good Office, due to the many cases outline above.
We urge you to prove to the world and to our people that Malaysians are
not afraid of standing up for justice, freedom and the truth. It is high
time to end the charade, perceive by the many in the 'silent majority'.
Stephen Doss
Majlis Pelajar Malaysia Burhan
Che Daud Barisan
Bertindak Mahasiswa Negara