Bar’s claims against task force ‘baseless, inaccurate’, says Wan Junaidi
Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar says the Malaysian Bar should have given its views on the various allegations in the task force’s report.
PETALING JAYA: Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has slammed Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah for questioning the impartiality of the task force set up to investigate allegations in former attorney general Tommy Thomas’ memoir.
Wan Junaidi said a statement Cheah released on the matter was “baseless and inaccurate”, adding that the Malaysian Bar should not have declined an invitation for a consultation session with the task force.
“As such, casting a negative perception on the impartiality of the task force’s members is completely baseless,” he said in a statement.
“The Malaysian Bar ought to have come forward and given its views on the various allegations identified by the task force.
“To refuse participation, and then question the impartiality of the task force and its members, should not be the Bar’s way to confront issues of this kind.”
On Tuesday, Cheah said the Bar was perturbed by the declassification of the task force’s report, noting that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had admitted that he declassified it so that it could be used as political “ammunition” to attack the opposition.
“Such blatant admission, if true, begs the question of good faith in the establishment of the special task force and whether the report was nonpartisan and reliable,” she added in a statement.
Cheah said the Bar had taken issue with the legitimacy of the task force as the right approach to investigate the claims in Thomas’ memoir should have been by way of an independent investigation under a royal commission of inquiry.
She said that since the task force was established by the executive, it had raised the issue of partiality and whether it could be “truly independent”.
She also questioned the “untimely” release of the report considering Parliament had just been dissolved.
Parliament was dissolved on Oct 10, and the report was made public on Oct 21.
The task force was established by the Cabinet last December to investigate allegations of judicial interference, exposure of government secrets, abuse of power, professional negligence and seditious statements in Thomas’ book, published in January 2021.
Dismissing Cheah’s claims about the task force’s independence, Wan Junaidi said it conducted the mandate entrusted to it “free from any form of intervention”.
He said all the findings obtained were based on the 19 consultation sessions conducted by the task force with various stakeholders, adding that the Bar was invited to take part in these sessions to ensure that the views of all parties were taken into account when preparing the report.
“I must stress that the methodology used, the issues analysed, the stakeholders involved in the consultation session, as well as those who had refused to participate, have all been listed in the report,” he said.
“This clearly shows that the task force had conducted the job in a responsible, transparent and impartial manner.”
The contents of Thomas’ memoir drew criticism from several quarters, including current AG Idrus Harun, lawyers, politicians and the public, leading to the filing of more than 130 police reports.
Thomas is being investigated for sedition and various other offences as per the report’s recommendation.
PETALING JAYA: Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has slammed Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah for questioning the impartiality of the task force set up to investigate allegations in former attorney general Tommy Thomas’ memoir.
Wan Junaidi said a statement Cheah released on the matter was “baseless and inaccurate”, adding that the Malaysian Bar should not have declined an invitation for a consultation session with the task force.
“As such, casting a negative perception on the impartiality of the task force’s members is completely baseless,” he said in a statement.
“The Malaysian Bar ought to have come forward and given its views on the various allegations identified by the task force.
“To refuse participation, and then question the impartiality of the task force and its members, should not be the Bar’s way to confront issues of this kind.”
On Tuesday, Cheah said the Bar was perturbed by the declassification of the task force’s report, noting that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had admitted that he declassified it so that it could be used as political “ammunition” to attack the opposition.
“Such blatant admission, if true, begs the question of good faith in the establishment of the special task force and whether the report was nonpartisan and reliable,” she added in a statement.
Cheah said the Bar had taken issue with the legitimacy of the task force as the right approach to investigate the claims in Thomas’ memoir should have been by way of an independent investigation under a royal commission of inquiry.
She said that since the task force was established by the executive, it had raised the issue of partiality and whether it could be “truly independent”.
She also questioned the “untimely” release of the report considering Parliament had just been dissolved.
Parliament was dissolved on Oct 10, and the report was made public on Oct 21.
The task force was established by the Cabinet last December to investigate allegations of judicial interference, exposure of government secrets, abuse of power, professional negligence and seditious statements in Thomas’ book, published in January 2021.
Dismissing Cheah’s claims about the task force’s independence, Wan Junaidi said it conducted the mandate entrusted to it “free from any form of intervention”.
He said all the findings obtained were based on the 19 consultation sessions conducted by the task force with various stakeholders, adding that the Bar was invited to take part in these sessions to ensure that the views of all parties were taken into account when preparing the report.
“I must stress that the methodology used, the issues analysed, the stakeholders involved in the consultation session, as well as those who had refused to participate, have all been listed in the report,” he said.
“This clearly shows that the task force had conducted the job in a responsible, transparent and impartial manner.”
The contents of Thomas’ memoir drew criticism from several quarters, including current AG Idrus Harun, lawyers, politicians and the public, leading to the filing of more than 130 police reports.
Thomas is being investigated for sedition and various other offences as per the report’s recommendation.
The Special Task Force probe is just a witch hunt.
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