Video clip probe: Source of recording to be given protection
- From: pluto <pluto@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:22:46 +0800
NST Online » Frontpage
2007/10/08
Video clip probe: Source of recording to be given protection
By : Shahrul Hafeez
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Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz says it is vital to know who made the video recording.
KUALA KANGSAR: The probe into the "Linggam" video clip will come to a dead end
if the witnesses who can verify it do not come forward, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz
said.
?Without their co-operation, how can we attest to the recording?s authenticity??
the Minister in the Prime Minister?s Department said yesterday.
Nazri, who is in charge of law, guaranteed that the witnesses would be accorded
full government protection, including a change of identities if necessary.
He said cover for informants was provided for under the Witness Protection Bill
tabled recently in parliament.
He said the bill provided protection for witnesses so that their identities
could be kept a secret, including administrative and other operations necessary
to effect changes in their personal details.
The bill places witness provisions under various statutes, such as the
Prevention of Corruption Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act, under a single
ambit.
?There is a misconception that such protection can only be given through the
setting up of a royal commission.
?This is not correct. The government and the police, too, can extend this
protection to witnesses,? he said.
Nazri was responding to Keadilan officials who refused to name the sources of
the video recording on claims that their safety would be compromised.
The three officials questioned by Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officers over the
past week said that although the agency was willing to protect the sources,
their personal safety lay outside the ACA?s powers.
Nazri affirmed this fact, adding that the power to do so rested with the
government and the police.
?I guarantee that we will protect the sources. Trust the government to do so.
?Who else can do it but the government? Can Keadilan do it? I don?t think so,?
he said.
Nazri added that it was important for the independent panel investigating the
authenticity of the recording to know where it came from.
Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor leads the three-member panel ? the others being Datuk
Mahadev Shankar and Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye ? which has been given 30 working days
from their appointment on Sept 27 to complete the investigation into the
authenticity of the recording.
Nazri stressed that the panel had not been formed in order to go after the
whistleblowers or penalise the sources, and urged them to come forward.
Nazri was met at the handing over of Hari Raya contributions to the poor and
underprivileged in his parliamentary constituency, Padang Rengas.
State assemblymen Datuk Siti Salmah Mat Jusak (Chenderoh) and Datuk Jamal Nasir
Rasdi (Lubok Merbau) were also present at the event which saw more than 300
people being given Raya gifts.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PM dismisses claims
KEPALA BATAS: The prime minister has dismissed claims that the panel
investigating a video clip allegedly showing a lawyer discussing judicial
appointments with a judge was setting its sights on the whistleblower.
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said it was not true that the three-member
independent panel was trying to divert public attention by scrutinising the
identity of the source of the video recording.
He said the panel must decide on the veracity of the video from all angles and
had the prerogative to investigate its origins.
?That is part of the investigation as they need to gather information that will
help them in the probe,? he said yesterday.
?They are merely doing their job and it should not be assumed that the panel is
turning its attention on the whistle-blower.?
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Malaysia to offer protection to lure whistle-blower in judicial scandal
The Associated PressPublished: October 8, 2007
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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: The government plans to offer witness protection,
including plastic surgery and a new identity, to lure a mysterious
whistle-blower to come forward to verify claims of judicial corruption,
Malaysia's law minister said Monday.
In a video released last month by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, a prominent
lawyer is allegedly taped brokering the appointment of top judges in 2002.
Anwar last week said the man who secretly took the video at the lawyer's house
with his mobile phone has refused to reveal his identity because he feared for
his safety.
But Nazri Aziz, the minister in charge of legal affairs, said Monday it was
crucial for the whistle-blower to work with authorities to verify the
authenticity of the clip.
"I will argue very strongly in the Cabinet on Wednesday that we must give him
whatever protection he wants. We need to get to the bottom of this issue. I hope
he will come out and cooperate with us," Nazri told The Associated Press.
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"I see no reason why the source of the video clip should fear because we have
this culture of protecting informers."
Nazri said plastic surgery was a possibility. "We can protect the informer even
to the extent of changing his identity. If it (plastic surgery) is required ...
it can be done," he said.
If the witness protection measures are approved and the whistle-blower still
refuses to come forward, then "we can conclude that they are lying," Nazri said.
The allegations have sparked angry calls from lawyers and rights groups for
judicial reform.
The Bar Council, which represents 12,000 lawyers, said in a statement that
Malaysia has no specific law to protect witnesses, although there are some
provisions under the anti-corruption law.
It welcomed Nazri's move but said the authenticity of the video could be
determined using modern technology.
The government recently appointed an independent panel to investigate the
authenticity of the video. But activists say it lacks sufficient power and
should expand its probe to look into the conduct of judges.
At present, judges are appointed by the king on the prime minister's
recommendation. The council has called for an impartial commission to oversee
the appointments.
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