Top lawyers split over A-G's explanation

PETALING JAYA (June 7, 2007): Senior lawyers were split over the Attorney-General (A-G)'s explanation on his decision to replace the deputy public prosecutor (DPP) in the murder trial of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu at the last minute.
While former Bar Council president Datuk Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari said Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail's decision was based on reasonable grounds, other lawyers had different views.
Kuthubul told theSun today he was satisfied with the A-G's explanation over the replacement of DPP Salehuddin Saidin with Tun Abdul Majid Hamzah, a senior and experienced DPP.
Abdul Gani had said yesterday he made the change after he was informed that Salehuddin had been seen playing badminton with trial judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin.
"To ensure fairness in a trial, justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done," Kuthubul said.
"If the DPP and judge have some kind of interest that would prejudice the issue, there is reasonable ground for the A-G's position."
On the first day of the high-profile case on Monday (June 4), Abdul Majid told the court he was only instructed to take over the case from Salehuddin the night before. As a result, the case had to be postponed to June 18.
Abdul Gani was later quoted as saying in an English daily he made the change "to ensure a fair trial" but did not elaborate.
This prompted several lawyers, including Kuthubul, and the Bar Council to urge Abdul Gani to explain himself to prevent speculation.
Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenavasan could not be reached for comment today.
On Noorin Badaruddin, the other prosecuting lawyer who was replaced, Kuthubul said it was up to the A-G to decide.
Kuthubul said while it was not necessary for the whole team to be dismissed if the lead prosecutor was replaced, he believed Abdul Gani had made the right decision.
"Maybe, some elements of influence could be there because they have been working together a number of times before this," he said.
Salehuddin is the head of the Classified Cases Unit, and Noorin is head of the General Crimes and Sexual Unit in the A-G's Chambers in Putrajaya.
They had been handling the Altantuya murder case from the time Chief Insp Azilah Hadri Azilah and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar were charged on Nov 15.
The two officers were charged with committing the crime in Bukit Raja, Selangor, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year. Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda is also charged with abetting them.
In Penang, lawyer Datuk K. Kumaraendran said most lawyers and judges knew each other, some from their college days, so this should not be the reason to disqualify lawyers from a case.
He said it was common for lawyers and judges to know each other as most moved in the same social circles.
"Some of us even studied in the same colleges and universities," he said.
On Karpal Singh's appeal to disqualify Hazman Ahmad from representing one of the accused because Hazman's late wife was the judge's niece, Kumaraendran said this should not be grounds for disqualification.
Another senior lawyer, Datuk V. Sithambaram, said generally, it should not be a problem if a judge was distantly related to the lawyer.
"If they are only distant relatives and there are no objections, it is okay," he said.
However, he said it was up to the court to decide whether to disqualify Hazman or not.
"The matter was already dismissed by the court, but Karpal plans to appeal so it will be decided by the court," he said.

PETALING JAYA (June 7, 2007): Lawyer Karpal Singh is appealing against Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin's decision to dismiss his application to disqualify Hazman Ahmad from being a defence counsel in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial.
Karpal, who filed the notice with the Court of Appeal today, said in a statement that Hazman's late wife was trial judge Zaki's niece, and therefore should not be allowed to represent Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri.
Azilah and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar are charged with murdering Altantuya in Bukit Raja, Selangor, between Oct 19 and Oct 20 last year.
Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda is charged with abetting them.
In our article "Karpal seeks to disqualify inspector's lawyer" today, we erroneously reported that Karpal was seeking to meet Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim about his appeal to disqualify Hazman.
Karpal is seeking a meeting with Ahmad Fairuz about re-appointing the initial judge Datuk K.N. Segara to the case, and not as reported today.

tunku: just can't wait 18th June, hope it will not be postponed again.