Allegations against DPP are serious ethical concerns

By Tan Yi Liang, TheSun

"It is definitely is an ethical matter, as prosecutions are done in the interest of justice. You are there to put your case before the court in the interest of justice. As there is no client here, there should be no relationship between prosecutor and complainant," he said.

PETALING JAYA (July 28, 2010): The allegations against Deputy Public Prosecutor Farah Azlina Latif are serious enough to warrant disciplinary action and should be investigated.

Speaking to theSun in a phone interview today, Malaysian Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan said actions such as being romantically linked to a key witness in a prosecution are "ethical matters".

Farah, who has been dropped from the prosecution team in the sodomy trial of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was allegedly romantically involved with the complainant in the trial, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

"Even in a private solicitor-client relationship, it is unethical as the issue of objectivity would be questioned. Will the solicitor be fair to the client. It is even more onerous in the case of a prosecutor," added Ragunath.

He said he supported her removal from the team and an investigation to determine whether the prosecution has been compromised and whether she had access to any information that would compromise the prosecution of the accused.

He added that a lawyer could be disbarred for such a relationship, but cautioned that certain factors have to be considered.

"Many factors have to be considered such as the extent of the relationship and the time it occurred- was it before, during or after the time the lawyer was handling the case.

The test when it comes to punishment is whether it affected his or her objectivity in handling the case," said Ragunath.

Anwar's counsel Sankara Nair accused Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail of skirting the issue when he announced that Farah had been dropped from the prosecution team and the division.

"He didn't confirm...I think the AG is skirting the issue as he has yet to reply to me formally. By taking this action, he is only fueling suspicions with regards to this matter," he said.

He had sent a letter to Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden on Monday to seek a confirmation of the information which first appeared on the Malaysia Today blog.

When asked if Anwar's defence team would move for a mistrial, Sankara declined to comment, but said it was an option.

"Under the law, Saiful cannot be given any advantage, and he should be treated like any other witness, because it is the public prosecutor who is prosecuting Anwar. He cannot access any information he is not allowed to have," he said.

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Comments (22) Add Comment

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written by ibabonma, July 29, 2010 00:21:04

Prince of India, I am quite amazed by your comment. The DPP - Prosecution witness bedtime relationship is worst and surely unacceptable. The sodomy case should have been withdrawn by now.

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written by Aduh, July 28, 2010 21:01:50

When they can even take the law into their own hands, and mutilate it like hell, what is ethics to them ??? The word has never been in their vocab.

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written by Taikohtai, July 28, 2010 20:54:29

If the Syaria council continues to keep mum over this issue, it can only mean that Malaysia is NOT islamic but secular. By getting rid of the DPP, the AG is telling the world that Syaria Council is irrelevant and is a passive authority. And all muslims in Malaysia must be feeling bewildered by the whole issue - how to reconcile??

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written by cheekhiaw, July 28, 2010 20:39:21

In Thievesland, ethics tak pakai. Anything goes,..Amar mungkar, nahi makruf

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written by asiana888, July 28, 2010 20:28:10

Aiyoh! How can an honorable judge (I mean a judge with honor) still pretend and let this trial to go on!? This is definitely a case of "witness tampering" by DPP ..... at least tampering with Saifool's ar@@ hole or d**k .....

Malaysia memang Boleh!
smilies/grin.gif

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written by justice seeker, July 28, 2010 20:04:23

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written by SpeakOut, July 28, 2010 17:11:34

Shariah Office - yoiu are working with Syatan and for Syatan kalau you diam diam saja. Hippostamus hypocrite.

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written by SpeakOut, July 28, 2010 17:10:26

written by Fart Fart Wah, July 28, 2010 23:30:37
If this woman of tudung is a suspect.....I suggest you check to see if she has been lifting her skirts quietly for the judges too to win cases...and be where she is as DPP....ala uMOONO style..

Aiyoyo this is a serious allegations man. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT ? I BELIVE YOU. The judiciary in malaysia is NOTHING BUT CRAP.

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written by doomsday, July 28, 2010 13:01:20

no lah, they didn't screw each other, just watched world cup sama sama and goal sama sama only smilies/tongue.gif

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written by anakmalaysia777, July 28, 2010 11:00:05

What is most surprising is that the accusations made so far is so general without any specifics. The AG has already blinked his eyes and jumped!!

Does the AG knows more than us the public and it took the allegation for him to jump? Is she going to come out with the statement that she was ordered to do be "Witness Relations Officer" so that the witness does not turn hostile?

Can we expect Chapter 2 and 3 and 4 to come from those who have made the allegations? Is the AG considering withdrawing the case? For if he does not, may be he may also become directly implicated in the affair?

Is this why the PM has decided to take a quick holiday to be far out of Saiful's sight, in case he comes back fro more advice?

All these are quite intriguing for us concerned rakyat. We do not want to see a miscarriage of justice. Perhaps the poor sweet looking DPP girl is also a victim? Who knows? . We are all anxiously waiting for answers!!.

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written by SamYap, July 28, 2010 10:50:00

Ok, no tokking kock, just some boring comment.

The Bar Council president and DSAI's lawyers are discussing this issue only from the point of law ( and ethics.). But what they did not say, which is not within their brief, is whether there is a hidden hand in this "affair between the jr DPP and the complainant".

Someone, may be Najib or it may be his political enemies, who wants this sham trial to end asap. Najib's advisors have probably told him that he may win back some Malay support by chucking out this case. But it has to be done honorably for all, except for the two idiots the DPP and Saiful - they are expendable.

Or it could be Najib's enemies who wants the trial to fail and make Jibby look stupid, not that he isn't looking stupid already. Maybe, the hidden hand is Muhkriz?

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written by Fart Fart Wah, July 28, 2010 10:30:37

If this woman of tudung is a suspect.....I suggest you check to see if she has been lifting her skirts quietly for the judges too to win cases...and be where she is as DPP....ala uMOONO style..

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written by arazak, July 28, 2010 08:51:37

He swore with the Quraan and in a Masjid too. . ., yet he goes around bonking a girl not his wife. Apa punya orang ni? Macam mana nak percaya as a witness!

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written by malgal, July 28, 2010 08:33:12

does the same rule for ethics govern all levels of authority in the country?

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written by batsman, July 28, 2010 08:30:40

The big question is not whether they had sex (which is itself very serious), but was she coaching the witness? Did she make use of his vulnerability to coach him? Is he putty in her hands? This is getting more and more interesting.

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written by malsia1206, July 28, 2010 08:15:50

The overall perception is the AG has been prosecuting selectively. And the affected prosecutions are suspected to be heavily linked to UMNO interests. So who are we to tell or teach them ethics when they are not even known to be impartial with their selective prosecution? For that matter, I am not even so sure 'ethics' exist in their vocabulary or mindset.

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written by educationist, July 28, 2010 07:37:57

The Bar Council President has explained the issue quite clearly.
Of course, most of us don't expect the AG to understand.
He plays by his own rules.
Sankara has stated that under the law Shitfool cannot be given any advantage.
This is the crucial point.

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written by Mestizo, July 28, 2010 07:33:14

I fully support an investigation on this and if found guilty action should be taken again the DPP. Before that, I would also want to know why until now why Lingam, Eusoff Chin and Ahmad Fairuz are not charge in court following the findings and recommendation of the Royal Commission.

The problem with our judiciary is that it has been tarnished by several individuals but no action taken against them. As a result of that, judiciary will be perceived as non independent. Saiful-Farah affair only made matter worse.

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written by Prince of India, July 28, 2010 07:11:17

I too agree with the Bar Council Ragu whereby when I were in the Shah Alam courts for prosecution witness,Tun Majid and me accidentally in the wash room for smoking,suddenly Tun Majid told me public shouldn' t see both of us together than I realise what he told me were logic,if media saw us ,make it public than all court process will become laughter stock. Here the star witness sleeping with prosecution team what a kangroo court .Pete post the second picture if saiful deny his wrongdoing.go.........Ghani ........what type AG you are ....................laughable....................stock..........................

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written by eloofk, July 28, 2010 06:45:36

By looking at this lawyer who doesnt know the ethical nature of her job will tell us how our universities are producing lawyers.

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written by my oumrie, July 28, 2010 06:31:18

Wake up, Shariah Office! Why aren't you banging on Saiful's door and also on Farah Azlina Latif's door to cite them for Zinah? What did you say....no witnesses? What's the difference? Most of your zinah or khalwat cases also got no real actual witnesses. They only thing your officers see when the door is open is the couple is in the state of undress - not the actual act, but still kena tangkap. So, go ahead lah.....tangkap the two culprits. Why don't you, huh?! What did you say..... they have friends in "high" places ke? PTUI!