Parliament: Looking for volunteers to prosecute Lingam

(The Star) – The Prime Minister’s Department is looking for volunteers to prosecute controversial lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam who was featured allegedly brokering the appointment of judges in a video clip.

“Find anyone who can provide me a section in law to charge Lingam and we will do it,” Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz told reporters at the Parliament lobby on Tuesday.

“I will speak to the Attorney-General if someone is willing to prosecute him. (DAP chairman) Karpal Singh can also prosecute Lingam. This is not the first time we let someone outside the Attorney-Genera’s Chambers to do so.

“Look at the Teoh Beng Hock case — lawyer Tan Hock Chuan is handling the inquest for the A-G,” he said, adding that everyone knew it was Lingam in the videoclip but claimed that he was probably morally wrong but not wrong legally.

Nazri was quoted last week as saying that Lingam had not broken the law for allegedly lobbying for the appointment of judges and that there was no provision in the law to say that those caught doing so had committed an illegal act.

In a video released in 2007, Lingam was engaged in a telephone conversation where he appeared to be brokering the appointment of senior judges.

The Government set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate Lingam and others implicated in the video, including former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan.

The Royal Commission found that wrongdoings had been committed and listed the laws that were breached, recommending further action against the individuals involved.