Nazri would have been arrested and charged for serious offences including contempt of court for saying what he said about the KL High Court judgment on the Allah issue if he is in Pakatan Rakyat
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz would have been arrested and charged for serious offences including contempt of court for saying what he said about the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment on the Allah issue if he is in the Pakatan Rakyat.
By Lim Kit Siang
Every informed observer, whether Malaysian or foreigner, would be struck by the sharp contrast in such treatment with the swift police action to investigate the Penang Chief Minister and DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng for sedition over his expression of the national sentiment about the death of Teoh Beng Hock at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Shah Alam as being caused by murder as well as the unexceptional call by the DAP Selangor State Chairman and Selangor Executive Councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah on the police to stop its baseless investigation of Guan Eng.
I am not suggesting that Nazri should be arrested and charged in court for his statement about the judgment of High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan but to question how Malaysia is to restore national and international confidence in institutional competence, independence, professionalism and integrity – which is a major cause of Malaysia’s losing out in international competitiveness – if the key national institutions continue to behave in utter disregard of basic national standards and international benchmarks.
Nazri said High Court judge Lau was wrong in making the ruling that Catholics could use the word “Allah” in their weekly publication Herald, arguing that the judicial review was supposed to be on whether the Home Minister had the power to impose the ban, not on whether non-Muslims should be allowed to use the word “Allah”.
He said: “The Home Minister was definitely acting within his powers in exercising the ban, in view of public interest and sensitivities in order to avoid public unrest over the matter.”
Is it proper for Nazri, who is the de facto Minister for Law whose jurisdiction covers the judiciary, to so publicly venture his views on an ongoing legal case, as it could be construed as improper attempt to influence the appellate process against the High Court judgment by a Minister having oversight over the judiciary?
