Rosli Dahlan – Verdict by the Court of Public Opinion
by Din Merican
On Monday December 20, Lawyer Rosli Dahlan will be in the dock of the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to be adjudged whether he is guilty or innocent of the charge brought against him by A-G Gani Patail using the MACC. That will be the verdict by a court of law.
I have attended Rosli Dahlan’s trial from Day 1 until it ended. I know the charge, I know the facts, I have seen the MACC witnesses in action giving evidence ,and I have heard the MACC DPPs delivering their submissions. I will now pronounce this verdict by the court of public opinion.
The Accused: A Well regarded and respected Lawyer Rosli Dahlan
The accused, Rosli Dahlan, was from the 1st Batch of the law graduates of the International Islamic University (IIU). He read law and was personally tutored by the much respected and admired late Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Ahmad Ibrahim. He was taught Islamic ethics by the Distinguished Professor Tan Sri Kamal Hassan. He is thus imbued with a strong sense of respect for the Rule of Law and Islamic ethics of Amr Ma’ruf Nahy Munkar (Enjoin Good Forbid Evil). He believes in truth and justice and Ukhuwah Islamiyah (Islamic Brotherhood or camaraderie).
He is married with three children and has strong family values. He is active in the neighbourhood mosques activities and orphanage foundations which he provides legal advice and assists in fund raising.
He runs a highly successful private law practice beginning with a very old distinguished firm called Allen & Gledhill which then merged to be a much more successful bigger firm known as Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill which is regarded as one of the premier firms in Malaysia.
Lawyer Rosli is known to be a highly disciplined professional acting without fear or favour. Prior to this charge, he has never been cited for any disciplinary misconduct or for any offence. He is a senior member of the Bar and is well regarded by his peers and adversaries alike. Until this incident, he was viewed by the banks as someone of good credit standing.
The Accuser: Anthony Kevin Morais
The accuser is Senior DPP cum Assistant Director of Legal & Prosecution MACC, Anthony Kevin Morais. He prefers to use his second name as his first and thus he is called Kevin rather than Anthony. Kevin regards himself as learned in the law with wide powers conferred on him by the MACC Act and its predecessor legislations. Kevin does not like to be questioned as to his decision making, a trait passed down from the At-G General Gani Patail himself. The philosophy of power that this higher echelon of the A-G’s Chambers subscribe to is that “We command, you abide”.
Kevin Morais is a dapper dresser and is very well groomed, putting to shame some of the shabby looking lady DPPs.
He looks rather youthful for his age. He is a dapper dresser and is very well groomed, putting to shame some of the shabby looking lady DPPs. He powders his face, puts on mascara, rouge and lip gloss when he is in court with well manicured finger nails. With such attention to personal vanity, he looks even more attractive outside of office hours.
Kevin’s sexual orientation is unknown although Malaysia Today’s report out of London suggests that he has an older English boyfriend whom he spent time with last Christmas. He is unmarried, and it is doubtful if he ever will, at least not in Malaysia. As such, there is nothing to be said of his family values.
Although born a Catholic, his present lifestyle would invite ex-communication by the Pope in the Vatican. Because of the predominant number of Malays in the Legal and Judicial Service, his flair of the English language places him amongst the more competent government lawyers. Thus he interprets the law as he wants to, and not as how it should be.
Mr “Irrelevant” is now in eternal repose
Kevin hopes to be a Judge one day to fill in the vacuum left by another Indian Judge with an English sounding name, Justice Augustine Paul, whose eminence was in ruling every piece of defence evidence in Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy I as “Irrelevant”. Consequently, the Good Lord rendered him irrelevant by recalling him to permanent abode six feet underground.
The Background Facts
Life was all sunshine and rosy for Rosli Dahlan – he had a good happy family, his firm had expanded, his practice was flourishing. Nothing, it seemed, could have gone wrong, that was until Rosli decided to defend his friend, the former Director of Commercial Crimes Investigations Dept (CCID), Commissioner of Police Dato’ Ramli Yusuff. Since 2006, Ramli was targeted to be eliminated from PDRM by former IGP Musa Hassan and by A-G Gani Patail.
