The Judiciary hasn’t really changed: THE CASE OF ROSLI DAHLAN
DIN MERICAN
When Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of Sodomy II on January 9, there was stunned reaction nationwide. Numerous interpretations came about, not least that this was the Politics of the Prosecution (or “Persecution” to be more apt).
Senior Lawyer Tommy Thomas wrote a most eloquent piece titled “Why was Anwar Ibrahim acquitted?” and suggested that Sodomy II was all about politics, and nothing but politics. That this was gutter politics of a new meaning where no political leaders across the globe had been the victim of such dirty state politics as Anwar.
Thus, the decision to acquit Anwar was about the Politics of Acquittal, that the trial judge did not actually make the decision himself, but it was in reality a political decision. That is the perception of most Malaysians (including lawyers) that in “political” cases the Courts are not independent of the Executive.
Tommy Thomas suggested that one way to analyse judicial independence is by reviewing the trial judge’s overall conduct and he concluded that the judge’s acquittal was a U-turn of massive proportions which contradicted all his prior rulings against Anwar during the trial.
Malaysians shouldn’t be euphoric in heralding the dawn of a new era in judicial independence and that “Anwar’s acquittal will not be the harbinger of better things to come from the judiciary. One swallow does not make a summer!”
The Case of Rosli Dahlan: Gross Injustice and Victimisation of a Professional
That was indeed just one swallow if we are to judge the judiciary by the case of my dear young friend Lawyer Rosli Dahlan. Readers would remember that the MACC brutalised Rosli for defending Dato Ramli Yusuff, the former CCID Director, who was fixed by the Unholy Trinity- former IGP Musa Hassan, the MACC and AG Gani Patail.
Dato Ramli Yusuff and Rosli Dahlan had exposed Musa Hassan’s complicity in the Ah Long syndicate and also the Malaysian Airline Systems (MAS) Scandal involving its former chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli. Both Ramli and Rosli were fixed so that these matters can be canned.
Recently, the MAS Scandal resurfaced when Minister in the PM’s Dept, Dato Seri Nazri Aziz, directed several GLCs including MAS to sack their lawyers and appoint the UMNO lawyer Datuk Hafarizam Harun (see the BN and UMNO logos proudly displayed on this firm’s website at: http://hafazmir.com/v2/) so that the cases against Tajudin can be closed.
