Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Video Clip

The Royal Commission of Inquiry Into the V.K. Lingam Video Clip was formed in late 2007 to investigate into an allegation of illegal intervention into the judicial appointment process of Malaysian judges purportedly occurred in 2002. The formation of the commission was a follow-up to a recommendation by a three-man panel which was tasked to determine the authenticity of a video clip of a telephone conversation that raised the allegation.

The allegation was first made public in September 2007 by former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim whom released a low quality video showing lawyer V.K. Lingam allegedly talking to former Chief Judge of Malaya Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim about the appointment of the latter into the office of Chief Justice of the Federal Court. Ahmad Fairuz retired as the Chief Justice of the Federal Court in late 2007 after his tender was not renewed due to objection from the Conference of Rulers.

Proceedings

The Royal Commission began with the purpose of investigating the purported tampering in the appointment of judges following the release of a widely circulated (including on YouTube) eight-minute video clip featuring what appears to be a well-connected senior lawyer, V.K. Lingam, purportedly discussing promotions and factionalism among senior judges over the phone with Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, the number 3 judge in the country at the time the clip was recorded on a mobile phone in 2002. Lingam is also seen apparently talking to Fairuz about the latter's own rise within the judiciary. At the time the video was released on September 19, 2007,

Ahmad Fairuz was already the Chief Justice of Malaysia, but his four-year tenure as Chief Justice was due to expire October 31, 2007. His tenure was not extended, and his post was taken over by Abdul Hamid Mohamad. The lawyer is also heard saying that he had discussed the judiciary with tycoon Vincent Tan and another prominent ruling party politician - both regarded as intermediaries to then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The conversation suggests that certain top judges are closely connected with the country's top leaders via political intermediaries and business cronies. The minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Nazri Abdul Aziz, has said that the judge implicated in the video clip had called him to deny that he was the one talking to the lawyer.

On January 15, 2008 the Royal Commission began their inquiry of a the video that alleges political interference in judicial appointments and the manipulation of high-profile cases. On January 17, 2008 Mahathir was brought before a Royal Commission that look the manipulation of top judicial appointments during his admnistration, a scandal that has cast doubts about the independence of Malaysia's judiciary. He was made to testify before a government inquiry into a secretly recorded video clip that showed a man believed to be a prominent lawyer, V. K. Lingam, boasting that he could get key judicial appointments made with Mahathir's help. Throughout the inquiry Mahathir feign ignorance and forgot key timelines. Continuing with the inquiries, former Chief Justice of Malaysia Tun Mohamed Eusoff Chin was called before the Commission whereby he denied he was a close acquiantance of the lawyer V.K. Lingam even though he took a vacation with him to New Zealand.

Lingam was also called before the Royal Commission, where he claim he did not recall the phone conversation he made to Ahmad Fairuz. He said he might have been drunk at that time and denied he had ever tried to influence judicial appointments. Vincent Tan who was next was questioned about his influence on former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad and he denied that he ever discussed judicial appointments with Mahathir. He rebutted Mahathir's claims that he might have consulted with Tan over judicial appointments.

A new revelation appeared showing PKR President Anwar Ibrahim releasing a third video clip purportedly showing Lingam talking about having dinner with and buying an expensive gift for former Chief Justice Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah. Anwar said he was disappointed the Royal Commission which focused solely on the fixing of judges and did not allow evidence that court decisions had also been fixed. Anwar also claimed that there was a third video clip that implicated more judges in the judiciary.

Terms of reference

The Commission had a specific scope it had to explore. The scope includes:

• to certify the authenticity of the clip
• to identify the participants of the telephone conversation as well as persons mentioned in the conversation
• to ascertain the truth of the content of the conversation
• to determine whether the participants of the conversation as well as names mentioned committed any wrongdoing
• to recommend action against the participants of the conversation as well as names mentioned.

Results from the Commission

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip has found that it was former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim who was talking to prominent lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam on the telephone. Sources said the five-man panel also found that the video clip was authentic and that the conversation was true in substance. They said the commission also found that it was lawyer Loh Mui Fah who Lingam was speaking to after his telephone conversation with Fairuz. Commission chairman Tan Sri Haidar Mohamed Noor presented a two-volume report on the findings to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin at the Istana Negara on May 9 2008.

The observation made in the report by the Royal Commission was that former deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan had direct influence in the appointment and promotion of judges. The commission also doubted the evidence given by the two in the inquiry as they had made bare denials to penetrating questions posed by lawyers who appeared for interested parties. The report also noted that there was basis for a probe by investigation agencies on the alleged close links between Lingam and another former chief justice, Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin, who held the position from 1994 to 2000.

It was also agreed that the findings of the Royal Commission will be made public after the Malaysian Cabinet made this decision in its meeting today and has also directed the Attorney-General's Chambers to conduct investigations into the various allegations made in the report.

The Royal Commission said that the evidence presented and chronology of the judicial appointments being discussed in the video clip proved that:

• It was prominent lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam on the telephone in the clip,
• It was former Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim on the other end of the line, and
• The process of judicial appointments was open to manipulation by the Executive and private citizens.
• It was a joint operation of Lingam, Tengku Adnan and business tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan as persons responsible for ensuring the late Tan Sri Dr Abdul Malek Ahmad did not become Chief Judge of Malaya

Further evidence

According to Loh Gwo Burne, the person who took videotape the incriminating the VK Lingam video clip shown to the Royal Commission of Inquiry, what was shown was only 20% to 30% of what was recorded that night at the prominent lawyer’s house in December 2001. He mentioned that there is a disk located somewhere in China containing the complete recording segments named VK1, VK2 and others. Most of what was made public was from the first segment of VK1. Loh said he made three copies from the videotape. One copy was in China, the other he could not remember where he had kept it and the third was given to the late lawyer Manjit Singh.

Loh remembered that Lingam had mentioned about how he had manipulated cases to his advantage by using certain lawyers against certain judges to make sure the judgments would be in his favour. Loh said he was so disturbed that something was terribly wrong with the judiciary that he decided there was no more freedom in the courts and was initially keen on pursuing a career as a lawyer who fought against corruption. Dispite, the sufficiet qualification with a degreed in Law and master in law in China. Thus, he discontinue into other profession instead.

Membership

The 5-person commission was chaired by former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohamed Noor. The other four members were former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim Lip Kiong, former Solicitor-General Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh, historian Khoo Kay Kim and retired Court of Appeal Judge Mahadev Shankar.

Members of the commission were appointed by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

See also

Courts of Malaysia