Feb 5 – Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne, who became famous for releasing the VK Lingam video clip back in 2007, has released a new clip that he says shows the judiciary to be susceptible to corruption.
The video was recorded by his father Mui Fah a few years ago, during a meeting with an accountant to discuss a civil case in which they are both involved.
Among others, the two-minute clip shows Mui Fah (photo) talking about the accountant’s relationship with a certain ‘W’, purportedly a senior judge.
“W you know very well. Your good friend! So you can ask W to help you,” suggests Mui Fah.
“Yeah… but no need. J is there! My good friend. J, my old wheeler-dealer broker,” replies the accountant.
The pseudonyms ‘W’ and ‘J’ are not heard in the video clip because the portions were bleeped out. Instead, the pseudonyms were provided in the transcripts distributed by Gwo Burne.
Gwo Burne admitted that his father had intentionally “fixed” the accountant as a form of insurance, after the accountant had earlier spoken of his friendship with a senior judge.
“As an insurance policy, wouldn’t you want to make sure that this time around you have actual evidence…? Would you say that to be a reasonable response? So… of course it’s fixed,” said Gwo Burne.
“As I mentioned earlier I set up things, of course it did not accidentally happen,” he said, admitting the accountant had no knowledge of the footage.
Mui Fah, however, said he is withholding the identity of the trio, pending action from the relevant authorities, but the details would be made known eventually and regardless of the action taken by the authorities.
“We have referred this issue to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, de facto Law Minister Nazri Aziz and Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria, but we have not sent the clip to them,” said the 63-year-old businessman.
Uncensored video clip to be released after Chinese New Year.
Mui Fah claimed they will release the uncensored video clip after the Chinese New Year, where the names of the judges and the identity of the accountant will be made known.
“They are both very senior judges, at least a high court judge,” he said, adding that one of them is a lawyer-turned-judge.
When asked about the release of the clip coinciding with the upcoming general election, Mui Fah brushed off the question, denying that they have a political motive.
He explained that there was a recent development which coincided with what had been claimed, prompting them to release the clip today.
Despite the judicial reforms by the government following the VK Lingam issue, Gwo Burne said he noted that malpractices in the system still take place, and perhaps what they have released was just the tip of iceberg.
“Like it or not, fixing of cases to the higher bidder still happens, justice in Malaysia can be bought and sold,” he said.
V.K.Lingam’s tape in 2007
In September 2007, PKR had released an explosive eight-minute video clip in which senior lawyer Lingam held a phone conversation purportedly with the then-chief justice, Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, allegedly fixing the appointment of ‘friendly’ senior judges.
This led to public outrage and the government finally agreed to set up a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into the Lingam tape to probe the allegation of judiciary fixing.
Following 17 days of hearings, the RCI’s report released in May 2008 recommended that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Lingam and four others be investigated.
The four are former chief justices Ahmad Fairuz and Eusoff Chin, Umno secretary-general and former minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and business tycoon Vincent Tan.
-MALAYSIAKINI
