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KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S judiciary, already tarnished by a judge-fixing scandal, is in the dock again after explosive allegations made in open court by the country's longest-serving High Court judge.
Justice Ian Chin claimed that former premier Mahathir Mohamad once threatened to sack judges if he was displeased with their rulings, prompting lawyers yesterday to demand a probe.
The judge also said that when Tun Dr Mahathir was prime minister, he sent judges to a 'boot camp' to indoctrinate them into delivering verdicts favourable to the government.
Justice Chin said he was targeted after he refused to give what he considered to be an 'astronomical award' in two libel cases in 1997.
He said that a judge who agreed with Dr Mahathir's views was promoted to the Federal Court.
At a judges' conference subsequently in April 1997, Dr Mahathir issued a 'thinly-veiled threat to remove judges' who delivered judgments that he was not happy with, Justice Chin claimed.
The accusations come hot on the heels of the findings of a royal commission on a controversial video clip, which revealed that Dr Mahathir was 'entangled' in a separate judicial conspiracy on the appointment of top judges.
Critics are already calling for the courts to review key judgments stretching back more than a decade over fears that government interference had affected decisions.
Justice Chin made the allegation on Monday at a Sarawak High Court, before hearing a dispute over the general election results in Sarawak.
'Now, though he is no longer the prime minister and so no longer able to carry out his threat to remove judges, the coalition party that he led is still around,' he was quoted as saying by the Borneo Post newspaper.
As punishment for not toeing the line, Justice Chin alleged that he was packed off to a five-day boot camp in May 1997 with several other judges and judicial officers, without elaborating further on the camp.
It was 'an attempt to indoctrinate those attending the boot camp to hold the view that the government interest (was) more important than all else when we are considering our judgment', he said.
On his blog yesterday, Dr Mahathir said he would 'refrain from commenting for now and will do so in due time'.
He added: 'However, I am quite curious about what Ian Chin considers a 'veiled threat'. Perhaps he could be more specific as his allegations are very serious.'
Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenavasan called for an inquiry into the allegations, calling them 'both startling and damning'.
'Judges, both present and past, must be encouraged to come forward and provide information on any such instances of interference so that further action may be taken,' she said in a statement.
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi yesterday rejected the call for an investigation, saying the government had already decided to reform the judiciary. Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim, echoing the Premier, said Justice Chin's claims were 'a bad reflection on our country and our judicial system, but we have to move on'.
hazlinh@sph.com.sg
JUDGES 'DO NOT RECALL THAT MAHATHIR THREAT', ASIA
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