Transparency-International Malaysia (TI-M) has joined the Bar Council in calling for an independent commission to probe the video clip showing senior lawyer VK Lingam on the phone allegedly with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

The clip "calls to question the independence of the judiciary" and "cries out for explanations and accountability to the Malaysian public," said TI-M president Dr Ramon Navaratnam in a statement.

"The integrity, accountability and transparency of our government and the judiciary will be open to speculation and even erosion of public confidence if this video clip is not treated with the seriousness and utmost priority that it deserves," Ramon said.

"Public opinion at home and abroad will be adversely affected if prompt action is not taken to safeguard the integrity, accountability and transparency of our country's judicial system," he added.

"Domestic and foreign investment can also be adversely affected if justice is not seen to be done. All this can reduce our prospects for higher economic growth, better income distribution and greater progress, especially at this time of international economic slowdown."

'Clear the air'

Ramon is of the view that the appointment of a royal commission of inquiry for this grave danger and threat to judicial independence and the rule of law, will be in the spirit of the prime minister's oft repeated calls for greater transparency and good governance.

"We would therefore like to appeal to the government to clear the air once and for all and build public faith and confidence in our judicial system as one of the pillars of our democracy on this our 50th Merdeka anniversary," he said.

Ramon also called on the government to adopt the recommendations to promote judicial independence and accountability as advised in TI's Global Corruption Report on Judicial Systems released in early 2007.

"Amongst other recommendations, the report called for judicial and prosecutorial appointments and removals to be independent of the executive and legislative branches," he said.

The video clip was exposed by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday. It shows Lingam in a telephone conversation purportedly with Ahmad Fairuz.

The conversation surrounded fixing the appointments of 'friendly' senior judges.

The video clip, said to have been filmed in 2002, also revealed a discussion on Ahmad Fairuz's appointment as the chief justice of Malaya and chief justice, which took place in 2003.

Background to the Lingam tape

The grainy eight-minute video footage was taken in 2002 at senior lawyer VK Lingam's Kelana Jaya house. At that time, Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah was chief justice. Appointed in 2000, he was seen as a fresh break from his two previous predecessors - Mohd Eusoff Chin (1994-2000) and Abdul Hamid Omar (1988-1994).

Dzaiddin was to retire in 2003, and the video showed Lingam expressing concerned that the outgoing CJ was moving his 'men' into top judiciary posts. The conversation revolved around the urgent need to get Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, then chief judge of Malaya - the judiciary's No 3 - appointed as Court of Appeal president (No 2) and then chief justice (No 1). There was also the plan to get former attorney-general Mokhtar Abdullah, who was then a Federal Court judge, to replace Ahmad Fairuz as No 3.

To do that, Lingam had roped in tycoon Vincent Tan, a close crony of then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, a key minister in PM's Department. They were to talk to Mahathir on the appointment of judges.

Postscript

Ahmad Fairuz was appointed Court of Appeal president in December 2002 - months after the telephone conversation. Dzaiddin stepped down as CJ in 2003 and he was replaced by Ahmad Fairuz. Mokhtar, however, could not take the No 3 post as he was in coma after suffering from a fall in August 2002. He died in 2003. Ahmad Fairuz' term as CJ will end in October 2007.

Watch the 8-minute video here

Transcript of Lingam's conversation with Ahmad Fairuz