Lawyer Wee Choo Keong wants action to be taken against four parties for allegedly violated his fundamental rights in the wake of the infamous 'Lingam tape' controversy.

The quartet are senior lawyer VK Lingam, Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, de facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and the Malaysian government.

They were named in a complaint by Wee - whose name was brought up in the tape - submitted to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

"I would like to make it crystal clear that I am not lodging this complaint to Suhakam in connection with the result of the 1995 election petition where Ahmad Fairuz sat as an election judge and disqualified me as a member of Parliament.

"My only complaint to Suhakam is about the conduct of the parties involved in the famous video clip," Wee said in a statement distributed to reporters at the Suhakam office this morning.

The lawyer, among others, claimed there was conspiracy involved to violate his basis rights such as equality and liberty provided under several provisions in the Federal Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Controversial decision

The former Bukit Bintang MP's name was mentioned in the eight-minute clip, said to be recorded in 2002 and showed Lingam talking on the phone purportedly with Ahmad Fairuz over the appointment of 'friendly' judges.

Ahmad Fairuz, who has since denied his involvement, was the Chief Judge of Malaya then.

Towards the end of the conversation, Lingam was recorded as saying: "You have suffered... so much you have done, for the election, Wee Choo Keong, everything."

Ahmad Fairuz, who was sitting as an election court judge following the 1995 general election, upheld an election petition contesting Wee's victory for the Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat under a DAP ticket.

Instead of calling for a by-election, Ahmad Fairuz ruled that Wee's opponent, Barisan Nasional candidate Dr Lee Chong Meng, be declared the winner.

The decision of an election court at that time was final and not appealable. Wee, meanwhile, has since left the DAP and founded the Malaysian Democratic Party of which he is secretary-general.

List of rights violations

In his complaint today, Wee accused Lingam and Ahmad Fairuz of having "conspired and acted illegally" to deprive his human rights - in referring to his election petition decision - under Article 8 that provided for equality.

He also alleged that Ahmad Fairuz and Nazri have acted unlawfully when the former issued a denial through the de facto law minister on his involvement in the clip as Wee argued that tantamount to infringing the separation of powers framework.

This, he said, was an infringement of his rights under Articles 5 (liberty of the person) and 8 of the Federal Constitution.

The lawyer also claimed Nazri and the government have denied him to be treated equally when they failed to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to inquire into issues raised in the clip but formed a three-man panel which has no legal authority.

Being a member state of the United Nations, the government's failure to act on the matter has also breached the provisions in the United Nation Charter and therefore infringed his rights, argued Wee.

Suhakam commissioner N Siva Subramaniam was present to receive the complaint. He said the matter would be discussed in the commissioners' monthly meeting.

The eight-minute clip has prompted outrage in the legal fraternity and among the public, who demanded a thorough probe through a Royal Commission of Inquiry - a request that has been turned down by the government.

SPECIAL REPORT: The Lingam tape