The Steering Committee to Free the Judiciary, a coalition of human rights organisations, has drawn up its list of those who should be made to testify before the royal commission of inquiry into the ‘Lingam tape’ .

Those implicated by senior lawyer VK Lingam in alleged brokering to appoint or promote ‘friendly’ judges are among the 12 persons named (see chart).

They include former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former chief justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, business tycoon Vincent Tan and lawyer Wee Choo Keong who was disqualified by an election petition after winning the Bukit Bintang parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur in the 1995 general election.

Others are Lingam himself, his estranged brother V Thirunama Karasu and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim who released the video recording on Sept 19 last year.

It also wants the telephone companies involved in the recorded conversation to be summoned to provide evidence.

The video recording of Lingam’s telephone conversation, said to have been made in 2002, sparked public outcry over the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

The steering committee challenged the royal commission head, former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohamed Noor, over his refusal to name the 16 witnesses who will be called up.

“There should be no secrecy in such an important and landmark public event and ... there is unlikely to be any real risk of witness tampering,” the coalition said in a statement today.

The coalition also suggested that interested and relevant persons be invited to testify including former judges who have been vocal about issues of judicial corruption and misconduct.

Some of those it recommended are former Lord President Salleh Abas, former Court of Appeal Judge Shaik Daud Ismail and former High Court Judge Syed Ahmad Idid.

It also supported calls for the Bar Council to play a more active role in the proceedings, rather than be limited to the role of observer.

Two-week inquiry

Bernama had earlier reported that the royal commission’s witness list was drawn up by Nordin Hassan and Azmi Ariffin, who are deputy heads of prosecution in the Attorney-General's Chambers.

The list was scrutinised by the five-member commission , which also comprises former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Steve Shim, former Court of Appeal Judge Mahadev Shankar, former Solicitor-general Zaitun Zawiyah Puteh and Suhakam commissioner Prof Khoo Kay Kim.

Haidar has already said the commission will not call all those mentioned in the video clip to testify.

It will not probe allegations of judicial corruption raised by Thirunama ( photo ) as this is beyond the terms of reference, but he may approach the commission with relevant evidence.

Haidar, who had chaired an initial panel of inquiry to determine the authenticity of the video clip, has expressed hope for cooperation.

“I hope members of the public will come forward, especially the person who made the recording. He should help us and make our work easier,” he said.

The commission is set to begin its two-week inquiry on Monday and has until March 11 to submit its report.

Four witnesses might be called each day, depending on the length of their testimony, Haidar added, and it is possible the inquiry might be completed earlier than scheduled..