COMMENT | Before former Selangor menteri besar Khir Toyo was sentenced on his corruption charge in 2015, his lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, made an impassioned plea to the court.

That his client would do community service by providing free dental care to the poor three days a week for two years.

Having investigated and exposed several shenanigans under Khir’s watch for about 10 years, I disagreed, saying leniency sets a dangerous precedent - allowing a high-profile politician convicted of major corruption to avoid jail time by cleaning teeth would make a mockery of the justice system.

The punishment, I had then argued in my regular column, must fit the crime. I asserted that white-collar criminals and corrupt politicians should not be given soft alternative punishments that are unavailable to ordinary citizens caught stealing small sums.

At the sentencing hearing, Shafee complained to the Federal Court judges: “Two articles - a commentary by R Nadeswaran titled ‘Truth, nothing but the truth’ and an editorial titled ‘Don't do the crime, if you can’t do the time’ - were prejudicial to my client.”

He argued that by...