'What a circus and yet what can be done? It reminds one of what Saddam Hussein once and it is fast becoming a reality now in Malaysia.’

Anwar's trial: Application to disqualify judge

Smeagol: What a circus and yet what can be done? This country is being run by warlords. This reminds me of what Saddam Hussein once said: ‘The law is what I write on a piece of paper’. This is fast becoming a reality now in Malaysia.

C Liew: Just because the Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah did not agree with the defence on  preliminary issues does not mean he should be accused of bias. Otherwise, all litigants can accuse judges of bias halfway through trial. But I do hope that Karpal Singh will not be cited for contempt for this.

P Dev Anand Pillai: The judge must be fair whether the defendant is a serial rapist or a child molester. If he or she shows tendencies of being biassed, criminal lawyers worth their salt would not allow such a judge to continue presiding over their cases.

Otherwise, it’s a matter of repeating a lie continuously until listeners take it to be the truth. With Malaysians so susceptible to indoctrination, most will believe such lies.

Tey Khang Fai: I wonder why such a learned judge could just ignore such facts and not cite ‘Utusan Malaysia’ for contempt. It’s like tampering with exhibits. Can a judge can be silent on such a matter?        

Wira: I cannot understand why ‘Utusan Malaysia’ was let off with false reporting without even a word of caution by the sitting judge even though attention was brought to the ‘Yang Arif.’ If justice is not seen to be done by the court, then there is no justice in this trial.

Louis: Aren’t judge supposed to act fairly and sworn to uphold justice? If they cannot keep to the principles of law, it would be more honourable to resign. They are answerable to the rakyat, not their political masters.

Arul Inthirarajah:

Has the late Augustine Paul's spirit possessed this judge?

Multi Racial: Even after what was discovered during the royal commission on the VK Linggam video, there has been no action. Imagine that - found wrong by the a royal commission, yet nothing done. How are we going to expect justice in this case?

Kgen: The defence lawyers can easily tear Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's testimony apart. His story and behaviour have so many inconsistencies and unreasonable human behaviour that he expects us to believe.

Singa Pura Pura:

Look at the manner in which one mainstream paper strung its headline: ‘Sodomy II: Anwar tries to get judge disqualified.’ That’s not a completely neutral nor factual. The fact was that Anwar applied to disqualify the trial judge.

Hence, an honest and integral headline would be: ‘Anwar applies to disqualify judge’. The latter headline doesn’t imply that Anwar is desperately ‘trying’ to evade the trial.

The other headlines read: ‘I idolised Anwar, says Saiful,’ ‘Protest plan draws only 30 supporters,’ ‘Anwar hit on me at condo, says Saiful,’ ‘Sodomy II: Trial begins with 'indecent proposal.’ All are calculated to insinuate and prejudice.

This is shameful journalism at its ringing crescendo. Newspapers have enormous power. They are the fourth pillar of the state. The responsibility of national newspapers is even more onerous.

To see once-respected newspapers descend to such depths of journalistic depravity bleeds the Malaysian soul. Where’s their integrity and self-respect?

On the independence of judges

CT TEO:

Coming just before the Federal Court ruling on the Perak menteri besar this piece by NH Chan does not bode very well. Yet, facts are facts - whether you speak of them today or tomorrow, the ideals of an independent judge remain the same.

Bosco Philip Anthony:

All that our judges have to do is to follow the Corpus Juris Civilis which simply calls for each man to be given his due. If they cannot faithfully do that, than they should resign.

        

Cala: Malaysia has a long way to go before we come up to mark as exemplified by England. Why? Three necessary conditions are not present here:

i Ours is not a two-party system;

ii Are our judges independent of the executive?

iii) We did not have in our history the equivalent of England’s kings who terrorised their subjects.