Sacked Keadilan Youth secretary Lokman Noor Adam said he has no intention of attending a party inquiry scheduled for today to determine if he should remain a supreme council member.

Saying he has no faith in the proceedings, he told malaysiakini this morning that he will instead take his case to the public to highlight " corrupt practices " by certain party leaders if he is dropped by the party.

He claimed that these leaders have mismanaged the party's coffers.

"I have no doubt that the party will lose all credibility if the so-called independent investigation committee decides to sack me," he said.

"I foresee that I will not get any support from party members but I am confident that reformasi activists are behind me as they too do not want to see the party filled with corrupt leaders."

On Jan 26, Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor sacked Lokman as youth secretary for allegedly urging party members to defect to Umno - an allegation which Lokman had repeatedly denied.

Ezam's decision was upheld by the party supreme council which also suspended Lokman as supreme council member pending investigation by the committee comprising deputy president Abdul Rahman Othman, vice-president Tian Chua and treasurer Kamarul Baharin Abbas.

The committee confirmed that Ezam presented his case and called witnesses to testify before the committee yesterday. Lokman has been given until this afternoon to respond.

Doubts about committee

However, Lokman said he does not believe that the committee will give him a fair hearing.

"The members chosen should not be in the committee as they were among those who had decided against me on Jan 26. If the party is really sincere in giving me a fair hearing, then they should get people from outside the supreme council," he said.

He also said the appointment of Abdul Rahman, Tian Chua and Kamarul had breached the party constitution which provides that any inquiry into the conduct of supreme council member must be done by non-council members.

Lokman also claimed that he had been sabotaged by vice-president Azmin Ali, who allegedly persuaded his (Lokman's) three main witnesses against providing documentary evidence.

"They were supposed to hand over the documents to me yesterday at 9pm but when I called them, they said they would meet me later as they had to visit someone in a hospital," Lokman alleged.

"But when I went for dinner at Ampang Point, I saw the three entering a restaurant with Azmin. The meeting was held between 8.45pm and 11.15pm.

"I called my reformasi friends to witness the meeting because I suspected that something was wrong. My suspicion was proven right when the three called to say that they are no longer with me."

He said those who witnessed the alleged meeting were Bukit Bintang Youth chief Norzaidi Jantan and reformasi activists Jamil Ismail JK, Norazimah Mohd Nor, Norhalim Aziz and Ahmad Sultan.

Azmin could not be contacted despite repeated attempts by malaysiakini .

Deadline extended

When contacted, Tian Chua said the committee had extended the noon deadline for Lokman's response until later today.

"We don't want to too strict on this. We want to hear what he has to say. He has made a lot of allegations about fund mismanagement by certain party leaders to the media but has never presented his case to us," Tian Chua said.

He said he was aware of Lokman's protest of the investigation committee, but also said Lokman would have to back his fears that he will not receive a fair hearing.

"Instead of talking to the press, he should talk to us...tell us why he thinks that we cannot be fair. Only then can the committee consider his complaint. Until then, there is nothing the committee can do about it."