COA judge can file police report to seek protection - minister
If Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer feels threatened over claims of judicial impropriety that he made in an affidavit last week, he can lodge a police report to seek increased security, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong.
"As a judge, I think he has security with him. If he feels his life has been threatened, then he has the right to lodge a police report and the police can investigate...
If Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer feels threatened over claims of judicial impropriety that he made in an affidavit last week, he can lodge a police report to seek increased security, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Liew Vui Keong.
"As a judge, I think he has security with him. If he feels his life has been threatened, then he has the right to lodge a police report and the police can investigate.
"If there is truth to what he said, they can provide security and protection for him," Liew said to reporters after attending the Women's Political Leadership Conference 2019 in Parliament today.
His statement echoes that of Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who had earlier advised the judge to lodge a report with the relevant authorities to seek protection.
Muhyiddin had said on Saturday that Putrajaya has yet to decide whether it will provide protection for Hamid.
Last Thursday, Hamid (photo) claimed that certain members of the judiciary have been aiding private parties to defraud the government.
He mentioned this in an affidavit filed on the same day, which supported lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo's application to declare that the chief justice failed to defend the integrity and credibility of the judiciary over two alleged incidents of judicial interference.
The act of defrauding, he claimed, was done through nominees of politicians creating contracts with the government.
In the affidavit, Hamid repeatedly stressed the need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to look into this matter.
Since then, various parties have joined the call to form an RCI to probe the issue, including the Malaysian Bar Council, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) and other legal experts and politicians.
On a separate issue, Liew, who is the de facto law minister, said investigations into cases involving members of the Pakatan Harapan administration were ongoing.
"The investigation will have to be carried out and reports have been lodged.
"The investigation is in the hands of the police. We cannot interfere, we do not interfere and we will never interfere.
"We leave it to the police," he said.
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