Silence is a very “safe choice”, CJ?

here is my friend, martin jalleh’s latest article. i am not putting a link, as i promised myself to put up his whole article in my blog.

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Silence is a very “safe choice”, CJ?

A day after the former PM crowned him the highest ranking judge in the country, Chief Justice (CJ)Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim spoke of creating “a system that is very transparent”.

He even went on to make a clarion call to members of the public who seek justice, to write to him personally (Star, 18 March, 2003).

In the days that followed his ascension, he made it dramatically clear to the public that he would not allow the integrity and independence of the judiciary to be compromised.

He was fully in charge. He was going to continue the road to judicial rejuvenation. Things would change for the better. Justice would not be delayed nor denied.

Against this background it is difficult to understand, and even unacceptable, how the CJ could allow the “scandalous” saga over Anwar Ibrahim’s bail application to continue.

How could the CJ remain silent when three judges of such high position have taken so long over such a simple application that one magistrate could possibly take three or 30 minutes to decide?

As Anwar has so rightly pointed out in a press statement: “This is an issue that is so basic that even a magistrate can dispense expeditiously as a matter of course. ”

How could the CJ keep mum when the presiding judge P. S. Gill has very evidently failed to keep his word that a verdict on the bail application would be given “as soon as possible”?

How could the CJ accept in silence the fact that the delay by the Court of Appeal is a breach of a directive that judgments be issued six weeks after the arguments have concluded?

What has happened to the “efficient judicial system” which he had initially promised? Why must the the Court of Appeal delay till Dec 8 to allow Anwar’s lawyers to submit fresh arguments to his bail application?

The CJ is very familiar with the application. He had to intervene when Anwar’s lawyers met him in chambers after P. S. Gill and his colleagues refused to reconvene to hear Anwar and Sukma’s oral bail application, in spite of them having promised to do so earlier.

Surely he would have heard of how for the first time in a Malaysian court three judges of the Court of Appeal were booed as they left the crowded courtroom.

The prisoner of Sg. Buloh has written two letters (which have been made public) to the Chief Justice personally seeking justice but sad to say till this day the CJ chooses to be cloistered in silence.

His silence and the inferred consent to the judicial circus surrounding Anwar Ibrahim’s application for bail is definitely not in consonance with his maiden message. It in fact reduces his initial resolve to mere judicial chicanery.

Many members of the public share the sentiments of Anwar Ibrahim: “It is so tragic that judges of the Superior Court lack the moral courage to honour their oath of office, uphold the rule of law and to stand up for what’s right…I must express my abhorrence in the manner in which my application for bail is treated by the Court of Appeal. ”

Justice delayed is justice denied. Very regrettably, and according to public perception, when it comes to Anwar Ibrahim, the courts’ tendency have been to delay and deny him freedom and to keep him in jail as long as possible.

The Chief Justice should not allow such a denial of justice to continue. He should ensure that the question of bail be settled without further delay.

Come this Hari Raya and it would be four long months since Justices P. S. Gill, Richard Malanjum and Hashim Yusoff promised to give Anwar Ibrahim a decision on his bail application — and have to date failed to do so.

The Chief Justice must know that in serving the cause of justice there is no place for those who play safe by keeping quiet. His continued silence gives credence to the court of public opinion that it is one of “quiet subservience”.

May Anwar Ibrahim see justice this Hari Raya and may the Chief Justice act to ensure that justice is done and seen to be done.

Martin Jalleh
18 Nov 2003