KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Putrajaya must move to restore the honour of former High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Idid who wrote an anonymous letter in 1996 detailing a long list of alleged corruption and abuse of power in the judiciary, Lim Kit Siang said today.
The DAP veteran said Syed Ahmad — whose exposé led to his dismissal as a judge — was vindicated by retired Court of Appeal judge Justice KC Vohrah’s revelation last year of an alleged attempt by former Chief Justice Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin to influence the outcome of a case in 1995.
Lim claimed that Syed Ahmad’s allegations of a tainted judiciary nearly two decades ago still ring true today, especially after the Federal Court unanimously convicted Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of sodomy, and sent two former police commandos to the gallows for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu without establishing a motive or who ordered the killing.
The judiciary is doing itself no favour in the “dock of public opinion” by continuing to pass over Court of Appeal judge Justice Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Yunus for promotion, ostensibly for striking out Eusoff’s judgment in the 1995 Ayer Molek case, Lim added.
“If Syed Ahmad Idid’s whistleblowing in March 1996 had been heeded, resulting in thorough investigations and root-and-branch reform of the judiciary 19 years ago, Malaysian judges, lawyers and citizens would have been able to stand tall in the world today because we would have a judiciary nationally and internationally respected for its independence, integrity and quality!” Lim said in a statement.
In March 1996, a 33-page poison pen letter made its rounds detailing 112 allegations of corruption, abuse of power and misconduct against 12 judges at the Conference of Judges in Kuching.
It was eventually discovered that Syed Ahmad was the author of the letter, and he was told to resign.
Syed Ahmad later revealed in a 2006 interview with the New Straits Times that little was done about his allegations, despite his having “lost everything” for acting as a whistleblower.
