Published: Thursday November 12, 2009 MYT 2:04:00 PM
Updated: Thursday November 12, 2009 MYT 2:48:20 PM

MACC panel wants to review the Lingam case (Update)

By M.KUMAR

kumar@thestar.com.my

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Operations Review Panel will seek permission from the Attorney-General to review the Datuk V.K. Lingam case.

Chairman Tan Sri Dr Hadenan Abdul Jalil said the panel would write to the AG’s Chambers to request that the case be tabled to the panel for review.

“The case is a matter of public interest and we who represent the public would like to be fully informed on the details of the case,” he said at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya on Thursday.

When asked whether if the panel would recommend that the case be reopened, Dr Hadenan said that it would review the case thoroughly before arriving at any conclusion.

The Operations Review Panel is one of the five panels set up following the re-structuring of the MACC early this year.

Its duties include reviewing MACC cases which have been under investigation for over 12 months, closed cases, and advising the MACC on its investigative operations.

“We are not apart of the MACC, the panel is there to look after the public’s interests,” said Dr Hadenan, a former Auditor-General.

The seven-member panel includes Datuk Dr Hamzah Kassim, Datuk Cecil Abraham, Datin Aminah Pit Abd Raman, Prof Dr Syed Noh Syed Ahmad, D. Walter Sandosam and Nik Mohd Hasyudeen Yusoff.

In a video released in 2007, Lingam was engaged in a telephone conversation where he appeared to be brokering the appointment of senior judges.

The Government set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate Lingam and others implicated in the video, including former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim and tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan.

The Royal Commission found that wrongdoings had been committed and listed the laws that were berached, recommending further action against the individuals involved.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said in Parliament on Monday that Lingam had broken no law and that the A-G had classified the case as “No Further Action.”

More to come