Pak Lah defended Najib innocent over Altantuya's case

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today defended his designated successor Datuk Seri Najib Razak against renewed allegations about the latter’s involvement in the murder of a Mongolian woman in 2006.

"I cannot believe Datuk Seri Najib will want to abuse power," said Abdullah when asked to comment on the allegations which surfaced over the weekend on the Malaysia Today website.

Malaysia Today carried a report detailing what it alleged was an exchange of text messages between Najib and Datuk Shafee Abdullah, the prominent lawyer who represented Abdul Razak Baginda, the close associate of Najib who was eventually charged with abetting two police officers in the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.

In one SMS, Najib allegedly tells the lawyer that Razak — his advisor — "will face a tentative charge but all is not lost."

Malaysia Today said that this message raises some questions about Najib's role in the case. "Why did he mention 'tentative' charge and that 'all is not lost' for RB (Razak Baginda)? How would Najib know this before Razak was charged? These are important questions which will have ramifications, not just on this case but far beyond," a posting on the website said.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the opposition have tried to link Najib and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor with the murder since it happened in October 2006.

Today, Abdullah backed the deputy prime minister against the latest allegations.

"I believe in him, that he would be a good person," said the Prime Minister.

"He will be Prime Minister and provide leadership."

Since Abdullah announce his decision to not defend the Umno presidency, tremendous momentum has built up for Najib to take over as party president next March and also as Prime Minister if the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition remains in power.

But in the past week the political pressures on Najib have mounted.

Besides the allegations surrounding his involvement in the 2006 murder, he is also being linked with a return to "Mahathirism."

His critics have accused him of being a "puppet" of former hardline Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, with some observers expecting a more authoritarian system of government with tighter controls.


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Sue me RPK, Shafee told!

Lawyer Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's feud with blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin is getting "dirtier".


Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah (left) says Raja Petra Kamarudin’s articles are aimed at discrediting him; Raja Petra Kamarudin has been ordered to reveal the source of the allegations against Muhammad Shafee

Yesterday, Muhammad Shafee did not disguise his disdain for Raja Petra, calling him all sorts of names and urging the press to print them so that the blogger would sue him.

"I want him to sue me. This man is not interested in telling the truth, instead he hides behind his blog. In court, he hides behind his wife's skirt.

"If Raja Petra wants an independent arbitration on this matter, with independent arbitrators chosen by joint consent between him and me, I will gladly accept it and challenge him to produce the proof of his allegations."

The well-known lawyer had called a press conference to deny the blogger's allegation that he had a hand in a conspiracy in relation to the sodomy charge against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"It all started from a rumour saying that I was likely to be appointed prosecutor against Anwar. This is not true.

"Somebody thought it was very dangerous to have me as a prosecutor and Raja Petra's articles are aimed at discrediting me. He is a puppet for political animals," he said at his office here yesterday.

"Puppet" was the kindest word Muhammad Shafee used to describe the blogger.

"I have independent evidence, both oral and documentary, that will show that neither the office of Shafee & Co nor this conference room where you (reporters and photographers) are sitting in, or the white-board you are looking at, nor I, personally, are involved in anything close to the allegation by Raja Petra that we are involved in a conspiracy relating to the sodomy case.

"I have been away in Kuching and Terengganu for more than six weeks prior to Anwar being charged. I was away from June 28 to Aug 7 continuously with one week in Kuala Terengganu (all of them related to my work in relation to three election petitions).

"Why should the police want to do a 'black' operation in this room? Don't you think a black operation, by its nature, is secretive? This room has big windows. Even the gardeners can see in and it is being monitored 24 hours by CCTV (closed-circuit television camera)."

Muhammad Shafee even offered reporters a tour around his office or a look through the documents he had with him which showed his whereabouts during the time he was alleged to have conspired with the police against Anwar.

Muhammad Shafee said he would monitor Raja Petra like a hawk. If he failed to comply with the court order served on him last Friday, he would compel Raja Petra to be produced in court for contempt.

Muhammad Shafee said Raja Petra was aware of the contents of the order dated Aug 13 as admitted by him in his article the next day itself.

On Wednesday, the High Court ordered Raja Petra to reveal the source of the allegations against Muhammad Shafee in three online articles dated Aug 6, Aug 7 and Aug 11 relating to the sodomy charge against Anwar.

In addition, the order also compelled him to, within three days of its service on him, reveal the identities of visitors to his web portal who had left comments and messages following the publishing of the articles.

The order, granted by judge Datuk Tee Ah Sing in chambers, also included several injunctions, the first of which directed Raja Petra to remove the defamatory articles from the web portal within two days as well as other follow-up articles and comments posted by visitors.

Later in the evening, Muhammad Shafee lodged a police report against Raja Petra for alleged criminal defamation, sedition, vulgarities, and offences under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

Asked whether he was worried about his safety for being outspoken against Raja Petra, Muhammad Shafee said he had had his share of threats -- from live bullets sent to him and having his car tyres slashed.

He said Raja Petra, who had been declared a bankrupt for quite sometime, was acting recklessly because he had nothing else to lose.

"This is why he is not bothered to enter himself to court nor defend his credibility as a newsman."
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Face me in court, Shafee told RPK

Click here for Shafee's press release

By Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 – Lawyer Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today charged that Raja Petra Kamaruddin made racist statements and allowed his commenters to post vulgarities in his website, saying he will file police reports against the blogger for a series of offences ranging from criminal defamation to sedition.

Raja Petra, however, has already been charged for those offences and the latest laundry list is not expected to faze him.

"He made racist statements and allowed commenters on his blog to make vulgarities. That's why I consider him to be a common pariah. A full-blooded royal would never allow vulgarities to be published," Shafee said to reporters this morning at his Bukit Tunku office here.

"Raja Petra does not have an open blog site which allows for free debate. He moderates his blog site. He only publishes what he likes to publish. He's a typical coward. He claims to want an open society and rule of law.

"If he's daring enough... come and face me in court, face me before a tribunal. If he has no money, I will pay."

Shafee added that he was even willing to let Raja Petra have his pick of which judge should preside over the trial if the latter wished, in order that the trial could begin right away.

"Nobody has ever taken him on. I want this trial to go on as quickly as possible," said Shafee.

Or if he were court-shy, Shafee said, they could settle their dispute through other channels, such as before an independent arbitration council with members of the panel selected by both of them.

"I want to expose and throw a challenge to Raja Petra. He's a total fraud, a media fraud and a villain. I am compelling him to disclose the names of his commenters. This is the way cowards operate.

"Don't you think that's the cruelest thing to do to any man? You allege against him but don't want to come forth and say why. If only Raja Petra will stand out as a man and not a coward."

Shafee had filed a defamation suit against Raja Petra last week for publishing an article that named him as the mastermind behind the latest sodomy allegation against former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Shafee hotly denied the allegation and said that Raja Petra had targeted him based on rumours after the Sodomy II incident.

Apparently, there were whispers that Shafee would be appointed the prosecution for the case against Anwar.

"I heard the same rumours. Raja Petra is not a clever fellow. This article was meant to disqualify me from standing as prosecutor. The funny thing is, this rumour is not true," Shafee explained.

He also elaborated that prior to this incident, there was no animosity between him and Raja Petra. "He is a puppet for some political animal. As we say: 'Baling batu, sembunyi tangan'," Shafee added, quoting a Malay proverb.

Last Friday, Shafee served the court orders for Raja Petra to remove the offending article and comments from his website or face legal action.

However, Raja Petra claimed that Shafee had acted in contempt of court for serving him the summons in a courtroom.

An incensed Shafee today responded that Raja Petra was the last person who should lecture him on what constituted contempt of court.

"You cannot serve in a court when the court is in session, when the judges and counsel are speaking. But a courtroom itself has no magic. Raja Petra is the last person to lecture me on contempt of court. He does not know what contempt of court means."

Excerpt from http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/7822-shafee-to-rpk-face-me-in-court

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Shafee to sue commenters on RPK's Malaysia Today

Excerpt from http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/headlines/
42-lead-stories/2968-shafee-to-also-sue-commenters-on-rpks-news-portal

Having filed a defamation suit against Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin yesterday, Datuk Muhammad Shafee Abdullah vowed today to sue commenters he alleges have defamed him on the website.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider today, the prominent lawyer said the landmark order would put a stop to "this nonsense of anonymous commenting with vulgarities at will".

"These monkeys are all cowards, writing nonsense under the guise of anonymity with no respect for the truth," he added.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday directed Raja Petra, popularly known as RPK, to reveal the identities of commenters who Shafee alleged had defamed him in three articles published on the website. The articles are the basis of Shafee's defamation suit against the controversial blogger.

According to Shafee, it was the first time it had happened in Malaysia but such orders have been issued in England and the US.

"I cited the specific comments and the court has approved each citation. This landmark order will make everyone responsible for what they write online," Shafee clarified.

When quizzed over what information RPK could furnish him with due to the anonymous nature of these commenters, Shafee said: "You have to register to be able to comment on RPK's site. So he will at least have their e-mail addresses. I will compel the owners of these addresses to show who has sent these comments."

The ex-parte injunction also instructed RPK to reveal his sources for the allegations made in the articles against Shafee.

"He knows these sources from my office so he should tell me who they are and why these sources are reliable. Under our law, there is no protection for whistle-blowers."

However, several lawyers expressed concern over the clash with the Bill of Guarantees stated under the Multimedia Super Corridor which protects free speech by prohibiting Internet censorship.

"Frankly, I think there might be a contravention of the Bill. But legally speaking, the order of the court supersedes it," said Sankara Nair, who is counsel-of-record for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said that RPK's counsel could still apply to have the order set aside or varied — for example, delayed.

"It is an interesting landmark case, as getting the injunction is one matter but executing it is another," he added.

Lawyer Annou Xavier concurred that it is "enormously difficult" to track down a specific visitor as he or she could've been in a cybercafe or outside the country, saying the order impinged on free speech.

"Online anonymity is vital for the public to air opinions," he said, noting that the KL High Court was asking for the identities of commenters to be revealed before they had been found guilty of defamation.

On the issue of protection of the anonymity of whistle-blowers, he said Malaysia was still "blowing hot air".

When contacted this morning, RPK said he had yet to receive the court order and would not comment on it, saying he would reveal his next course of action as matters move along through statements on Malaysia Today.

TGBNews Copyright Reserved 2008



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