Boot camp judge resigns! (malaysiakini)

Malaysiakini's report:

Sabah High Court judge Ian Chin, who had made explosive claims that a former prime minister had threatened judges, has tendered his resignation, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

MCPX

Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department T Murugiah said Chin (left) had submitted his resignation to Agong in a letter dated July 16.

“He will step down from Dec 1, 2008. He is on leave from Aug 1 to Nov 30,” he told the House.

Murugiah was responding to a question from Mukhriz Mahathir (BN-Jerlun) whether any action would be taken against the judge for alleging there was executive interference in the judiciary during the tenure of premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The deputy minister replied that the government has no plans at this point in time to petition the Agong to appoint a tribunal - as provided for in the federal constitution - to determine whether or not Chin is guilty of misconduct.

To a supplementary question from Mukhriz (right) as to whether a committee would be set up to monitor and act upon future misconduct by judges, Murugiah said the proposed Judicial Appointments Commission would perform such functions.

“After it is set up, all these things will be looked at,” he said.

Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) then queried if action would be taken based on the substance of Chin’s allegations.

Murugiah said: “The need to investigate and take action does not arise, as this has seen (the person) stepping down from his position.”

Silence on connection

Met later in the lobby, the deputy minister declined to state whether Chin’s resignation was directly linked to the allegations he had levelled last June.

Among Chin’s startling revelations were allegations that judges had been threatened during Mahathir’s administration and had been sent to ‘boot camps’ for indoctrination.

Lawyer Matthias Chang, a former political secretary to Mahathir, denied the claim and defended his boss by alleging that Chin was merely sour that he had not been promoted.

Chang further cited corroborating statements from two judges indicating that Chin had made "wild allegations" against Mahathir.

Chin, 60, who has served 16 years, is the most senior of all judges in the High Court. His resignation comes six years before he is due to retire.

In July, Chin sent shock waves through the legal fraternity when he exposed incidents of executive interference dating back more than 10 years.

The revelations were made while he was hearing an election petition on July 9.

He implicated former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former chief justice Eusoff Chin - two key personalities in the VK Lingam tape scandal which had recently rocked the country’s judiciary - malaysiakini

Smells fishy? You betcha!