Karpal lodges police report against Chief Justice Zaki - malaysiakini

Malaysiakini's report:



Veteran opposition legislator Karpal Singh has lodged a police report against Chief Justice Zaki Azmi for allegedly admitting to corrupt practices while in private practice as a lawyer in 1987.
MCPX

Karpal's police report to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters quoted the Nov 8 New Straits Times article which quoted Zaki at a convention in Kuching on Nov 7.

zaki azmi chief justice installation event 291008 03During the convention, Zaki was delivering a speech on 'Integrity, the Catalyst of Sustainable Development' in which he recalled an incident in 1987 and allegedly said the following:

"It took me six months to be nice, to bribe each and every individual to get back into their good books before our files were attended to.

"That was my personal experience, and I am telling this to all the clerks and all the registries to stop this nonsense".

In Karpal's report, he argued that if what Zaki said was true, the latter would be exposed to prosecution under Section 4 (b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (1961) which was in force during 1987.

The penalty under this law is a maximum fine of RM10,000, up to seven years jail term or both. The law was replaced by the Anti-Corruption Act (1987).

No retraction?

In his report, Karpal also said that Zaki, in his clarification on the matter published by NST on Nov 9, did not specifically deny the earlier report.

"In fact, it reveals that Zaki was aware of corruption in order to get things done at the court registry," he added in his report.

karpal singh sue utusan for defamation 190908 01In the single paragraph clarification on Nov 9, Zaki said "Your reporter must have interpreted what I said, which is that during that period there was corruption in order to get things done at the court registry. I have never in my life bribed or received any bribe".

Speaking to reporters later, Karpal stressed that Zaki's clarification on Nov 9 did not seek a retraction nor did the paper offer one.

Asked who should hear the case should it be brought to court, Karpal did not offer conclusive answer.

"He should be treated like an ordinary citizen. Everyone is equal before the law," said the Jelutong parliamentarian.

To another question, Karpal said that unlike civil cases, there are no limitation periods for criminal cases - malaysiakini.com