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Monday, July 22, 2013

AG defends picking Shafee as lead prosecutor in Sodomy II appeal


Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail defended his move to appoint Umno lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah as the lead prosecutor in the appeal against the acquittal of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on a sodomy charge.
Gani said he decided to bring in an outsider as the chambers had been accused of being biased and playing to the tune of the government.
He urged the public to view Shafee's appointment objectively as this was not the first time such a move was done.
He then gave the example of when he appointed lawyer Datuk Tan Hock Chuan as conducting officer in the Teoh Beng Hock inquest.
Gani also pointed out that the former lead prosecutor in Anwar's trial, Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, had gone on early retirement and he had represented the opposition too.
"I see no good reason why we should not appoint Shafee," he said in a text message reply to The Malaysian Insider from London.
Yusof, also former solicitor-general, was in Anwar's legal team in a separate case pertaining to a Bersih 3.0-related charge. Yusof had said that he was a free agent to represent anyone after retiring from the government.
Gani further said  Anwar's lead counsel Karpal Singh would not be defending his client if the sodomy matter was a simple case.
"We appreciate his role too in terms of justice," he said.
Ramkarpal Singh, a member of Anwar's legal team , gave notice to the Court of Appeal early today that the defence objected to Shafee appearing for the government.
Karpal later in the day stated that an application, together with an affidavit by Anwar, would be submitted to recuse Shafee.
Former Attorney-General Tan Sri Abu Talib othman said Shafee's appointment as ad-hoc deputy public prosecutor sets a dangerous precedent as it would be seen that the chambers was incompetent.
He questioned why an outsider was selected when the chambers had experienced officers to conduct the appeal. 

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