Silence 'not an option', ex-AG Abu Talib tells Gani

Former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman is urging his successor Abdul Gani Patail to answer allegations against him over the Pulau Batu Puteh debacle.

“To me, he has no choice but to speak up to defend himself and his office. 

“For this purpose perhaps, it will be relevant if I were to quote the words of Lord Denning, ‘Silence is not an option when things are ill done’,” Abu Talib (right) toldMalaysiakini today.

He was commenting on former police CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim’sstatutory declaration on the Pulau Batu Puteh territorial dispute with Singapore.

The dispute was heard by the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the court in May 2008 ruled in Singapore’s favour.

Mat Zain had claimed that Gani, who led Malaysia’s legal team, had tendered a doctored photograph of Pulau Batu Puteh, taken from an anonymous blog, as evidence.

He said this was caught out and had undermined the credibility of Malaysia’s legal team in the eyes of the bench of 16 judges. 

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri has deniedthat Gani was involved in submitting the photograph that inaccurately portrayed the island’s position relative to the coast of Johor.

However, Gani himself has thus far remained silent on the allegation.