Anwar to file report against Shafee with lawyers’ disciplinary board

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) will file a complaint against Umno lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah for professional misconduct with the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board, in addition to taking his complaint to the Court of Appeal.

The opposition leader said he would act on the matter in a day or two.

"Shafee has failed to report criminal the wrongdoing of Attorney General (Tan Sri Abdul Gani)... he (Shafee) had also misconducted himself," Anwar told reporters after attending a proceeding at the Court of Appeal today.

Anwar also said the authorities, like the Attorney General's Chambers and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, also failed to act on the matter .

Lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah, who was with Anwar, explained that the Umno lawyer had allegedly committed professional misconduct, which was unbecoming of a lawyer.

Among them, he said, were conflict of interest; failure to disclose Gani's criminal wrongdoing, like his role in the black eye incident; and the Pulau Batu Puteh case.

He said the board could probe Shafee for misconduct under the Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) Rules 1978.

"Shafee is said to have suppressed evidence as revealed in the statutory declaration of Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim," he said.

Sivarasa said Mat Zain, the former Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief, would have the opportunity to give evidence at the board's inquiry.

Meanwhile the Court of Appeal has adjourned its decision tomorrow on whether to allow Anwar's application to disqualify Shafee from acting as deputy public prosecutor in his second sodomy acquittal last year.

This morning, a three-man bench chaired by Datuk Aziah Ali dismissed a preliminary objection by lawyer Tommy Thomas, who represented Anwar, that Shafee should not argue the case since the Umno lawyer had filed an affidavit to respond to his client's application.

After submissions, the bench dismissed the objection without giving reason.

"We are not with you. Your objection is overruled," Aziah said.

Tommy, who then went into the merit of the application to disqualify Shafee, said Gani did not give any reason as to why Shafee was a "fit and proper" person to conduct the case for the prosecution.

"As a public authority, Gani must give reason why Shafee was selected from 15,000 lawyers to conduct the case at the appeal stage," he said.

He said based on two affidavits filed by Anwar, his client now had reasonable fear that he was not going to get a fair trial, a right guaranteed under the Federal Constitution.

Tommy said Anwar made the second application to disqualify Shafee because Mat Zain SD 's was only made public on December 2.

He said justice would not be seen to be done if Shafee remained in the prosecution team, and the public expected the court to ensure fair play

"Shafee wished to promote the interest of his client (the A-G's Chambers), but the court must ensure this was done at a high standard," Thomas added.

Shafee in his submission said Mat Zain's SD ought to be disregarded as his identity card number and address had been blotted out. He said checks revealed that Mat Zain had used different identity cards numbers in a civil suit against Anwar for defamation and a bankruptcy proceeding.

Shafee said Gani need not give any reason why he (Shafee) was appointed as DPP, as that was an exercise of discretion under Article 145 (3) of the constitution.

"He has unfettered discretion and the court interferes only when the A-G has acted beyond his powers," he said.

Shafee said Anwar made the second application with the intention to delay the appeal.

Saying that Anwar was not denied a fair trial, Shafee said his presence as DPP could not determine the outcome of the appeal, and there were two other DPPs to check on him.

"Gani could not want do the appeal because Anwar had accused him of fabricating evidence," he said, adding that there were past instances where lawyers were appointed to conduct cases fro the prosecution.

Mat Zain, in his 31-page SD, said he went with Shafee and former Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datul Ramli Yusof to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's house during the Hari Raya period this year where they allegedly discussed the wrongdoings of Gani.

Anwar then filed the second application on December 6.

Shafee then filed his affidavit to narrate what transpired in his legal firm and at the residence of Dr Mahathir.

He went on to say that Mat Zain had "slanted" what he had said in his October 7 statutory declaration (SD).

The court has fixed two days from February 12 (2014) to hear the prosecution's appeal on the sodomy case.

Anwar, 66, was acquitted last year for allegedly sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at a Desa Damansara condominium unit in Bukit Damansara in 2008.