Is Shafee now also the spokesman for Zahid and Bukit Aman?

Last year, Umno lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah was controversially engaged to represent the Attorney-General in the handling of the appeal against Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar ibrahim.

The latter went to court to challenge the appointment on the grounds that the AG should not have hired a private lawyer to do its job, but he lost, and the final verdict of the sodomy case is pending a decision by the Federal Court.

But this year, is Shafee also the spokesman for the Home Minister and the Royal Malaysian Police?

This comes after after few days of questions being raised about a letter from Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which cleared a Malaysian man, facing charges of running an illegal gambling syndicate in the US, of being involved in triad activities in Malaysia,

Shafee came out yesterday to explain why the home minister did it.

Shafee, who was asked to help by the American lawyers for Paul Phua Wei Seng, said he had written to Zahid to share any information he had on Phua with the FBI because the latter was in the best position to check with the police whether Phua was a member of the 14k triad based in Hong Kong.

He said Zahid had an obligation to provide the information and if the latter did not, he could go to court to compel him to do so.

Shafee further said that the earlier report given by Bukit Aman to the FBI which identified Phua as a member of the local wing of the 14k triad was wrong.

Now, why is the lawyer representing a man who is facing criminal charges speaking on behalf of the Home Minister and Bukit Aman?

If there is to be any clarification on why Zahid wrote the letter clearing Phua of being involved in triad activities and that a 2008 report given to the FBI by our police was wrong, it should come directly from Zahid and the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar themselves.

Indeed, the IGP at the time Tan Sri Musa Hassan should also explain why a wrong report (according to Shafee) on Phua was given to the FBI?

Because, instead of clearing the air over why Zahid had cleared a man accused of being a triad member, Shafee has just made it murkier for Zahid, the police and both the current and former federal police chiefs.

- TMI