CJ denies judge in Khairuddin, Chang case was punished

The judge who granted former Batu Kawan Umno vice-chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang bail, was not transferred as punishment, said chief justice Ariffin Zakaria.

Instead, the head of the judiciary instead said that High Court judge Mohd Azman Husin was transferred to the Shah Alam High Court to speed up the disposal of cases.

“We have almost 400 criminal cases in the Shah Alam High Court. It is not a punishment,” Ariffin told The Star.

“It is nothing abnormal. We need more experienced judges in certain courts to speed up the disposal of cases. It is also because of the elevation of judges to the appellate courts and appointment of judicial commissioners," he also said.

Chief Judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin also told the English daily that the “reshuffle exercise of the year” was normal.

Justice Azman along with 12 other High Court judges or judicial commissioners were transferred effective Jan 1, following a circular dated Dec 7 and agreed by the Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria.

On Nov 18, Justice Azman had ruled that charges against Chang, a former political secretary to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Khairuddin, for allegedly sabotaging financial services, do not fall under Sosma, where he said it does not come within the ambit of Article 149 (1) of the Federal Constitution where the Sosma law was enacted by Parliament.

Justice Azman hence ruled that the duo would be tried at the Sessions Court and not the High Court. However, the matter has gone to the Court of Appeal.

While some have remarked that the transfer was unusual, Malaysiakini had in the past noticed the transfer of High Court judges from Kuala Lumpur to other states. -Mkini