Is Shafee representing the people or himself?

YOURSAY 'Especially now that he acts as the public prosecutor who is also the government's legal advisor and protector of the public interest.’

Mat Zain 'devious and a bankrupt', court hears

Ferdtan: What is justice? It is not just to be done but must be seen to be done. Much leeway should be given to the accused to have a fair trial.

Why the attorney-general’s appointment of someone outside its department is so important that it goes all the way to the Court of Appeal; possibly may go as far as the highest court - the Federal Court?

The AG is wasting court’s time and as well as taxpayers’ money for such immaterial matter. Don’t tell us that in the whole AG’s Chambers, you cannot find someone who is as capable as private lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah?

Or is it that the instruction came from above?

Kim Quek: Instead of giving convincing facts to rebut allegations against him, Shafee went on a rampage of personal attacks against former Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief Mat Zain Ibrahim.

And so, the main accusations against him remains effectively undemolished - that he had illegally concealed to the court his knowledge of AG Abdul Gani Patail’s alleged fabrication of evidence, in particular, that related to Anwar Ibrahim’s ‘black eye’ incident, for which Mat Zain had furnished unchallenged evidence of specific nature.

Compounding the case against Shafee is his role as lawyer for BN and its top guns including Najib, his wife and Dr Mahathir Mohamad, all of whom regard Anwar as their sworn enemy.

And with the Anwar sodomy trial universally recognised as political persecution, could the Malaysian judiciary be possibly seen to be doing justice if Shafee is accepted as lead prosecutor?

Mushiro: So what if a person is a bankrupt? We should be more cautious of the corrupt than the bankrupt. A bankrupt has gone through the court process whereas a corrupt is still free with their evil.

Isshh: Yes, what if Mat Zain is a bankrupt. Does it matter in this instance? Personal attacks does not hold water.

But somehow we know the outcome of our kangaroo courts. No one gets a fair deal.

Armchair Newspaper: It’s unique for the AG to issue this fiat for a highly controversial private practitioner to appear in criminal prosecution.

But again we're talking of endless possibilities here. It get more curious with this latest Mat Zain's exposé.

I think Anwar should thread carefully with this guy. Anwar has been "double crossed" before, Ezam Mohd Nor, S Nallakaruppan (both now senators), etc...

Gerard Lourdesamy: Why is Shafee so desperate to prosecute Anwar on the fiat of the AG? Even if the AG approached him, Shafee could have declined. It all points to a personal agenda to get Anwar convicted.

The purpose of a criminal trial is to see justice being done and not to secure a conviction at all costs. Does it serve the public interest and the need to do justice if Shafee is allowed to conduct the appeal? Clearly not.

Shafee is mired in controversy; has his own ambition to become the next AG; and has consistently made prejudicial comments against Anwar in public and private. He is not a fit and proper person to conduct the appeal for the public prosecutor.

How can Shafee hope to be impartial and objective when he has a personal hatred for the accused? Any reasonable right-thinking member of the public would come to the conclusion that the prosecution cannot possibly be fair and objective with Shafee at its head.

P Dev Anand Pillai: This is the only place on earth where we will find a lawyer in private practice who defends high profile politically-linked clients but at the same time be appointed by the government of the day to act as the public prosecutor.

On one hand, he defends all political figures who wield a lot of influence in government decision-making and on the other, he acts as the public prosecutor who is also the government's legal advisor and protector of the public interest.

Despite being a former colony of Britain and having English common law as our basis, we seem to have completely forgotten our basic natural justice jurisprudence. This is what happens when we have the same government in power since independence.

Fire_rock: Once upon a time before MyKad was introduced, we had this NRIC which had a seven-digit identification number. Anyone who join the police force or military will have to surrender their IC to the authorities.

In return, they will be issued ID cards to indicate they are in the police force or military. These ID cards will indicate their service number, hence for subsequent dealings and transaction they would have to use this service number.

On leaving the service at the end of contract or retirement, they would be issued the civilian IC. Those leaving after the 90s would be issued the MyKad - that is with the 12-digit ID.

For Mat Zain who would have joined the police before the 70s and retired after the 90s would have three different ID numbers, which is perfectly legal.

So what if Mat Zain is a bankrupt and we must understand what could have led him to this predicament. At least I know he is a straight cop.

Peacemaker: It is another bunch of judges like those on Oct 14, 2013, then the result is a foregoing conclusion. Anwar should get ready for jail. God have mercy on the judges when they have to be judged by Allah.

Bash: In a country of limitless possibilities, this is another twisted tale. I hope the wisdom and uprightness of justice will prevail.

IMHO (in my humble opinion), the AG’s office must show excruciating circumstances to allow a private practitioner to represent this office. What are these circumstances? - Malaysiakini