No reason to halt prosecutions against politicians, says lawyer

 

There is no reason to suspend all high-profile criminal prosecutions until a new attorney-general is appointed, says a lawyer dealing with criminal cases who criticised the call made by former law minister Zaid Ibrahim.

Salim Bashir Baskaran, who is a former president of the Bar Council, said the rule of law dictates an observance of natural justice and that everyone is to be treated equally.

"The attorney-general, as the Guardian of Public interest, must ensure that his prosecutorial discretion is exercised fairly, honourably and coupled with sufficient facts and evidence.

"The public prosecutor should not allow himself to be influenced or take into account irrelevant considerations before instituting or withdrawing criminal charges.

"It's rather baffling to note any calls to halt prosecutions when the attorney-general is still in office. Similarly, the courts too have judicial discretion to entertain or otherwise of any application to postpone or delay cases from being continued," Salim (above) said in a statement to Malaysiakini.

Adding further, he said that even in the situation where the Office of the Attorney-General is accused of wrongdoing, the Criminal Procedure Code provides for the solicitor-general to "act and wield the power as the public prosecutor".

Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim

Salim's statement came in response to a call made by Zaid that the government halts all pending criminal prosecutions against politicians until a new attorney-general is appointed by the next government.

Zaid had made the suggestion during an interview with the Free Malaysia Today news portal, where he spoke about an investigation into a book written by former attorney-general Tommy Thomas, which Zaid said raised concerns of possible selective prosecutions during the time when Thomas was in the office during the Pakatan Harapan rule.

According to the report, Zaid, who recently joined Umno, also alleged that the inaction of current Attorney-General Idrus Harun did not help the situation. - Mkini