Senior lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah should be referred to the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Committee for his "unethical and unprofessional" verbal attacks on Anwar Ibrahim, PKR Youth deputy chief Dr Afif Bahardin said today.

He was responding to statements against Anwar made recently in public by Shafee after the opposition icon was jailed for five years by the Federal Court which last week found him guilty of sodomy.   

"The attacks strengthen credence to our claim of a political conspiracy. This conspiracy is Umno's move to prevent Pakatan Rakyat from taking over the running of this country," said Afif.

He alleged that Shafee was willing to undertake the attacks on Anwar on behalf of Anwar as he (Shafee) hoped that the government would reward him with the post of attorney-general in the future.

PKR Youth, said Afif, had urged Anwar's lawyers to refer Shafee to the lawyers' disciplinary committee due to his lack of professionalism as a lawyer when prosecuting the case against Anwar.

"We urge the Bar Council take a stern stand on this in order to protect the integrity of the judiciary and lawyers in the country," said Afif.

'X-rated and vile' forum

Previously, it was reported that Shafee had been fined RM5,000 by the committee following two articles published by a local daily which had been found to be laudatory of him.

Shafee is appealing the fine at the Court of Appeal after Kuala Lumpur High Court upheld the fine against him. The case is still pending.

Meanwhile, Lawyers for Liberty executive director Eric Paulsen urged the attorney-general to admonish and revoke Shafee's appointment as a deputy public prosecutor (DPP).

LFL, he said, was shocked and disgusted with Shafee's continuous attack on Anwar by giving a series of widely-published interviews and culminating in yesterday's 'X-rated and vile' forum organised by Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

"As we have stated in the past, Shafee's appointment as an ad hoc DPP smacked of desperation and has set a bad precedent, sending the wrong message that the authorities would go to extraordinary lengths to secure the conviction of Umno's political adversaries.

"Shafee is a well-known Umno lawyer and has appeared in court and advised in several matters that concern Umno’s interests and has admitted so in his curriculum vitae.

"He has acted and advised former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and present PM Najib Abdul Razak, and his wife Rosmah Mansor, all known and bitter political adversaries of Anwar," he added.

Paulsen said Shafee's recent conduct merely reaffirmed his role as Umno’s hatchet man with a vendetta which was to character-assassinate Anwar even as the latter languished in Sungai Buloh prison, unable to defend himself.

"Hence, we therefore call upon the AG to admonish and revoke Shafee’s appointment as ad hoc DPP to prevent further public contempt and erosion of public confidence in the independence and impartiality of the Attorney-General’s Chambers," he added.