Another former judge has gone public to call for the reopening of the investigation into the allegations of corruption within the judiciary made by former High Court judge Syed Ahmad Idid a decade ago.

Former chief judge of Malaya Anuar Zainal Abidin, who was once the judiciary's No 3, joined Syed Ahmad and former Court of Appeal judge Shaik Daud Ismail in speaking out about the matter.

Anuar, 74, the most senior of the three ex-judges, said the 1996 investigation by then attorney-general, the late Mohtar Abdullah, into Syed Ahmad's report - which was then dubbed as the poison-pen letter - was "incomplete".

He said the authorities could not have possibly finished their investigation into the 33-page allegations - which included allegations against 12 judges involving 39 cases of corruption, 21 cases of abuse of power, 52 cases of misconduct, immorality and other indiscretions - within a month.

"Do you think that (the authorities) can finish all the allegations with so many personalities and allegations within a month or so. Common sense tells me that something is incomplete," he said in an exclusive interview with malaysiakini.

Although as chief judge of Malaya, he was responsible for all High Court judges in Peninsular Malaysia, Anuar said he was never consulted by his superiors regarding the allegations.

"I was not in the good books, you know," he quipped.

Why is AG silent?

In 1996, Malaysians were shocked by the vivid and salacious details contained in the 'poison-pen' letter. Following public furore and pressure from the Bar Council, the police launched an investigation into the document.

It was later revealed by the then attorney-general that a judge had authored the letter and that there were no grounds for prosecution as the allegations were baseless.

Mohtar (left), however, said the judge would not be prosecuted and that he had voluntarily resigned from his post.

Three weeks ago, former High Court judge Syed Ahmad in an interview with the New Straits Times claimed that he was forced to quit from his post following the probe on the poison-pen letter.

He also claimed that his allegations were never properly investigated.

Syed Ahmad's contentions came after Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim lamented that the judiciary was still under attack from the "baseless" poison-pen letter.

In the two-hour interview held last week at malaysiakini's office, Anuar said he was also puzzled by attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail's (left) silence on the on-going debate over whether an investigation should be re-opened.

Instead, Anuar said comments on the matter have been made by irrelevant quarters including de facto Law Minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, who said no further action would be taken as the former AG had already completed his task 10 years ago.

"What I noticed is that the attorney-general did not say anything. We all know that the only person who can decide to open or close a case is the AG. No one else can do that ... not the minister or the chief justice ... only the AG can decide or comment."

He urged the AG to re-open the investigation into the allegations, especially following Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's pledge to eradicate corruption.

"There is nothing in law that prevents the re-opening of an investigation. Especially now, when we consider the matter as a new complaint. Renewal of an old complaint is a new complaint to me."

Nothing to hide

Anuar also advised the judiciary not to make any attempts to resist an investigation, stating that it would not do any harm to the institution.

"If the investigations is re-opened, I think the public would respect the judiciary. Even more if the judiciary expresses its willingness to be investigated ...

"After all, it is not the entire judiciary but because of one or two black sheep ... so it tells people that it is not afraid being investigated because it has nothing to hide."

He also dismissed the idea that the matter can be resolved within the judiciary through an internal investigation, referring to Ahmad Fairuz's statement that his own probe showed the allegations against the said judges were baseless.

"It is not our (the judiciary's) function to investigate," said Anuar.

Anuar shot to international prominence when he was called upon to investigate former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's 'black eye' in 1999.

The royal commission which he headed eventually found that the person responsible for beating Anwar in custody was the then police chief Abdul Rahim Noor.

In the interview, Anuar also commented on the allegations against former chief justice Eusoff Chin, who was accused of having close ties with high-profile lawyer V K Lingam. The latter represented business tycoon Vincent Tan whose appeal was then heard before the judge.

"I think they had closed it too early. The more they deny the rights to investigate, the more curious people become. That would be more dangerous."


Tomorrow: Gopal Sri Ram deserves promotion, says Anuar

Q&A: Islamic influence in judiciary worrying