The Bar Council has received strong backing for its call to probe the 1988 judicial crisis which saw the Supreme Court compromised by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's sacking of Lord President Salleh Abbas and other top judges.

Earlier this week, the Bar Council - which represents the country's 12,000 lawyers - urged the government to reopen investigations into events that led to Malaysia's darkest hours in judicial history.

In 1988, Mahathir had Salleh tried in a special tribunal on charges of misconduct when the former chief judge questioned the government's constitutional amendments which seriously erode the powers of the judiciary.

Two of five Supreme Court judges - George Seah and Wan Sulaiman - who had ruled that the tribunal was convened unconstitutionally were sacked along with Salleh.

Legal experts have generally agreed that the judiciary had become weaker and more susceptible to government interference after the controversial sackings.

The judiciary is considered as one of the three pillars of democracy, together with the legislative (parliament) and executive (government).

Former Court of Appeal judge Shaik Daud Md Ismail agreed that the government should review the 18-year-old case.

"They have to restore confidence in the judiciary. I think this might bring about more transparency in the government," he told malaysiakini.

Shaikh Daud also said that his fellow senior judges who were sacked from the bench during the judicial crisis would be able to finally obtain justice if investigations into the case are reopened.

Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh said his call for a probe into the 1988 judicial crisis was prompted by Mahathir's incessant demands for the government to be transparent and to declassify certain documents.

"These discussions are bringing up issues of freedom of information and freedom of speech, and the independent investigations of corruption," said Yeo.

"The council regards the 1988 judicial crisis as the turning point in the erosion of an independent judiciary in a functioning democracy."

Nothing to hide

Anti-corruption group Transparency International (Malaysia) president Ramon Navaratnam also backed Bar Council's call for a probe into the judicial crisis.

"The law fraternity is concerned about the (relative) lack of quality and integrity in the judiciary," he said.

He added that the present administration should be open to setting up an independent commission to review the 18-year-old case.

"There is nothing to hide, so why avoid the opportunity to be transparent?" said Navaratnam.

He added that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had vowed to make the fight against corruption the central plank of his administration.

"It is in the government's best interest to be transparent, or else they will lose the people's votes," Navaratnam concluded.

Former Internal Security Act detainee, social activist and educationalist Kua Kia Soong disagreed with certain parties who argued that the two-decade-old issue "should not be reopened".

He lamented that the country had paid a heavy price from Mahathir's interference into the judiciary.

"It was a serious assault on the judiciary, and the society still suffers to this day."

In 1987, Kua was detained under the ISA during Operation Lallang when Mahathir cracked down on opposition leaders, social activists and other dissidents.

It was the overturning of a case involving some ISA detainees by the Supreme Court - then the country's highest court, now renamed Federal Court - that had angered Mahathir.

He later introduced controversial amendments in Parliament which virtually stripped away the powers of the court to review ISA detentions.

Former Suhakam commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan also gave his thumb-up to the Bar Council's call.

The ex-human rights commissioner said that any contribution to improve the judiciary should be supported by all parties.