Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad denied he had shackled the judiciary as claimed by those who are calling on the government to re-examine the 1988 judicial crisis during his tenure.

At a press conference in Kedah yesterday, Mahathir was asked to respond to former Lord President Salleh Abas' recent remarks on the incident.

"That his perception ... but I do not have the ability to shackle the judiciary. In reality, the judiciary made its decision before coming to me ... numerous times ... including declaring Umno illegal (in 1988) ... only one (Umno) branch made a mistake but all two million Umno members had to face the consequences ... did I shackle (the court)? It was the decision of the court," the former premier was quoted as saying by Agendadaily .

In 1988, Mahathir had Salleh tried by a special tribunal on charges of misconduct for questioning constitutional amendments that seriously eroded the powers of the judiciary.

Two of five Supreme Court judges - George Seah and Wan Sulaiman - who ruled that the tribunal was convened unconstitutionally were sacked along with Salleh, after being found guilty of misconduct by a tribunal of six judges, including one each from Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Mahathir also referred to the trials of his ex-deputy Anwar Ibrahim, who was sacked in 1998 and subsequently convicted for corruption and sodomy.

"Anwar was tried for nine months ... he had nine lawyers ... and the court decided ... Did I influence (the decision)?" he said.

Anwar and his supporters have always claimed that the charges were fabricated and the courts were not independent.

Rafidah attacked

In his speech earlier, Mahathir said that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should not have reappointed Rafidah Aziz (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) as a minister in his cabinet.

Asked to elaborate on this during the press conference, he said: "Yes ... she did something which was against government policy. She should not have been appointed. She gives AP (Approved Permits) to her friends ... two people in particular and others who want an AP must buy it from them. Why give it to those people so that they can sell..."

On whether he was sure Rafidah did not do the same under his leadership, he replied: "Well ... certainly not to that extend lah ... there were those that got the APs but these two people ... maybe during my time ... I never had any information."

"What I know is that during my time, there were Korean cars brought in and declared at RM11,000 and I asked her. To her, that is a different matter ... AP is AP," he added.

Mahathir also denied he had protected Rafidah when Anwar, who was then still deputy premier, tried to initiate a corruption against her.

"Anwar makes all sorts of allegations ... (he claims that) I am like a 'jin' (evil spirit), I should not be prime minister ... The Anti-Corruption Agency took action until Rafidah complained about the strong manner in which action was taken against her ... they called her ... questioned her ... but in the end, they decided there was not enough evidence to take further action.

"I have never prevented (investigations). If there is evidence, take action," he said.