The Malaysian Bar has refuted the remark made by a Barisan Nasional (BN) politician that certain political parties could be using the legal body in relation to the VK Lingam video scandal.

Contacted today, the Bar vice president K Ragunath said the body has never been political in any situation.

"But if (our decision) to disagree with the government is considered political then so be it. We're standing for what is right," he asserted.

Ragunath was responding to Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad who said the Bar should not be used by certain political parties.

The Johor Baru MP also told Bernama that the legal body should not be overly sensitive concerning issues which have yet to be verified and allow the three-member panel formed by the government to investigate the authenticity of the video clip.

Ragunath said the Bar has agreed to let the panel, comprising former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor, National Service Council chairperson Lee Lam Thye and former Court of Appeal judge Mahadev Shankar, to do its work.

"We have agreed to let the panel carry out its inquiry. We've agreed to cooperate with them when needed. We shall attend the inquiry or hold a watching brief, we've got a team set up.

"What does he (Shahrir) mean by saying that we should not be over-sensitive?" he asked.

The final straw

Ragunath also commented on Shahrir's hope that the march by lawyers and members of the public in Putrajaya last week "would not spread to other things."
"We walked for justice because we feel strongly about it. It is an issue close to our hearts. So many times we sent memos and met with ministers and held discussions but nothing has been done. You can say the video is the straw that broke the camel's back," he said.

"In the end, this is the expression of the Malaysian Bar, an expression of how disgusted we are over the rot in the judicial system," he added.

The 'Walk for Justice' saw 2,000 lawyers and protesters gathering at the Palace of Justice before marching to the Prime Minister's Office. Two memoranda were subsequently submitted by representatives of the Malaysian Bar.

The march was sparked off by the eight-minute edited video released by PKR which showed senior lawyer VK Lingam talking on the phone, apparently brokering the appointment of judges with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim in 2002.

The video clip ignited an uproar among the legal fraternity, with the Bar Council - the governing body for 13,500 lawyers - pressing for the formation of a royal commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of the matter.