Wednesday, March 11, 2009

IGP, A-G cleared of wrongdoing in Anwar's 'black-eye' case - Sun

By Giam Say Khoon and Tim Leonard

KUALA LUMPUR (March 11, 2009) : Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail have been cleared of any wrongdoings in Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s "black-eyed" incident in 1998.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said the two were cleared after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) completed its two-month-long investigation.

He said this in answer to Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong), who enquired on the status of the incident during the question and answer session in Parliament today.

"This was a sensitive and high profile case and the MACC had proposed a three-man panel as deputy public prosecutors (comprising former Federal Court judges Datuk Abdul Kadir Sulaiman, Datuk Wira Mohd Noor Ahmad and Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Noor Abdullah) to look into the case," he said.

Last year, Anwar had lodged a report against Abdul Gani and Musa alleging that they tampered the evidence of him being beaten while in police custody in 1998.

When asked by Gobind when the investigation was completed, Nazri said the investigation started on July 2 and it took two months to complete the probe.

"It took us some time to make the announcement because we want to make sure the decision will not create any doubt for any party," Nazri added.

Nazri also disclosed that the three panelists had agreed to clear Musa and only one of them was against Abdul Gani when he was asked by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) on the result of the investigation.

In an immediate response at Parliament lobby, Anwar said he was "disgusted" over the outcome and that he would write personally to each member of the special panel that looked into his case to ensure that they had received all the evidence he had adduced.

"I will write to each of them and submit my evidence," Anwar said.

"We submitted clear evidence…it is so unfortunate that a case like this with all the real evidence can be turned down. Anyway, we don’t know what is the actual evidence which reached the panel; so I will submit the evidence to each of the panel members.

"I will wait for their reaction first before deciding on the next action."

On another note, Anwar dismissed speculation of an agenda behind his meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi over lunch at a religious school in Hulu Langat on Tuesday.

"We talked about our families," he said, when asked what was discussed during lunch. He declined to say more.

Anwar was invited by prominent Ustaz Sheikh Mahmud Al-Mazjub to the religious school in Hulu Langat. After prayers, Abdullah, Sheikh Mahmud and Anwar had lunch together.

When asked whether if the lunch meeting was a co-incidence or pre-arranged, Anwar said they were informed.

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