Malaysia's judicial crisis escalates with leaked memo claims against top judge candidate
Anwar has come under mounting pressure over the scandal, with lawmakers from his own party
breaking ranks to demand that he 'clear the air', warning that judicial integrity is now 'the biggest issue' facing the country.
The document, which comprises minutes from a classified Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) meeting in May, was uploaded to social media on Saturday. It seemingly substantiates earlier claims of misconduct against Terrirudin, a former attorney general and rumoured front runner for the judiciary's top post.
Previously reported allegations that the leaked memo corroborated included claims that Terrirudin pressured then-chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat to rule in favour of certain parties in an unspecified case and pushed for the reappointment of judges linked to ongoing trials.
Terrirudin's former office, the Attorney General's Chambers, has since dismissed the claims as 'speculation'.
Teriuddin Salleh is the rumoured front runner for the post of chief justice. Photo: Federal Court of Malaysia
Former deputy law minister Ramkarpal Singh said the allegations 'strike at the very core of the integrity' of the judiciary and urged the prime minister to suspend Terrirudin's candidacy for higher office until the matter was investigated.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
13 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Malaysia's ruling PKR in bind over judicial crisis, after Anwar's daughter joins protest
A fresh quandary may be brewing in Malaysia 's ruling People's Justice Party (PKR), after Deputy President Nurul Izzah Anwar joined a march calling for judicial independence while her party weighs disciplinary action on her peers for demanding an investigation into alleged meddling in the country's judiciary. Nurul Izzah, the daughter of Prime Minister and PKR President Anwar Ibrahim , joined nearly 1,000 lawyers in a march on the prime minister's office on Monday afternoon to protest against alleged executive interference in the appointment of the chief justice. Public attention on the issue intensified over the weekend when purported minutes of a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) meeting in May were publicly leaked, exposing alleged attempts to fix judicial appointments. PKR Deputy President Nurul Izzah Anwar with members of the Malaysian Bar during a march for judicial independence on Monday. Photo: Handout Nurul Izzah's presence at the march, however, sent the party into a tailspin after it launched an internal probe into calls by more than a dozen divisions to suspend her predecessor, Rafizi Ramli, and eight other party leaders, for questioning the government's handling of the judicial crisis. 'Izzah's attendance puts the party in an awkward position, given the official party line so far is to deny that there is a crisis in the judiciary,' Rafizi told This Week in Asia. 'Her attendance means she endorsed the [Malaysian Bar's] demands, including the setting up of the [Royal Commission of Inquiry] which I advocated; and Anwar is known to oppose it.' In a statement on Monday, Nurul Izzah called for an independent tribunal made up of senior judges to investigate alleged attempts to fix judicial appointments, stressing that it would 'go a long way to preserve the faith in our systems'. Her position, however, appeared to contradict her party's view on her fellow leaders, who had asked for something similar just a week earlier.
South China Morning Post
15 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Suspended Thai PM Paetongtarn faces ethics investigation over leaked phone call
Thailand's anti-corruption body will investigate suspended prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for alleged ethics violations over a leaked phone call with Cambodia's influential former leader Hun Sen , an official and local media said on Monday. The investigation will be another blow to the beleaguered government of 38-year-old Paetongtarn, Thailand's youngest premier, who the Constitutional Court suspended from duty earlier this month over the same issue. The leaked June 15 call, during which Paetongtarn appeared to kowtow before Hun Sen and criticised a Thai army commander, triggered a major backlash at home, with allegations she had undermined Thailand's integrity and sovereignty amid a heated territorial dispute with Cambodia Paetongtarn has since seen protests calling for her resignation and the exit from her coalition of its second-largest party, leaving her government with a razor-thin majority. People protest for suspended PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra to resign over a leaked call with Cambodia's ex-leader. Photo: dpa 'The commission has set up an investigation panel. There is no time frame,' said an official from the National Anti-Corruption Commission, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the matter.
South China Morning Post
20 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Malaysia's judicial crisis escalates with leaked memo claims against top judge candidate
Malaysia 's judicial crisis deepened over the weekend after a leaked memo revealed serious allegations against Federal Court Judge Terrirudin Salleh, ahead of a lawyers' march to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim 's office on Monday to protest against alleged executive interference in the judiciary. Anwar has come under mounting pressure over the scandal, with lawmakers from his own party breaking ranks to demand that he 'clear the air', warning that judicial integrity is now 'the biggest issue' facing the country. The document, which comprises minutes from a classified Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) meeting in May, was uploaded to social media on Saturday. It seemingly substantiates earlier claims of misconduct against Terrirudin, a former attorney general and rumoured front runner for the judiciary's top post. Previously reported allegations that the leaked memo corroborated included claims that Terrirudin pressured then-chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat to rule in favour of certain parties in an unspecified case and pushed for the reappointment of judges linked to ongoing trials. Terrirudin's former office, the Attorney General's Chambers, has since dismissed the claims as 'speculation'. Teriuddin Salleh is the rumoured front runner for the post of chief justice. Photo: Federal Court of Malaysia Former deputy law minister Ramkarpal Singh said the allegations 'strike at the very core of the integrity' of the judiciary and urged the prime minister to suspend Terrirudin's candidacy for higher office until the matter was investigated.
