Nazri admits mistake about former judges

(Themalaysianinsider)

Nazri now says the judges were indeed sacked. —Bernama pic

UPDATED

By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nazri Aziz admitted today he had made a mistake in saying last week that five former Supreme Court judges, the main characters in the 1988 judicial crisis, were not sacked.

He told reporters in Parliament today they were indeed sacked.

The minister also disclosed that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had written to the Chief Secretary asking the government to pay their pensions on grounds of compassion.

His admission today comes after both his predecessor Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad disputed his retelling of the 1988 judicial crisis.

"They were sacked, it is true," he said.

Nazri said he had made the statement based on the assumption that people who had been sacked were not entitled to receive any pension, which the five judges had.

He explained that he had ordered the Cabinet secretariat to continue investigations into the matter even after making the statement in the House.

This week, he found out that the King in 1988 had written a letter of appeal to the Chief Secretary to the Government asking that the judges who had been sacked be given their pensions on grounds of compassion.

"I regret if my statement in Parliament maybe had caused some difficulty to someone, but it was not deliberate," he said, stopping short of apologising.

He was quick to point out that he had made the error because the information had not been "publicised". This prompted him to highlight the need for full disclosure of the facts including, in this case, the amount of ex-gratia payment received by the judges.

"Whatever that we do, we should inform the public, including the ex-gratia payment, because the money belongs to the rakyat," said Nazri.

"We should not make agreements with the judges. There is no question of not revealing," he added.

He pointed out that doing so was an example of double standards. However, he refused to be drawn into an argument of whether the government had been wrong in dismissing the judges from their positions.

"Whether the sacking is right or wrong, that is not my problem," he said.