Senior lawyer throws down gauntlet to Ibrahim Ali

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — A heavyweight in Malaysia’s legal fraternity, lawyer Tommy Thomas has challenged Datuk Ibrahim Ali to a verbal bout to contest the latter’s claim that the Bar and its council were “racist”.

The former Bar Council secretary denounced the Perkasa founder and president for making sweeping statements against the 36-year-old peninsular law society, which Thomas said were wholly false.

“For him to say the Bar Council is racist and controlled by a certain race and is anti-Malay and anti-Islam and making decisions that are biased and one-sided are totally untrue,” said the lawyer with 30 years’ experience under his belt.

“I’m very cross about it. I’m very happy to go on record and if he wants to debate with me I’m ready,” he said to The Malaysian Insider.

Ibrahim dubbed the Bar Council racist for accusing Utusan Malaysia of inciting racial hatred, saying today the lawyers’ group should also focus on the Chinese media and others that he alleged “insult Islam, Malay Rulers and the Malay community”.

The Perkasa chief’s rant came after the Bar Council joined other groups in condemning Utusan Malaysia for its front-page article on Saturday in which it claimed the DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to take over Putrajaya and abolish Islam as the country’s official religion.

“Why did the Bar Council not urge the police to investigate Chinese media, other bloggers, website and portals, tweets that carry news and statements which insult Islam, Malay Rulers and the Malay community?

“The Bar Council is controlled by a certain race and, of course, its actions are anti-Malay and anti-Islam,” Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider.

Thomas contested Ibrahim’s claim, saying the Bar Council has 36 members and acts as the executive body to 13,000 members that are well-represented by the three main races.

He added the council had always looked at public issues from a purely legal view and taken positions without regard to race, religion and gender.

“We have always been race-free, colour-free and gender-free,” Thomas said.

“We’ve had outstanding Malay and Muslim presidents like Raja Aziz Addruse, Zainur Zakaria, Sulaiman Abdullah, Hendon Mohamad and Datuk Khutubul Zaman Bukhari,” he said.

Thomas stressed that as a statutory body set up under the Legal Profession Act 1976, the Bar has a lawful duty “to act without fear or favour and we have done so on many occasions”.