After Thomas Furore Bar Says To Balance Free Speech And Fair Trial

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Bar president Salim Bashir says the Tommy Thomas memoirs call for a law on sub judice to be codified.PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Bar has called for a law on sub judice and contempt of court to be codified in light of the controversy surrounding the memoirs of former attorney-general Tommy Thomas.
Bar president Salim Bashir said several people had made accusations that the book contained statements that were sub judice or in contempt of court regarding ongoing trials.
Among the cases mentioned were the Cradle Fund murder case in which a former CEO’s wife is accused of killing him; the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case over which former prime minister Najib Razak has filed a defamation suit; and a case involving an arbitration centre chairman.
Several police reports have also been filed against Thomas and the publisher.
Salim said the Bar supports the right to freedom of speech but such freedoms should not prejudice the integrity of court cases or the administration of justice.
“With the flurry of spontaneous comments and opinions that are filling social media platforms with regard to ongoing trials and appeals, the public may not fully comprehend where such a line is drawn,” said Salim.
“Such public comments would be likely to interfere with the fair and impartial disposal of a case in a court of law.
“The Malaysian Bar therefore reiterates its calls on the government to codify the law on sub judice comments and contempt of court, and to provide a clear and unequivocal definition of these legal concepts.”
Thomas, while still attorney-general, had said in a speech in 2018 that he did not subscribe to the notion of sub judice (the principle which forbids public comments about trials in progress) because Malaysia lacked a jury system.
Salim said that there is a “fine but important line” between commenting on cases and improperly influencing them, and noted that the rule of law demands that everyone be entitled to a fair trial.
Yesterday, a High Court judge was told that contempt proceedings might be taken against Thomas for comments he made about the Cradle Fund murder case, in which Samirah Muzaffar is accused of killing her husband Nazrin Hassan, the fund’s chief executive.
Samirah’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said Thomas had made comments that were sub judice regarding her explanations of the events on the day, and he sought to cite Thomas for contempt of court.
On Tuesday, lawyer Baljit Singh Sidhu said Thomas should not have revealed facts about a case involving his client, former Asian International Arbitration Centre director Sundra Rajoo, as an application for a judicial review was still pending in the Federal Court.
Sundra also said the allegations made against him in the book were “untrue and defamatory” and were in contempt of legal proceedings.
In his memoirs, entitled “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”, Thomas recounts events that took place during his time as attorney-general from June 2018 to February 2020. The book, published on Jan 30, is the subject of an investigation by the home ministry. - FMT

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