Inappropriate For Apandi To Head Pulau Batu Puteh Task Force Says Lawyer

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The government has agreed to set up a task force to review laws relating to the Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh sovereignty dispute.PETALING JAYA: Former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali could be in a conflict of interest as head of a new government task force to study the Pulau Batu Puteh (Pedra Branca) sovereignty case, a lawyer suggested today.
The lawyer, Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al-Mahzar, said Apandi had been the official who had taken steps to seek a review of the case at the International Court of Justice, which had been asked by Malaysia and Singapore to decide on which country held the sovereignty of the island.
The review application was filed in February 2017 by the Barisan Nasional government, but was withdrawn by the incoming Pakatan Harapan government of Dr Mahathir Mohamad after PH won the May 2018 general election.
Later that month, the world court decided that sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh (known as Pedra Blanca in Singapore) rested with Singapore.
Syed Iskandar Syed Jaafar Al-Mahzar.Syed Iskandar said it was inappropriate for the government to appoint Apandi as chairman of the task force to look into the withdrawal of the review application.
He also pointed out that matters relating to the review of the Pulau Batu Puteh case was the subject of a suit being heard by the High Court, in which the government had already filed its defence.
Actions of the task force in connection with the suit could be construed as contempt of court, he suggested.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Cabinet had agreed to set up a special task force which would seek the views of international legal experts about a request to review the ICJ decision.
Ismail said the Cabinet had also decided to obtain preliminary legal views about any negligence in the decision to discontinue the review and interpretation of the ICJ judgement.
A suit was filed in May to seek an explanation from the government on why the review application was withdrawn. The government and the prime minister were named as defendants. They filed their defence on Friday.
Ismail had also announced committees to be set up to investigate the death of firefighter Adib Mohd Kassim and to look into allegations about the judiciary made by former attorney-general Tommy Thomas. - FMT

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