38. PM - Protection !
Here's a clip from Bernama:
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government will ask the police to ensure the safety of the people who come forward to assist in the probe into the video recording purportedly showing a lawyer on the phone trying to broker the appointment of judges.
The prime minister said that when the situation warranted some people to be protected, then the government would provide such protection.
"The police will be asked to protect the witnesses," he told reporters after opening the 10th annual scientific meeting of the Malaysian Association for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, here.
Abdullah also said the government was actively looking into crafting a witness protection law.
"It's up to the Attorney-General to determine this. The relevant bill has not yet reached the cabinet," he said.
On Monday, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) gave Parti Keadilan Rakyat adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim until Thursday to hand over the original video clip.
However, the ACA issued a statement on Thursday saying that Anwar had failed to turn in the clip.
Anwar has filed an application in the High Court here to set aside the order issued by the ACA.
Going by the above, it is up to the Mr. Source(s) to come forward and hand up the unedited, full original tape to ACA or through PKR if they do not want to reveal their identities. This in view of the Prime Minister's assurance that the witnesses will be protected and in view of a lack of a Witness Protection Bill in the country.
Prime Minister, this is precisely the reason the Bar Council is requesting for a Royal Commission, which will provide under law ( not just assurances) all the protection. This is a legal issue and we are dealing with lawyers. If the panel has been wrongly set up, please correct it and set up a Royal Commission.
A tape whether original or copy is the mother of all evidences. It is a foolproof evidence of an event on record.This is a better evidence than a sworn statement, under oath, by a witness in a case like this. This is in view of the fact that the ACA has said there is no way and nobody could verify authenticity. Why are we pulling our legs on this issue? If there is a copy, there is an original ... and there is an event recorded! It is that authentic.
