Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Datuk V.K Lingam's Brother Spilled The Beans

Malaysian Democratic Party secretary-general Wee Choo Keong at the press conference yesterday



KUALA LUMPUR: The younger brother of lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam has alleged he was privy to various acts of "corruption" involving judges.

V. Thirunama Karasu lodged a police report in March detailing his brother's alleged relationship with two former chief justices, several judges and a former inspector-general of police in the mid and late 1990s.
Malaysian Democratic Party secretary-general Wee Choo Keong released the police report at a press conference yesterday.Among other things, Karasu alleged that he used to send his brother to a former chief justice's house just before midnight and pick him up an hour or so later and that he had delivered handphones and briefcases to several judges, adding he had paid the handphone bills of a former inspector-general of police.
Karasu, met at his house, said: "I did not give Wee consent to announce the police report. But the contents of the police report are true."

He said he was willing to testify before the proposed royal commission to investigate the Lingam video clip.Asked why he decided to make a police report implicating himself and his brother, Karasu claimed it was a mixture of guilt and threats on his family.
Karasu, a former electrician with Tenaga Nasional, claimed he was asked by his brother to join the latter's firm in 1995 to run errands for him but he quit in 1996. Earlier, Wee said Karasu contacted him 10 days ago by phone, claiming he had evidence in relation to the Lingam video clip which showed the lawyer allegedly discussing judicial appointments with a top judge.
"He asked for my help and explained it over the phone. But as it is an important issue, I persuaded him to meet me personally to discuss the details and that is when he gave me a copy of the police report."He is an important witness in the case and I revealed his identity to make sure the soon-to-be-established royal commission uses his statement in its investigation.
"Although this may be risky, the police and attorney-general already know of him and the report."
Wee described the contents of the police report as alarming and asked why the police and attorney-general had not acted as the report had been lodged eight months ago.
He said he would forward a copy of the police report to the Bar Council and the acting chief justice, urging them to take action. He also claimed that he had the unedited version of the Lingam video clip which showed the identity of the person who had made the recording.
He said Karasu was not the one who took the video.Lingam could not be reached for comment.