By INS Contributors

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia--Law minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has slammed Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah for questioning the impartiality of the task force set up to investigate allegations in former attorney general Tommy Thomas’ memoir.

The statement made by the President of the Malaysian Bar questioning the impartiality of the Special Task Force (STF) to investigate the allegations by Tan Sri Tommy Thomas in his book “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness” is baseless and inaccurate.

The STF was established by the Cabinet on 22 December 2021 to fact find and analyse the information on the allegations stated by Tan SrI Tommy Thomas in his book.

The findings were then reported to the Cabinet on 30 September 2022.

The STF members had conducted the mandate entrusted to them with full commitment, responsibility and free from any form of intervention.

All findings obtained were based on the 19 consultations conducted by the STF amongst the various stakeholders.

The STF had also looked into the various documents that were provided by the relevant agencies.

The STF had also invited the Malaysian Bar Council to participate in the Consultation Session so as to ensure that all parties’ views are taken into consideration in preparing the Report.

However, the Malaysian Bar Council had declined the invitation for the Consultation Session with the STF.

As such, casting a negative perception on the impartiality of the STF members is completely baseless.

The Malaysian Bar ought to have come forward and given their views on the various allegations identified by the STF.

To refuse participation and then question the impartiality of the STF and its members should not be the Bar's way to confront issues of this kind.

“I must stress that the methodology used, issues analyzed, the stakeholders involved in the consultation session as well as those who had refused to participate have all been listed in the Report. This clearly shows that the STF had conducted the job in a responsible, transparent and impartial manner” said the Minister.

The STF had also submitted its recommendations for improvements in the various areas like the judiciary and the legal system for further consideration of the government.