Ex-Malaysian premier Mahathir denies judge-fixing during his tenure

Mahathir's conduct with regards to the judiciary came under scrutiny during an inquiry by the royal commission into a scandalous video which opposition and rights groups said was proof of political interference in the selection of judges during his 22-year tenure that ended Oct. 31, 2003.

In the video, a man resembling the lawyer, V. K. Lingam, was heard boasting on the telephone, how he, together with businessman Vincent Tan Chee Yioun and then Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs Tengku Adnan Mansor had been able to broker the appointments of several pro-government judges and fix high-profile cases.

Businessman Loh Mui Fah testified Tuesday that it was his son who secretly shot the video Dec. 20, 2001, when they were at Lingam's house for dinner. Lingam apparently told him that the person at the other end of the line was the recently retired chief judge Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

Mahathir, 82, who took to the stand Thursday, denied he ever discussed Fairuz or other judges' appointments with Lingam or Adnan, although Tan ''could be'' one of his sources for consultation.

''I have had a relationship with him for many years,'' he said of Tan, ''I know him very well. I ride (horses) at his place. We were, I would say, friends.''

Fairuz was then ranked third in the judiciary and Lingam was purportedly trying to help arrange a promotion for him allegedly as a reward for making several rulings that favored the government.

''We want to make sure our friends are there for the sake of the prime minister and for the sake of the country. Not for our own interest,'' Lingam said according to the transcript of the conversation that was tendered as evidence in the open court.

Fairuz eventually climbed to the top of the judiciary in 2003 as the chief justice before retiring last October.

As for Lingam, Mahathir claimed he did not know Lingam until he engaged him last year to handle a defamation suit filed against him by his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim.

It was Anwar who first made public the video last September. He is now an opposition leader.

Mahathir has been blamed for the rot in the country's judiciary especially after 1988 when he had the then chief judge sacked after several court rulings went against the government.

Since then, there have been accusations that judges were appointed based more on their loyalty to the government than anything else.

For years, lawyers and rights groups have been lobbying for a special independent commission to deal with appointments of judges.

''I have my own reasons,'' Mahathir told commissioners when asked about why certain candidate were rejected, ''After hearing what other people say, I formed my own conclusion...Why I made the decision is, of course, not something I tell people. The prerogative is with me. I don't have to explain why.''// Kyodo News - January 17, 2008�@