Ambiga shrugs off Shafee’s call to charge her with contempt

Former BAR Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan suggests that Umno lawyer Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah's role in leading the prosecution in Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy appeal ended with the conviction being upheld, hence Shafee is not authorised to make any further orders or statements on the case. – The Malaysian Insider pic, February 15, 2015.Shrugging off calls by Umno lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to charge her with contempt of court for criticising the judiciary, activist Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said he should instead reflect if his statements against opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim have undermined the court system.

"I am not intimidated in the slightest by the call by Tan Sri Shafee for the AG to charge me for contempt. I have no problems facing it if indeed it comes to pass that I am charged. Let the truth emerge," she said in a statement to The Malaysian Insider today.

Shafee, who prosecuted for the government in Anwar's sodomy appeal, was reported by Utusan Malaysia's weekend edition as saying that Ambiga was wrong in saying that the Barisan Nasional (BN) had made a "terrible mistake" by jailing Anwar.

Such a statement had insulted the courts by implying that the judiciary and BN, the coalition which is in federal power, were the same, Shafee told Mingguan Malaysia today.

"I suggest that the Attorney-General take action," he was quoted as saying today.

"When such a remark is made, should we not answer? If we don't answer, the people will believe it," he told the Umno-owned Malay daily.

Ambiga had on Friday criticised Shafee for continuing to attack Anwar even after the case had been settled with the Federal Court's verdict on February 10.

The apex court upheld his sodomy conviction and five-year jail sentence.

Ambiga had said that it was unprecedented for Shafee to attack an accused after the court had delivered its verdict.

Since the verdict was issued, Shafee has been giving press statements and interviews to some media regarding the case.

In an interview with the Umno-controlled The New Straits Times (NST) on Friday, the Umno lawyer said if Anwar had taken the stand, the torrent of questions would have been so unrelenting that Anwar would have "fainted in the witness box".

In Mingguan Malaysia today, Shafee also said he was willing to swear to Anwar’s guilt in a mosque or in Mecca.

DAP legal bureau chairman Gobind Singh Deo today said Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail should stop Shafee from making further commentary and criticism on Anwar, or it would show that the A-G was going beyond what was required of him in law and ethics as a public prosecutor.

Ambiga said today Shafee's "incessant" barrage of comments on Anwar were a disservice to the administration of justice and to the office of the Attorney-General. 

"I have never seen the Attorney-General or anyone in his Chambers, do this. Whether or not these statements amount to a contempt, there is no doubt that the personal attacks on someone who is in jail and cannot defend himself, are contemptible," she said.

She said this gave rise to some troubling questions, including the independence of the AG's Chambers.

"How do these personal attacks on DSAI impinge on the independence of the Attorney-General’s Chambers in prosecuting the case? If the fiat has terminated, can Tan Sri continue to speak for the Chambers? Can he give instructions to the AG?" she asked.

- TMI