Tahniah Datuk VK Lingam, menang Anugerah Newsmaker 2007 Malaysiakini...

Dan Newsmaker 2007 ialah...
RK Anand Dec 28, 07 3:12pm

Tahun 2007 telah menyaksikan perbuatan jenayah terkutuk, skandal yang menggegarkan negara serta perhimpunan rakyat. Antara semuanya, yang manakah yang terpilih sebagai Newsmaker kali ini?Ya, ya, ya... correct, correct, correct!

Dan Anugerah Newsmaker tahun ini jatuh kepada Datuk VK Lingam - seorang peguam kanan yang dirakam sedang berbual melalui telefon pada tahun 2002, didakwa untuk mengatur pelantikan hakim-hakim di negara ini.Walaupun video itu sudah lama dirakamkan, tetapi ia hanya terdedah September lalu.

Pada tanggal 19 September, PKR mendedahkan segmen lapan minit daripada 14 rakaman keseluruhan klip video tersebut.

Pendedahan tersebut terus melonjakkan nama Lingam dan mendapat liputan seluas-luasnya di internet.

Malah pihak akhbar juga turut "memberanikan diri" untuk menyiarkan berita-berita mengenainya, walaupun tanpa menyebut nama-nama dan imejnya juga dikelabukan.

Klip video tersebut, yang lebih dikenali sebagai "Pita Lingam", menunjukkan peguam tersebut sedang membincangkan pelantikan hakim-hakim, tanpa menyedari bahawa perbualan telefonnya itu sedang dirakam secara rahsia.

Sepanjang perbualan tersebut, yang penuh dengan sebutan Ya, ya, ya... correct, correct, correct! - yang kini muncul sebagai deringan telefon paling popular - Lingam mengaitkan beberapa individu termasuk ahli perniagaan terkenal, seorang menteri dan anggota-anggota kanan dalam badan kehakiman.

Dan siapa yang berbual dengannya? Jari menuding ke arah Ketua Hakim Malaya ketika itu, Tun Malaya Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim - yang kemudiannya dilantik sebagai Ketua Hakim Negara dan bersara pada 31 Oktober lalu.


Ahmad Fairuz telah menafikan sebarang pembabitannya melalui Menteri Di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Mohd Nazri Aziz. Lingam, bagaimanapun, sehingga ini belum mengeluarkan sebarang penafian.

Skandal tersebut terus menggegarkan negara, dengan ahli-ahli politik Barisan Nasional (BN), pertama awalnya, kelihatan bingung bagaimana hendak menangani isu tersebut.

Majlis Peguam Malaysia mengadakan "Perarakan Untuk Keadilan" pada bulan September serta menayangkan klip video tersebut pada skrin besar sewaktu berlangsungnya Persidangan Undang-undang Malaysia yang ke-14.

Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR) turut menjalankan siasatan, tetapi badan itu sebaliknya didakwa "terpesong" dalam siasatannya itu kerana mengugut untuk mengambil tindakan terhadap para pemimpin PKR sekiranya mereka tidak mendedahkan pemberi sumber klip video tersebut.

Lebih banyak drama

Pada 25 September, kerajaan mengumumkan penubuhan panel bebas tiga anggota untuk menyiasat ketulenan klip video tersebut. Bagaimanapun, para pengkritik masih tidak berpuashati, termasuk Ketua Pembangkang, Lim Kit Siang.

Pada hari yang sama, Menteri Pelancongan, Datuk Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor yang namanya turut disebut dalam klip video itu, menafikan sebarang pembabitannya dalam skandal tersebut.

Pada masa yang sama juga, kewibawaan pengerusi panel tersebut, bekas Hakim Besar Malaya, Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor - turut menjadi tajuk perbahasan yang hangat.

Pada 3 Oktober, panel tersebut mengadakan mesyuarat pertamanya. Kira-kira 30 minit selepas mesyuarat itu berjalan, kira-kira 20 orang yang menamakan diri mereka sebagai 'Jawatankuasa Pemandu Untuk Membebaskan Badan Kehakiman' tiba dengan membawa kain rentang serta plakad.

Dalam sidang media kemudiannya, Haidar mengakui bahawa panel tersebut tidak mempunyai kuasa.

Dua minggu selepas pendedahan klip video tersebut, tidak diketahui di mana Lingam berada.

Bagaimanapun, pada 6 Oktober, satu laporan media mendakwa bahawa Lingam dan ahli perniagaan Tan Sri Vincent Tan telah disoalsiasat oleh BPR.

Pada 7 November, panel tersebut menyerahkan laporannya. Seminggu kemudian - dan dua bulan selepas pendedahan klip video tersebut - kerajaan mengumumkan penubuhan suruhanjaya diraja untuk menyiasat skandal tersebut.

Adik lwn abang

Pada 18 November, V Thirunama - adik lelaki Lingam - telah membuat dakwaan mengenai "pembabitan" Lingam dalam perbuatan rasuah kepada hakim-hakim.

Pada hari berikutnya, Lingam muncul dan menyatakan kesediaannya untuk bekerjasama dalam siasatan suruhanjaya diraja tersebut, tetapi tetap enggan mengulas lanjut mengenai skandal tersebut.

Lingam juga mendakwa adiknya itu mengalami masalah mental, tetapi Thirunama menafikannya.Kemudian Ketua Umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mendedahkan rakaman penuh klip video perbualan Lingam itu, yang mengandungi pendedahkan yang semakin mengejutkan

Rakyat kini sedang menunggu keputusan siasatan suruhanjaya diraja itu, termasuk kemungkinan bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, turut dipanggil memberi keterangan kepada suruhanjaya tersebut.

And the Newsmaker of 2007 is...
RK Anand Dec 28, 07 12:32pm

Two Thousand And Seven, what an eventful 365 days we have had. Hideous crimes, high-profile court cases, explosive scandals and massive street rallies, just to name some news highlights.

The Year of the Boar had indeed proved not to be ‘boaring’.It was also a poignant year for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, for whom the bell tolled - wedding bells, that is.

But the honeymoon came to a quick end when he invoked the spectre that Malaysians thought had been exorcised with his predecessor’s farewell - the summoning of the Internal Security Act to silence dissent.The year was especially significant for Indian Malaysians too.

Overnight, they became a political force to be reckoned with as they took to the streets in the tens of thousands, incurred the wrath of the government, and saw five of their ‘leaders’ hauled off under ISA.

In view of this, Malaysiakini decided it would only be correct to honour an Indian Malaysian as the Newsmaker of 2007.

Our chosen personality may not have been as vocal or confrontational as the Hindu Rights Action Force leaders, but he has unwittingly - and almost single-handedly - shaken the foundations of a once-esteemed institution.

In turn, this propelled some 2,000 black-coats into the great outdoors - they marched in the Putrajaya sun with banners and placards before being drenched by a thunderstorm.The 2007 Newsmaker achieved all this with just a mobile phone, and his lingo is now firmly entrenched in the local lexicon.

Who is he?Ya, ya, ya... correct, correct, correct! This year’s Newsmaker award goes to VK Lingam, the lawyer with self-proclaimed connections that extend into the highest reaches of governance and the judiciary.

Tizzy all roundControversy has dogged Lingam - and everyone else he has touched on - in the past. But it came to a head on Sept 19, the day opposition PKR revealed an eight-minute segment of a video clip said to have been recorded in 2002.

It was enough to shoot him to superstardom, based on ‘hits’ the footage received on Internet sites. Even the print and electronic media worked up the courage to run the story, albeit without revealing names and after pixelising images.

The video clip, dubbed ‘the Lingam tape’, apparently shows the lawyer discussing the appointment of friendly judges over the telephone in 2002, without being aware that the conversation were being secretly recorded.

During the spirited telephone call, punctuated with his now famous affirmation of “correct, correct, correct’ - which incidently has been turned into a ringtone - Lingam implicated numerous individuals including a business tycoon, minister and senior members of the judiciary.

And who was he talking to? The finger has been pointed at then Chief Judge of Malaya Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim - later the chief justice who retired on Oct 31 this year - although he has denied this through a minister. Lingam, however, has not issued a denial to date.The scandal caused instant shock all round, with Barisan Nasional politicians appearing a little confused as to how to respond at first.

The critics bayed for blood, the Bar Council was appalled enough to react with a ‘Walk for Justice’ in September and replays of the video footage - on big screen, too - during the 14th Malaysian Law Conference in October.

The Anti-Corruption Agency dutifully swung into action, but the watchdog was soon accused of sniffing along the wrong trail because of its threats to throw PKR leaders in the slammer if they did not reveal the source of the clip.

More drama

On Sept 25, the government announced the creation of a three-member panel to probe the authenticity of the clip.

However, critics were still displeased, with Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang calling it a charade. The same day, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mangsor, the tourism minister whose name was mentioned nine times in eight minutes by Lingam, denied any involvement.

At the same time, the credibility of panel chairperson - former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar Mohd Noor - became a topic of debate.

On Oct 3, the panel held its first meeting, amidst a protest. About 30 minutes into the meeting, some 20 people calling themselves the 'Steering Committee to Free the Judiciary’ arrived with banners and placards.

At a press conference later, Haidar conceded that the panel had no powers.Two weeks into the scandal, Lingam was still nowhere to be found.

But on Oct 6, a news report claimed that Lingam and business tycoon Vincent Tan had been quizzed by the ACA for several hours.

On Nov 7, the special panel submitted its findings. A week later, and two months after the clip was made public, the government finally announced that a royal commission would be formed.

Brother vs brother

But the situation was about to worsen for the government, judiciary and Lingam.

On Nov 18, the lawyer’s estranged brother V Thirunama Karasu came up with more allegations about the judiciary, with explicit allegations of Lingam’s ‘involvement’ in a range of bribes to top judges.

The next day, Lingam crawled out of the woodwork and pledged to cooperate with the commission, but sustained the intrigue by refusing comment until then.

He also accused his brother of being mentally unsound, which was vehemently denied.Things came full circle when PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim added another twist to the convoluted saga by exposing the full recording of Lingam’s purported conversation. It contained more damning revelations.

The public now waits with bated breath for the outcome of the commission’s investigation - preceded, of course, by a highly-anticipated cameo appearance by the star of the video recording and possibly even high-profile personalities in judicial and political circles, including 2006 Newsmaker and ex-premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Then again, commission-weary critics would probably think, “Aiyah, this will be just another one of those things-lah.”That, in Lingam’s lingo, could well be correct, correct, correct!