PETALING JAYA: Any attempt to undermine the judiciary will not be taken lightly by the public, says Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“I believe Malaysians will rise again to defend the institution. Because in a democracy, among its pillars is an independent judiciary body,” said the PKR president during a press conference after launching the Generasi Keadilan event at the Crystal Crown Hotel here yesterday.
He added that Pakatan Harapan and PKR leaders would also never compromise on any attempts to destroy the judicial institution.
Anwar claimed the Malaysian judiciary had been “tainted” for many years.
Recently, however, there had been various attempts to strengthen the judicial institution.
Earlier in his opening speech, Anwar claimed it was unprecedented for the judiciary, which is an independent body, to come under so much public criticism and scrutiny.
Without naming any parties, Anwar said there have been attempts by an “old party” to undermine and challenge the independence of the judiciary.
At the same time, Anwar told party members that if PKR wanted to remain relevant in the current political landscape, then the party had to be more in touch with issues faced by regular people.
“We must be together with the people and we must have resilience so we can bring change,” he said.
There has been divided opinion over the ongoing probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali.
MACC’s investigations were initiated following claims by rogue blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin that there were funds transferred to Mohd Nazlan’s account during his time as the group general counsel and company secretary of Maybank.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki had said the probe was launched after a report was lodged on the matter.
Mohd Nazlan was the judge who convicted former prime mi- nister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the misappropriation of RM42mil of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.
Mohd Nazlan lodged a police report against Raja Petra on April 21, denying the accusations which he said were malicious and baseless, and aimed at tarnishing his credibility as a judge.