Malaysian Bar chairman expects about 1,000 to attend peaceful protest

Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Bar chairman Karen Cheah says they expect about one thousand people to join the Justice Walk on Friday (June 17).

She said the walk was meant to defend the independence of the judiciary and protest the alleged intimidation of Court of Appeal judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, who is currently being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Meanwhile, lawyer Siti Kasim says there are procedures that need to be followed for investigating a judge.

“Judges have a special way of being investigated and it must follow set procedures," she said.

Siti added that if there have been issues with the judge, his past judgements should be looked at and appeals filed.

“I believe in the independence of our judiciary and that they cannot be intimidated by anyone,” she said.

Nazlan is being investigated by the MACC following reports lodged over claims by rogue blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, alleging that there were funds transferred to Nazlan's account during his time as the group general counsel and company secretary of Maybank.

Nazlan lodged a police report against Raja Petra on April 21, denying the accusations which he said were malicious, baseless and aimed at tarnishing his credibility as a judge.

Nazlan was the judge who convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak over the misappropriation of RM42mil in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.